Optimal Bonus Points in the Australian Football League

Bonus point systems are a popular tournament design feature in some sports. We consider a bonus point system for the Australian Football League (AFL). In this paper, we utilise league points as a measure of team strength in a prediction model and choose the allocation of points to maximise prediction accuracy. For AFL data extending over seasons 1997-2008, we determine a bonus points system that does a better job at revealing strong teams than the current allocation of league points. We conclude that there is considerable scope for the introduction bonus points to improve tournament design in the AFL.