The AFL's commitment to Thursday night footy is a fixturing revolution worth celebrating

I feel like ringing Gerard Healy and breaking out the Bollinger!

Thursday night footy will be a near-permanent part of our lives next season. Sam Edmund this morning putting the number at 23.

This isn’t just a fixturing revolution, it’s a community service.

It’s a bit like daylight savings… it changes the feel and flow of our lives.

Footy on a Thursday night completely alters the passage of the week… it makes it feel shorter and that’s a blessing in the heart of winter. It hastens the weekend into sight.

It enlivens Friday and hypercharges the anticipation for the bulk of the round. The AFL built a timeslot that the people fully embraced.

The metrics were incontrovertible… a thumping endorsement from the constituency.

When we ran those numbers in May… Thursday night attendances were a whisker behind Friday night while the free-to-air television reach was a shade ahead.

18,000 more people were watching Thursday night footy and 640 more people attended Friday night matches. It had become a marquee slot by every measure.

So, kudos to headquarters for giving the people what they want… 1.823 million of us are grateful.

Thursday night footy is winter’s daylight saving… it just makes life better. As Gerard Healy would say, this feels like a win for the true believers.