On a windy Friday night in Melbourne’s western suburbs I took a little road trip to check out the AFL Women’s Western Bulldogs Pride match and fan zone set up at the historic Whitten Oval in Footscray. 

It was an exceptional fan experience set up here from the Western Bulldogs with plenty of family first thinking on show throughout the night such as game day guides on entry, a craft beer partnership with Australia’s first female owned and local brewery Two Birds, gourmet local food options, impressive interactive fan engagement sponsor activations as well as way-finding signs (please if your venue doesn’t have one of these, make it a priority to better direct fans around the venue to maximise their experience of the fan zone, F&B, toilets etc). 

The community and positivity vibes are something else. Maybe it’s the cheaper prices on F&B? Maybe it’s the grassy seat on the hill? Maybe its easier and cheaper to bring the family to this than to the movies, theme park or a regular game at a stadium? Maybe its just fans wanting to support women’s sport? 

Whatever the case there’s just something different in the air and it’s great to see such a huge crowd coming out to support women’s sport and their local community.