RECORD-BREAKING crowds for Gold Coast's "home" game against Fremantle at Optus Stadium and Sunday's Richmond-Hawthorn clash at the MCG have delivered the AFL its second-biggest single round attendance of all time.
The Suns drew 33,388 spectators to their clash with Fremantle at Optus Stadium, a game the club had to sell as a home fixture with Metricon Stadium hosting the Commonwealth Games.
It was their biggest home crowd, surpassing their previous mark of 27,914 at their clash with Carlton in round two, 2011, at the Gabba, when Metricon wasn't ready to host games.
The temporarily-homeless Suns are based in Perth for another week as they prepare to play West Coast in an away game on Saturday night.
Meanwhile, 70,701 turned out for Sunday's Tigers-Hawks game, beating the previous best crowd between the clubs of 66,305 in round 18 of 2015.
Before the season, the AFL was optimistic that rounds one or three could break the all-time record of 400,401 set in round one, 2017.
In the event, the opening round fell short, with 373,390 attending games over four days.
As for round three, expectations were downgraded last week largely based on projected figures for the Carlton-Collingwood and Richmond-Hawthorn matches.
With 68,548 turning out for the Mapgies' win on Friday night, a total of 393,537 attended the football over the weekend, which in the end exceeded the predicted window of 375-385,000.
