This week, the South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas confirmed that the festival of Footy would be returning from Thursday 10 to Sunday 13 April – with the first match to be played at Lyndoch Recreation Park in Barossa Valley.
The date was picked to allow more families to attend the festivities, as the 2025 Gather Round will align with the middle weekend of school holidays in Victoria and Queensland and the first weekend of school holidays in South Australia, Western Australia and New South Wales.
In addition to the date announcement, Premier Peter Malinauskas also revealed the 2024 AFL Gather Round contributed $91.6 million to the South Australian economy – a 10% increase on the inaugural Gather Round in 2023; while the total number of visitor nights increased by 40,209.
The independent analysis undertaken for the AFL by IER, also revealed that across the nine matches, 265,011 attended a game, with 33% being interstate visitors. The event attracted 45,847 visitors to South Australia and supported 655 full-time equivalent jobs.
The research found that around 93% of these visitors spent at least one night in South Australia, with interstate visitors spending on average 4.5 nights in South Australia.
The benefit was not just for Adelaide, with IER’s analysis showing of the 191,669 visitor nights created, 52,026 were outside of the city.
Premier Peter Malinauskas said the Gather Round was an extraordinary success in 2024 and built on the strong foundations set with the inaugural event in 2023.
“A $91.6 million economic contribution is a significant return, as are the almost 200,000 visitor nights,” Premier Malinauskas said.
“That represents tens of thousands of interstate visitors filling our hotels, and spending money in our cafes and bars.
“But it’s not just the direct benefit. Gather Round matches and events like the Norwood Food & Wine Festival provide an opportunity for our state to tell its story.
“We look forward to making the 2025 event bigger and better again – with the Barossa Valley set to feature for the first time.”
In-light of the 2025 Gather Round announcement, the South Australian Business Chamber is excited to confirm the return of the Official AFL Gather Round Business Lunch.
With over 800 attendees at the last Official Business Lunch, we will once again be collaborating with the AFL to host a panel of AFL players, media and executives to celebrate and discuss the economic impact of the Gather Round in South Australia.
Check out the full gallery from the 2024 Official AFL Gather Round Business Lunch here.
