MELBOURNE (Reuters) - The Australian Football League Women's (AFLW) Grand Final has been hailed as a landmark moment for women's sport in the country after the championship decider drew a record crowd of 53,034 on Sunday.
The Adelaide Crows capped a dominant season in the professional league by thrashing the Carlton Blues by 45 points at a packed Adelaide Oval.
With fans allowed free entry, the attendance was nearly double midweek estimates of 30,000 and comfortably outstripped the previous AFLW record of 41,975 when Fremantle hosted Collingwood at Perth Stadium last year.
It was also the fifth-largest Australian Rules football crowd for both men and women at the 53,500-capacity stadium.
Organisers were forced to open the previously closed-off top deck of terraces at the stadium after it was clear they had underestimated the size of the crowd, local media reported.
"It's a very special moment for the AFLW and for footy in Australia – this might be one of the most significant moments in Australian football history," Carlton coach Daniel Harford said.
"We're seeing so many girls that are idolising these players and looking up to them to say, 'that could be me now'."
Men's AFL games regularly draw crowds of over 50,000, with Grand Final attendances typically topping 100,000.
The women's Grand Final drew a viewership of 409,000 on host broadcaster Seven Network, up 64 percent on last year's decider, The Australian newspaper reported.
The AFLW has proved a success since eight teams contested the first tournament in 2017. It expanded to 10 teams this year and another four will join the competition next year.
The expansion sides are all from established men's franchises: Gold Coast Suns, Richmond Tigers, St Kilda Saints and West Coast Eagles.
From previously having to pay to play games, top women footballers can earn a minimum of A$24,600 (£13,422) for the two-month tournament.
By contrast, rookie players in the seven-month men's AFL competition, earn at least A$71,500, with the average salary of established players well over A$300,000.
($1 = 1.4053 Australian dollars)
(Editing by Peter Rutherford)
