AFL Grand Final 2026: Fremantle Dockers appearance to propel club into AFL’s most valuable, experts say

The Fremantle Dockers’ run to the AFL grand final is poised to catapult the club into the ranks of the code’s most valuable brands. By most measures, it’s already been an incredibly successful year for the Dockers, and thereby sponsors such as Woodside Energy, Bankwest and DP World, who get to bask in the increased exposure that accompanies sporting success. Fremantle finished the home and away season atop the AFL ladder, membership cracked 75,000, average home-ground attendances were the third-best in the AFL at nearly 52,000 and the club’s average free-to-air audiences were up 51 per cent. Fremantle featured in five of the year’s 10 most-watched games. “We are now a nationally recognised brand,” Fremantle president Chris Sutherland says. “And next year is where we see the real benefit of what we’ve been able to achieve this year,” he says. The managing director of consultancy Brand Finance Australia, Mark Crowe, says there’s usually a lag in translating the full benefit of a successful year on-field into increased brand value through higher sponsorship and attendances. “It normally takes nine to 12 months to see the benefits or leverage a strong season performance, or even a premiership, into improved membership or sponsorship revenues,” Mr Crowe said. “But we also look at the strength of the brand, and this is where Fremantle are likely to enjoy a real uplift. “So their brand is likely to strengthen considerably, and in time that will convert into increased brand value.” Brand strength, which is scored out of 100, measures the popularity or familiarity of a brand and the impact of those factors on financial performance. It feeds into brand value, which estimates future revenues and costs trademarks and logos to help determine the value of a club, company or product if was sold on the open market. Brand Finance’s 2025 rankings had Fremantle at No.13 among the AFL’s 18 clubs with a value of $62m. Collingwood topped the list on $127m, while Fremantle’s archrival the West Coast Eagles ninth on $79m. Mr Crowe suggests that Brand Finance’s 2026 rankings will likely see Fremantle rise in value, with the potential next year to go deep into the top-10 most valuable brands. “I think what they’re doing well in terms of those brand attributes is differentiating themselves in many respects from the West Coast Eagles in what is a two team town, and that’s a very clever thing to do,” he says. Mr Sutherland agrees Fremantle had made “made a conscious decision to put on a show every two weeks (at their home games”. “We’ve leaned into the fact that Fremantle comes from a real place, we have a soul, football has been played in Fremantle since 1885. “All of those elements connect . . . to the port (of Fremantle), the concept of Wharfie Time, it’s a well thought-out strategy. “We want to make sure we stand out in a crowded sports market in WA, and in Australia as well.” And the differentiating goes way beyond just winning regularly — the Eagles have been anchored on the bottom of the AFL ladder for the past four seasons — or the Wharfie Time activation, it’s about the Flagmantle meme or the high-voltage Rocker on the Roof guitar performance at its home games. “It’s not a case of comparing the WA clubs, both have got scope to improve,” Mr Crowe says. “One’s improvement doesn’t necessarily have to come at the cost of the other. “There’s room for both clubs in WA, but in terms of upside, there’s a lot more for Fremantle.” However, using a good season as the launchpad for sustained success is what generates real value for a club. “With brand value, it’s all about sustainability. You want to look at a period of 3-5 years of sustained performance, including regular finals appearances, to maintain momentum; that’s critical for any brand,” Mr Crowe says. It’s been a hard grind for Fremantle from underachiever to power team and premiership contender, but the signs of progress have been clear over recent years as its playing list and finances improved. Between 2019 and 2025 — its 2026 financial results won’t be publicly released until early next year — membership grew from 51,400, or 46 per cent, while revenue increased 45 per cent to $83.6m, including sponsorship of $9.6m (up nearly 70 per cent) and near-doubled merchandise sales of $2.5m. Former Wesfarmers boss and long-time Fremantle member Richard Goyder has seen the club’s rise from several angles. Chair of the AFL until last year, Mr Goyder also helms Fremantle’s biggest sponsor, Woodside Energy, and was a director of the club for five years from 2006. He credits successive boards and a brave management, more recently under Simon Garlick, for “a bloody good job in building a club from not much, actually”. Mr Goyder says the community roots put down by Fremantle as the on-field performances have improved will deliver the club generational support. “They’ve got a great home now (in Cockburn), they’ve got a balance sheet and they have a side that is competing. And they’ve been pretty strong in the women’s competition as well. “They’ve come a long way.”

AFL Grand Final 2026: Fremantle Dockers appearance to propel club into AFL’s most valuable, experts say

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