AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan on Friday said there was no compelling reason to push back the start time of the Saturday, September 30 showpiece match from 2.30pm.

That's despite this month saying the move had public acceptance and several AFL captains, including Scott Pendlebury, Nat Fyfe and Joel Selwood in support.

McLachlan said consultation was extensive and included clubs and players.

"There is a wide range of views about our match time for the grand final," he said.

"After taking in all the feedback from the widespread debate in recent weeks, it was the recommendation to the (AFL) Commission that there was still not a compelling reason to alter the start time for the high point to our season."

The push from the highest AFL levels for a grand final time shift has been gaining momentum, with McLachlan this month saying the issue was of "huge interest" and had the "broad acceptance" of footy fans.

"There are still traditionalists that would always like to see the game stay the same but there are an increasing number of people who can see the opportunity in looking at a twilight grand final," McLachlan said the week before this season's first round.

One of those traditionalists is outgoing AFL chairman Mike Fitzpatrick, whose last day in the job is this Sunday.

The AFL believes a later kick-off would increase the audience, sponsorship, and the TV audience. Broadcaster Channel Seven supports the change.

Major Australian sporting events that have moved to later starts include the NRL grand final, played on a Sunday, and the Australian Open tennis finals. The A-League final also has a late afternoon start.

McLachlan conceded it was inevitable that the grand final would be eventually moved to a twilight timeslot, but for now the AFL supremo wasn't convinced that the game's showpiece event would be a better event if it had a later start time.

"It's a balance between progression and tradition in all the decisions we make," McLachlan said.

"To move the timeslot after 100 years, we would have to be absolutely certain that every part of the execution of the move would be perfect and we would be definitively able to say to the public this will be better.

"As we work through all of the logistics and the practicalities, I'm not sure we could say that this year so clearly the status quo prevails.

"There wasn't specific roadblocks but I want every aspect to be absolutely buttoned down if and when this decision is made.

"When you're going to make a change and ask the public to trust you when you say, 'this is going to be better', you want to be really confident that every aspect will be better ... until we are definitive about that it will stay the same."

McLachlan said match day entertainment was part of the decision-making process but stressed that the game itself was the number one consideration when mulling a later start.

- with AAP