The AFL’s latest partnership with Shell, offering football fans a 10 cents per litre fuel discount during Gather Round, has been framed as a welcome relief for Australians battling rising living costs. But beneath the surface, the promotion raises a far more uncomfortable question: if fuel companies can afford to discount, how much are they really making?
The deal, available from April 8 to April 13 via the AFL app at participating Shell service stations, is being promoted as a way to ease pressure on travelling fans. Yet at a time when petrol prices remain stubbornly high across the country, the optics are hard to ignore.
Because here’s the reality—fuel prices are not coming down.
Despite a significant drop in global oil prices following easing tensions in the Middle East, Australians are still paying record-high prices at the bowser. At the same time, the federal government has already stepped in with extraordinary measures, including cutting fuel excise by roughly 50% and returning GST windfalls to motorists, theoretically slashing prices by more than 30 cents per litre.
And yet… prices continue to rise.
In Perth, unleaded petrol has surged to around 227 cents per litre, while diesel has hit record levels nationally. These are not the signs of a market passing on savings. They are the signs of a market holding its margin.
Which brings us back to the so-called “discount.”
Let’s be clear: companies do not give discounts out of generosity. A 10-cent reduction is not a loss—it is a calculated slice of profit. And if Shell can shave 10 cents off the price for a promotion tied to a sporting event, it strongly suggests there is far more room in the pricing structure than consumers are being led to believe.
Even more galling is who gets the relief.
This isn’t a universal discount for struggling Australians. It’s a targeted perk for football fans—those attending or engaging with a major commercial sporting event. Families commuting to work, truck drivers keeping supply chains moving, and regional Australians already paying inflated prices? They get nothing.
Instead, they watch as a multinational fuel giant selectively hands out savings in partnership with a billion-dollar sporting code.
The timing couldn’t be worse.
Australians are being told to tighten their belts, to accept global instability, to understand that war and supply disruptions justify higher prices. But when the same companies quietly demonstrate they can reduce prices—without collapsing their business model—it undermines that narrative entirely.
So which is it?
Are fuel prices genuinely being driven by unavoidable global forces?
Or are Australians simply paying what the market will tolerate?
Because right now, it looks less like relief—and more like proof.
Proof that the margins are there.
Proof that the savings exist.
And proof that they are not being passed on—unless there’s a marketing opportunity attached.
A 10-cent discount might help a footy fan heading to Gather Round. But for millions of Australians watching their weekly fuel bill climb, it feels less like a win…
…and more like a slap in the face.