The
AFL Grand Final is an annual
Australian rules football match, traditionally held on the final Saturday in September or the first Saturday in October at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground in
Melbourne, Australia to determine the
Australian Football League (AFL) premiership champions for that year. The game has become significant to
Australian culture, spawning a number of traditions and surrounding activities which have grown in popularity since the interstate expansion of the VFL in the 1980s and the subsequent creation of the national AFL competition in the 1990s. The 2006 Sweeney Sports Report concluded that the AFL Grand Final has become Australia's most important sporting event, with the largest attendance, metropolitan television audience and overall interest of any annual Australian sporting event.