Fremantle’s powerful 38-point win over Sydney at Optus Stadium has shattered TV viewing records with the match the most watched Thursday night fixture in more than five years.

The Dockers sent a statement to the competition by tearing apart the second-placed Swans with a nine-goal final quarter after trailing by two points at the final change. The result put Fremantle two wins clear on top of the ladder.

The significance of the match was on show around the nation with 930,000 people watching the game on Channel 7 and 7Plus. No Thursday night game had produced that type of figure since 2022.

Nearly 250,000 people watched the game in WA, which was a bigger audience than any western derby across the last five years.

Another 103,000 fans tuned in from Sydney which was the largest result in that city for more than five years.

While those figures were huge, it also meant 590,000 people were watching elsewhere, despite not being from a state involving one of the teams. That highlighted just how big the clash was in the race for this year’s premiership.

There were 136,000 people watching on 7Plus which was a record streaming result for any AFL game. The total reach of the match was 2.18million people.

Fremantle have become a must-watch team this season thanks to their barnstorming ride to the top of the ladder. They also produced the second highest rating Thursday night rating for the season when they beat Geelong.

That means more people have watched the Dockers than games involving Carlton v Collingwood, Brisbane v Collingwood, Carlton v Richmond and the grand final re-match between Geelong and Brisbane.

Fremantle have become the darlings of the AFL thanks to their blistering style of play and it has set them up to be a prime time team for a hell of a long time.