Move over Bec Judd, the AFL has entered its influencer age

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Opinion

September 26, 2025 — 1.30am

In this edition of On Background, why the AFL and ABC are opening their doors to the world of influencers, the uncertain future of The Bolt Report on Sky, and Seven’s weird follow up to horoscopes and comedy.

The AFL enters its influencer age

2025 has notoriously been the year of the creator, or the podcaster, depending on who you ask. In February, the White House briefed top conservative influencers on the Epstein files, while in Australia friendly creators were provided access into the Federal budget lock-up, in return for a few handy podcast appearances.

And now, the nation’s most powerful institution, the AFL, is finally rolling out the red carpet to its online stars.

Daniel Gorringe signs a ‘one-day’ contract with AFL CEO Andrew Dillon; Bailey Smith; Nick Daicos; AFL star and chef Christian Petracca.

For the NRL, its top talent remains its players, like toilet-water drinking Broncos fullback Reece Walsh, ex-players and tabloid columnists. League boss Peter V’Landys has made it clear he doesn’t want competition for his media partners.

However in AFL land, with Kayo prices ever-rising and an increasing antipathy towards advertising, the code’s young fans are gravitating to talent with a big platform on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube for their footy fix. Not the Bec Judd-influencing type, but more personable, relatable individuals who have created their own spaces to talk about everything in and around the game.

The fans can consume the highlights online then soak up a number of talking points through their favourite podcast or Instagram account, all without sending a dollar the way of AFL House.

Chronically online, younger and often cash-strapped AFL fans have begun looking to the likes of former Gold Coast and Carlton player Dan Gorringe, The Footy with Broden Kelly or popular accounts like CenchFooty to help shape their views and consumption of the game. Young, male audiences are typically the hardest for advertisers to reach, and the numbers show, these online accounts dominate in this demographic.

Their platforms have continued to grow as fans become disaffected with the way the league has handled issues like mental health or the recent homophobic slur saga featuring Adelaide star Izak Rankine.

Dan Does Footy, Gorringe’s podcast is the nation’s 85th biggest, but it’s his online presence which has catapulted him to fame, with nearly 1 million followers across his two Instagram pages.

Daniel Gorringe is a new-age star of the AFL.

Gorringe was the main attraction over former stars of the sport in the recent Legends Game hosted at Marvel Stadium, and now the AFL, notorious for controlling its media narrative and any commercial opportunities, has clearly seen the writing on the wall.

Last Saturday, the league, in collaboration with Dan Does Footy, hosted its first ever “watchalong”, a live broadcast of Gorringe and other figures and influencers watching Collingwood and Brisbane on the AFL YouTube account, in a bid to capitalise on the second-screen generation.

It was just a first bite of the apple, but it garnered 95,000 views – as many as were inside the MCG and offers a look into where the AFL might be headed.

Rivers of Gold

The watchalong trend is already well embedded overseas, with the English Premier League’s top domestic broadcaster, Sky Sports’ Saturday Social – a YouTube-first show mixing sport and culture, featuring top players and influencers and online personalities – a big hit.

That channel, with its express aim of creating viral, clippable sports content, has 5.7 million subscribers. Social media shows democratise opportunity, thrusting popular online figures to the front instead of handpicked media personalities. But they do have a downside, promoting a race to the bottom with amateur, partisan pundits chasing clicks through controversial hot takes without adding anything to the conversation.

Sky has even signed a one-year broadcast deal with Baller League, a six-a-side competition featuring social media influencers and ex-Premier League players.

Prominent British watchalong star, influencer and Manchester United fan Mark Goldbridge is turning his platform into a brand. His watchalong of Arsenal versus Manchester City on Sunday had 317,000 viewers. One of his YouTube channels, That’s Football, has 1.4 million subscribers, and last month he was handed the rights to show 20 Bundesliga games, Germany’s top division, with the League hoping he can tap into a new audience.

While deals of this sort create legitimacy for online personalities, they are still finding their feet in Australia, with our local crop of social media stars left to partner with brands to make a living. In the case of Gorringe, he has received criticism in AFL communities for his ongoing partnership with Sportsbet, appearing in ads and on Monday’s Brownlow red carpet with a Sportsbet branded mic. He spent 48-hours in a glass box outside the MCG, in partnership with Hard Rated (Solo) and released a new ad with DoorDash on Wednesday.

Figuring out the full financial potential of social media stardom is clearly the end goal for both the sporting codes and the content creators, but things are clearly starting to move in the right direction in Australia.

Aunty’s TikTokers

Meanwhile, the ABC is on its own hunt for influencers. Aunty has posted a job ad for applicants to its Creator Program this week, paying up to $105,000 a year to deliver stories for young audiences.

The only catch, you have to already have at least 10,000 followers online.

Bolt’s retort

Andrew Bolt’s nightly Sky After Dark show faces an uncertain future after the right-wing commentator underwent heart surgery three weeks ago. Still yet to return, Bolt told this masthead he will be back “as soon as I can”, with Late Debate host James Macpherson filling in the interim. Macpherson’s record includes time as a journalist for the alt-right, anti-vaccine, climate-change denying Canadian publication Rebel News (of Avi Yemini fame) as well as a columnist for Spectator Australia.

But fear not, the Bolt name lives on at Sky towers, with Andrew’s son, James, having toiled away at the IPA for a decade, later producing Paul Murray Live and Sharri, being handed his own YouTube podcast, aptly named The Bolt Retort.

Recruitment Drive

Speaking of Sky, there was plenty of interest this week as to why no one lost their job, or was even suspended over a controversial guest segment on new After Dark program Freya Fires Up.

Well, it turns out it may be due to the troubles the network has getting young, affordable staff through its doors. There’s only so many liberal arts graduates from Parramatta’s Campion College to lean on.

On Background hears there’s been cash rewards for staff helping fill jobs that have sat vacant on LinkedIn and Seek for months on end.

Seven goes full Frankenstein

Seven appears hell-bent on killing its News brand, launching Winning Arvo with Alex Cullen this week. Yes, that Cullen who left Nine earlier this year over the “Lambo Guy” cash reward stunt.

But now its Cullen who is doing cash giveaways live on air, mixed with news bulletins, quiz shows and a god-awful jingle.

Let’s not forget this was the network that laughed former news boss Anthony De Ceglie out the door for experimenting with comedy and horoscopes. His successor, Ray Kuka, appears to be taking an ever more bizarre swing.