The Melbourne Cricket Ground was almost filled to the brim.
The arena where Collingwood hosted Essendon in Australian football usually has 100,000 seats and before the match, authorities in the state of Victoria chose to set an audience ceiling of 85,000 people.
Not many people showed up, but 78 113 is still a new audience record since the corona pandemic broke out.
- I am grateful to be able to go to football again, says a match spectator.
Australia and neighboring New Zealand in particular have been able to have a large audience at various matches.
In the past month, four matches in the AFL (Australian Football League) have attracted over 50,000 spectators, three matches at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and one at the Perth Stadium in the state of Western Australia.
The match between Collingwood and Essendon - which are two teams with many supporters - was played on Anzac Day, which is a major national holiday.
Essendon won by 109-85.