The AFL has indicated they are comfortable with one of the biggest home and away matches in recent memory being broadcast on pay-TV, while police have warned potential troublemakers at the ground there will be a zero tolerance approach to poor behaviour.

The MCC are expecting more than 85,000 people to attend the match and have urged all reserved seat ticket holders to go to the blockbuster so the crowd is as big as possible.

But AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan conceded hundreds of thousands of fans could be prevented from watching Saturday's Richmond-Collingwood game because it is being shown on Fox Footy and not Channel Seven. McLachlan said there were ways for non pay-TV subscribers to tune in anyways.

"No, the [possible audience shortfall of hundreds of thousands between Foxtel and FTA broadcast] know they can get to a public venue to watch it, at a friends house or watch it on their phone [via Telstra subscription on AFL Live app] ... we have a great set of broadcast arrangements and they work well pretty much all of the time," McLachlan told 3AW.