Another highly anticipated season of footy action gets underway at the Gabba on Thursday, March 6, where Brisbane will unfurl the Premiership flag before they take on Geelong. The Lions finally ended their 21-year wait to get their hands on the AFL Premiership trophy at the MCG last September. Brisbane will aim to become the first side since Richmond in 2020 to retain their Premiership crown.
Brisbane’s win last year also put pay to Victoria’s 5-year Grand Final streak, with Richmond, Melbourne, Geelong, and Collingwood all grabbing glory prior to the Lions’ triumph. While Collingwood, Carlton, and Essendon top the all-time Premiership winners’ chart with 16 wins apiece, non-Victorian sides in the modern era (since we shifted from the VFL to the AFL in 1990) have performed well, winning 13 of the previous 35 Grand Finals.
Sydney will be hoping some of Brisbane's luck rubs off on them. The Lions helped erase the bad memory of the 2023 Grand Final, where they suffered a heartbreaking 4pt loss to Collingwood when clinching the trophy twelve months on. The Swans, though, have plenty of work on their plate following their heavy hammering at the MCG and the fact they now have Dean Cox in charge following John Longmire’s resignation after 14 years at the Sydney club.
The other coaching change ahead of the new season saw Andrew McQualter officially announced as Adam Simpson’s full-time successor at West Coast. It could be a tough first season for McQualter, who held the caretaking role at Richmond during 2023. The West Coast Eagles famously became the first non-Victorian club to be crowned champions back in 1992, but they won only 10 games in total during the previous three seasons.
As well as two coaching shifts, there are a couple of rule changes for the forthcoming campaign. Stricter time limits have been introduced for moving the ball after a mark, which will hopefully prevent delays and keep matches fast-flowing. In addition, new tackling rules have been implemented to prioritise player safety, especially to protect against head and neck injuries.
Let GOAL show you all you need to know for the new 2025 AFL season, including how to watch or stream every Premiership match live and what the upcoming schedule looks like.
How to watch the 2025 AFL season
Getty Images2025 marks the start of the AFL’s seven-year, $4.5 billion broadcast rights deal with Seven Network, Foxtel, and Telstra, which is the biggest sports broadcast rights deal in Australian history. As part of the deal, free-to-air-network Seven will show 3 or 4 games a week on average during the home-and-away season, as well as all of the Finals Series. This includes Thursday Night games for the first 15 rounds and streaming rights to all matches they show via 7+.
Fox Footy will continue to show every home-and-away game and every Finals match live, bar the Grand Final via Foxtel and Kayo Sports. All Saturday matches outside of marquee matches will be exclusive to Foxtel and Kayo for the first eight rounds of the season, while all Saturday night matches in the last eight rounds of the season will be exclusive to Seven.
The Foxtel Sports bundle costs $69 per month on a 12-month plan, or $103 per month without a lock-in contract. For those looking to subscribe to Kayo Sports, there are two flexible options available. These will be known as Kayo Standard and Kayo Premium from March 4 and cost $25 and $40 respectively.
How to watch the 2025 AFL season outside of Australia
Getty ImagesOutside of Australia, Watch AFL is the official international streaming partner of the AFL, where you can stream every match of the Toyota AFL Premiership and Finals Series LIVE and on-demand. There are three subscription options available. The weekly option costs AUD $24, the monthly one is $44, and the 12-month version is $229.
If you aren’t able to watch AFL live in your area or if you're travelling, you can also use a VPN to tune into the action from wherever you are. A VPN creates a secure connection that lets you bypass geographical restrictions and access your favourite streaming services from anywhere.
We recommend NordVPN as a solid VPN option if you're stuck on which one to buy. But if you want to explore other options, check out our detailed VPN guide.
What is the 2025 AFL season schedule?
Getty ImagesCheck out all the upcoming AFL matches. All times shown are AEDT (GMT +11hrs / ET +18hrs)
Ahead of the 2025 AFL fixture release, it was announced that the home-and-away part of the season will feature Thursday night matches during 23 of the 25 rounds. In addition, there will be Sunday night matches during nine of the first 16 rounds.
Opening Round
The Brisbane vs Geelong match will be one of four played during this year’s Opening Round. It was an initiative that was introduced last season, where New South Wales and Queensland clubs (Brisbane, Gold Coast, Greater Western Sydney, and Sydney) host matches against four Victorian clubs. All those eight clubs playing during the Opening Round will receive a bye before Round 5, so that all the AFL sides will have played the same number of matches leading into Gather Round, where all matches are played in a single city and its surrounding area.
Date | Time (AEDT) | Match | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
Thursday, March 6 | 7:50 pm | Brisbane Lions v Geelong | The Gabba |
Friday, March 7 | 7:40 pm | Sydney v Hawthorn | Sydney Cricket Ground |
Saturday, March 8 | 4:15 pm | Gold Coast v Essendon | People First Stadium |
Sunday, March 9 | 3:20 pm | Greater Western Sydney v Collingwood | Engie Stadium |
Round 1
Date | Time (AEDT) | Match | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
Thursday, March 13 | 7:30 pm | Richmond v Carlton | Melbourne Cricket Ground |
Friday, March 14 | 7:40 pm | Hawthorn v Essendon | Melbourne Cricket Ground |
Saturday, March 15 | 1:20 pm | Geelong v Fremantle | GMHBA Stadium |
Saturday, March 15 | 4:15 pm | Sydney v Brisbane Lions | Sydney Cricket Ground |
Saturday, March 15 | 7:35 pm | Western Bulldogs v North Melbourne | Marvel Stadium |
Saturday, March 15 | 7:35 pm | Collingwood v Port Adelaide | Melbourne Cricket Ground |
Sunday, March 16 | 12:35 pm | Adelaide v St Kilda | Adelaide Oval |
Sunday, March 16 | 3:20 pm | Melbourne v Greater Western Sydney | Melbourne Cricket Ground |
Sunday, March 16 | 6:10 pm | West Coast v Gold Coast | Optus Stadium |
2025 AFL season key dates
- Opening Round Thursday, March 6
- Round 5 (Gather Round) Thursday, April 10
- Round 7 (Anzac Appeal Round) Thursday, April 24
- Round 10 (Sir Doug Nicholls Round week 1) Thursday, May 15
- Round 11 (Sir Doug Nicholls Round week 2) Thursday, May 22
- Round 13 (Kings Birthday Round) Thursday, June 5
- AFL Finals Series starts Thursday, September 4
- AFL Grand Final Saturday, September 27