The 2024 Brownlow Medal was the 97th year the award was presented to the player adjudged the best and fairest player during the Australian Football League (AFL) home-and-away season. The count took place on Monday 23 September in Melbourne at the Crown Palladium, five days before the grand final. Patrick Cripps of Carlton won the medal with 45 votes; it was his second medal, having previously won the medal in 2022.
Cripps tally of 45 votes broke by a considerable margin the previous record for most votes in a Brownlow Medal count under the 3–2–1 voting system, which was 36 votes held by Dustin Martin (2017) and Ollie Wines (2021); 2024 runner-up Nick Daicos also exceeded the prior record, polling 38 votes. Cripps also set a new record by polling 1.96 votes per game across the season, breaking Lachie Neale's 2020 record of 1.82.[1]
The four field umpires (those umpires who control the flow of the game, as opposed to goal or boundary umpires) confer after each match and award three votes, two votes, and one vote to the players they regard as the best, second-best and third-best in the match, respectively. The votes are kept secret until the awards night, and they are read and tallied on the evening.[3]
Any suspension throughout the home-and-away season renders a player ineligible to win the award. However, umpires must still award votes to any player they deem worthy and all votes are tallied regardless of ineligibility.
In the event of an ineligible player receiving the most votes, the next eligible player is awarded the Brownlow Medal.
There is no countback if there is a tie on votes, with joint winners awarded.[4]
