Over the years, the award ceremony has become increasingly elaborate, with footballers and their dates gradually becoming more fashion-conscious. This aspect of the night has become widely reported by gossip columns. The ceremony is currently held at Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex in Melbourne on the Monday five days prior to the AFL Grand Final. Only twice since the award's inception in 1924 has the count been held outside of Melbourne, when it was held in Sydney in 1999, and in 2020 when the event was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic preventing the event from being held in Melbourne. In years past, prospective Grand Final players have attended the ceremony in person, but in recent years non-Victorian Grand Final teams have declined to attend the ceremony due to the inconvenience of travel in such an important week; a live video link to Brownlow functions in their home city is done instead.