The AFL has Kylie booked. The NRL now wants Olivia Dean for grand final show

The NRL has made inquiries about English singer Olivia Dean performing at this year’s grand final, but has no plans to follow the AFL and spend more than $2 million on entertainment for its showpiece event.

The AFL confirmed this week that Kylie Minogue would perform at this year’s grand final. Officials paid around $2.5 million for Snoop Dogg to play at the MCG last year, while US pop sensation Katy Perry was the headline act in 2024.

Teddy Swims was last year’s entertainment for the NRL, while The Kid Laroi, a rapper and singer who follows South Sydney and includes Justin Bieber in his circle of friends, played to 80,000 fans inside Accor Stadium the previous year.

Dean, whose song Man I Need took out Triple J’s Hottest 100 countdown this year, starts her Australian tour in Melbourne a day after the NRL grand final. She has two shows booked for Sydney the following week, with her schedule not lost on V’landys.

“I’m certainly aware of Olivia Dean, and my daughter is a huge fan,” V’landys said on Thursday.

“To have someone of the brilliance of Olivia Dean would be fantastic. We know she’ll be in town, and we’ll be reaching out to her people.

“Naturally, you want to make grand final day an actual event that includes excellent entertainment. Olivia fits that bills. If you want top musicians, you have to pay accordingly.

“But I’m also a firm believer that NRL fans actually go to the NRL grand final to watch rugby league.

“If you’re talking about spending $2m for an artist to play for around 10 minutes, you’d be better off spend that money on junior development.

“I don’t know what the AFL have spent on getting Kylie, but the reports last year were … Snoop Dogg cost more than $2m. That’s a lot of money. Plus, we had Kylie perform at the 1986 NSWRL Grand Final. It’s only taken the AFL 40 years to catch up.

“Either way, we’d love an artist like Olivia. We won’t leave it until the last minute.”

Multiple sources with knowledge of the situation, not authorised to speak publicly, confirmed Snoop Dogg cost around $2.5m to play at last year’s AFL decider, but a lot of those expenses were covered by sponsors. The huge outlay on previous artists like Robbie Williams and The Killers has also made it easier for the code to attract huge artists.

Music industry sources confirmed Teddy Swims, whose song Lose Control went No. 1 in Australia and around the world, cost the NRL south of $400,000.

Foo Fighters are heading to Australia for a string of stadium dates, but do not arrive until the end of October. Country megastar Morgan Wallen has also hinted for several months that he is returning to Australia but, even if he is available, is expected to be well beyond the NRL’s budget.