The fans voted with their feet for Monday night football but whether the concept is judged a success will not be known until TV ratings for the Collingwood-St Kilda match are released on Tuesday.

A crowd of 46,880 was at Etihad Stadium to see the Saints crush the Magpies by 88 points.

The figure was only marginally below the average of 47,106 for the previous six clashes, dating back to 2002, between the sides at the venue.

The game was also shown on a delay of about 50 minutes on Channel 7.

The AFL is eager to trial new timeslots for matches ahead of an expanded 18-team competition 2012 when there will be nine matches a round.

Monday night football was last trialled by the AFL in 1997 but with only modest results.

But it has been a major hit in the NFL in the US since its introduction in 1970.

In recent seasons, the AFL has also fixtured more matches on Thursday night and during the twilight on Sunday.

A poll, with more than 2000 respondents, on the website of a major Melbourne daily newspaper showed 54 percent of fans did not like Monday night football.

"By trialling Monday night, we can present it to the broadcasters and they can say what they think," the AFL's chief operating officer Gillon McLachlan told The Age prior to Monday night's game.

Collingwood president Eddie McGuire, a former Channel Nine executive, said he wanted Monday night's game to rate well for the AFL.

But there still appears to be fixturing glitches in accommodating the new timeslot.

The Saints have only a six-day break before their next game against Essendon, who have nine days off after playing their Round 7 match on last Friday night.

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon gave the indication his club will be willing to be a part of more Monday night matches.

"The nation was watching, it was a Monday night experiment for the time slot," he said.

"We see ourselves as a growing club and Collingwood have a big membership base. We see ourselves right up there (as a drawcard)."

"We are a top-four side from last year and have been preliminary finalists three times in the last five years."

His comments came after Brisbane coach Michael Voss and Sydney coach Paul Roos said Monday night football was worth persisting with.

"I think it will have more impact if they decide to just spread out the weekend a little bit more and have Monday night football," Voss said.

"I couldn't see any problem with that, whether it's Thursday night or Monday night."

Roos, whose wife Tami is American, said it would take a while for Monday night to become a staple of the AFL fan's diet.

"It is something that Americans take very seriously and even the teams over there talk about playing on Monday night football," he said.

"We've probably got Friday night football at the moment where most coaches and most teams would be aware that's the spotlight game because everyone sits at home or goes to the game."

"I think over time, if they were to persevere with it and it's a success, it's certainly a niche area that's worked in well in the States."