Kylie Minogue’s AFL Grand Final homecoming is set to be the biggest pre-game production the league has ever staged, just as NRL boss Peter V’landys has taken a cheeky swipe at the rival code’s entertainment plans.
The Melbourne-born superstar will headline the AFL Grand Final at the MCG on September 26, with fresh details revealing the scale of the show being built around her.
Minogue is preparing a 20-minute performance featuring dancers, major staging and spectacular visual elements, with her international team working alongside Mushroom Group and the AFL. AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon says the league is going bigger than ever.
“Kylie’s performance Grand Final day is the biggest production and show we have ever produced,” Dillon said.
“We are so excited Kylie is coming home to perform on our biggest day in front of 100,000 at the G and millions more watching the broadcast.”
For Minogue, 58, it will be a significant homecoming. Despite a career spanning almost four decades – from Neighbours and The Loco-Motion to becoming one of Australia’s most successful international performers – she has never performed at an AFL Grand Final.
When her appearance was announced in March, Dillon revealed Minogue had been on the AFL’s “wish list for a long time”.
Minogue was equally enthusiastic.
“The AFL Grand Final at Melbourne’s one and only, forever iconic MCG? Yes please!” she said.
“As a Melburnian, I’m so excited to be coming home for the biggest day in the Aussie sporting calendar.”
Minogue has sold more than 80 million records worldwide, amassed five billion streams and won 18 ARIA Awards.
She follows a run of Grand Final headliners including Robbie Williams, KISS, Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg.
The AFL’s plans caught the attention of Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys on Monday morning as he discussed the NRL’s still-to-be-announced Grand Final entertainment.
“We are the most watched sport in Australia, we don’t need international pop stars to come in,” V’landys told Nine’s Today.
“Our entertainment is our game.”
There was just one hitch with the sledge: Kylie Minogue is Australian. Born in Melbourne and first became a household name playing Charlene Mitchell on Neighbours before taking her music around the world.
The NRL also looked overseas for its own Grand Final entertainment last year, bringing American singer Teddy Swims to Sydney as its headline act.
V’landys said the NRL’s 2026 performer was “nearly locked in”, but gave no clues about who it might be.
The NRL Grand Final will be played in Sydney on October 4, eight days after Kylie takes the stage at the MCG.
The AFL is extending the Kylie celebrations beyond Grand Final day, with a dedicated “Kylie Village” planned for the Footy Festival in Yarra Park from September 23, including exclusive Kylie and AFL merchandise.
The Grand Final itself will retain its traditional 2.30pm AEST start.
What Minogue will perform during her 20 minutes on stage remains under wraps. With The Loco-Motion, Better the Devil You Know, Spinning Around and Can’t Get You Out of My Head among nearly four decades of hits, she has plenty to choose from.
As for what the NRL has lined up a week later? V’landys isn’t saying – yet.
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