Excluding the change of the monogram from VFL to AFL in 1990, the design, shape and size of the medallion have been virtually unchanged since 1924.

[9] The fairest component of the medal is achieved by making ineligible any player who is suspended by the AFL Tribunal during the home-and-away season.

Some of the game's greatest players in these positions never even came close to winning the Brownlow despite having high reputations amongst their peers and coaches.

[13] Several prominent coaches, including Kevin Sheedy and Leigh Matthews, have publicly criticised the voting process.

The temporary break from tradition under the demerit points-based tribunal system (which saw player being ineligible despite not having served suspensions) was also criticised as confusing.

Prominent players, including dual-winner Chris Judd, have indicated a desire to have the eligibility criterion removed from the award (effectively eliminating the fairest component altogether);[14] but this view is not universally held, and 1958 winner Neil Roberts stated in 1988 that he would hand back his medal if the fairness criterion were removed.

[16] This aspect of the night has become widely reported by gossip columns, with the red carpet arrival often humorously referred to as the 'Gownlow'.

[17] The ceremony is currently held at Crown Melbourne on the Monday five days prior to the AFL Grand Final.

[20] 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.

Direct television telecasts began in 1970, when the venue was the Dallas Brooks Hall, and have occurred every year since.

At the end of the final season in 1943, Corporal Peter Chitty won a makeshift award known as the "Changi Brownlow", which his family later donated to the Australian War Memorial.