Australian sporting calendar 2025: 25 must-see events

From footy grand finals to the F1 grand prix, 2025 is the year professional sport hogs the limelight and Australia’s attention. Julian Linden looks at the 25 biggest events to watch this year.

The biggest must-see sporting events in 2025

From football grand finals to the F1 grand prix, 2025 is the year professional sport hogs the limelight and our attention. These are the 25 sports events in Australia in 2025 that sports’ fans can’t miss, writes Julian Linden.

JAN 12-26: AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP, MELBOURNE PARK

The first grand slam of the new year is always a phenomenal event, both on and off the tennis court. The big question for ‘25 is can Novak Djokovic win his 25th major and break the record of 24 he shares with Margaret Court?

Novak Djokovic fell short in 2024, but can he claim his 25th major win and break Margaret Court’s record? Picture: AFP

JAN 12-FEB 2: WOMEN’S ASHES CRICKET SERIES

Comprising three ODIs, three T20s and a one-off Test, the women’s Ashes has grown into a massive stand alone event. This year’s series will feature the first ever day-night Test played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

JAN 17-26: TOUR DOWN UNDER, ADELAIDE.

Australia’s biggest road cycling race, the Tour Down Under attracts the best riders in the world. The opening event on this year’s UCI WorldTour, the entrants include 2018 Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas.

Australia’s biggest road cycling race, the Tour Down Under attracts the best riders in the world. Picture: AFP

FEB 9: UFC 312, QUDOS BANK ARENA, SYDNEY

The Octagon is back in Sydney with the main fights being South African middleweight Dricus Du Plessis defending his title against former champion Sean Stickland and Weili Zhang defending her women’s strawweight belt against Tatiana Suarez.

FEB 14-16: LIV GOLF, THE GRANGE, ADELAIDE

As the promoters like to say, this is golf but louder and the Australian leg is proudly the noisiest stop on the global LIV series. And with plenty of Aussies to cheer, including Cam Smith, the decibel count just keeps rising.

Cameron Smith during LIV Golf Adelaide

MAR: NBL FINALS

Basketball is absolutely booming in Australia with the NBL finals established as marquee event filled with drama and unpredictability capped by last season’s unforgettable breakthrough win by the Tasmania JackJumpers.

MAR 14-16: AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX

Back as the first race of the Formula One season, this year’s Australian Grand Prix could be historic. No Aussie driver has ever finished on the podium at home but Melbourne-born Oscar Piastri has a real shot. Mick Doohan’s son Jack will also be lining up on the grid.

The 2025 Formula One season will start in Melbourne and it could be a historic one if an Aussie finishes on the podium at home. Picture: Jason Edwards

APR 10-13: AFL GATHER ROUND, ADELAIDE

Still a relatively new event, Gather Round has quickly become one of the highlights of the AFL season. Last year’s round attracted over 200,000 spectators and the numbers are expected to climb even higher in 2024.

MAY 1-JULY 9: STATE OF ORIGIN

The men’s series has long been regarded as one of league’s crown jewels. This year’s “neutral” match between the Blues and the Maroons will be played at Perth’s Optus Stadium. The first three-game women’s series was a blinding success last year so no surprises that it is back again.

One of the NRL’s crown jewels, the State of Origin series kicks-off in Perth in 2025.

MAY 2-4: NRL MAGIC ROUND, SUNCORP STADIUM BRISBANE

The crowd figures for Magic Round keep growing every year, with 2024 setting a new record. No wonder the Queensland government got in quickly to lock in the footy festival through to 2027.

MAY 31 OR JUN 1: A-LEAGUE GRAND FINAL

The finale is always one of the highlights of the A-League season and with the way the season is headed at the moment, with Auckland well clear at the top of the table, could the grand final be headed to New Zealand?

JUNE 28-AUG 2: BRITISH AND IRISH LIONS RUGBY TOUR

The Lions only visit Australia once every 12 years so this is a monster money-spinning event. More than 40,000 British and Irish fans will travel to Australia for the nine-match tour which features three already sold-out Tests against the Wallabies in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.

The only time the Wallabies won a series against the British and Irish Lions was in 2001.

JUL-AUG: SUPER NETBALL FINALS SERIES

Unchallenged as the best netball league in the world, Super Netball is an incredible live experience with roaring crowds, especially for the finals. The Adelaide Thunderbirds are chasing their third title in a row.

SEPT 27: AFL GRAND FINAL, MELBOURNE CRICKET GROUND

With close to the 100,000 spectators expected to be at the G, the last weekend in September belongs to AFL.

OCT 1-6: CANOE SLALOM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, PENRITH

After dominating overseas for so long, Australia’s triple Olympic gold medallist Jess Fox will finally get to showcase her incredible talents at home. And, just as she did in Paris, her equally talented super sister Noemie will also be gunning for some more gold for the Fox family.

Jess Fox will get a chance to show off her talents in her hometown of Penith.

OCT 4: BLEDISLOE CUP, OPTUS STADIUM, PERTH

How many years has it been since the Wallabies last held the Bledisloe Cup? Too many! But hope lives eternal. After the disastrous 2023 World Cup the men in gold have improved leaps and bounds and the game’s faithful never quit believing they can topple the All Blacks.

OCT 5: NRL GRAND FINAL, ACCOR STADIUM, SYDNEY

Could the Penrith Panthers make it five on the trot? Don’t count them out. Even without the departing Jarome Luai, the mountain men remain the benchmark for modern day greatness in the NRL.

The Penrith Panthers have won the last four NRL grand finals. Can they make it 5 straight in 2025? Picture: NRL Photos

OCT 9-12: BATHURST 1000, MOUNT PANORAMA

The Great Race never disappoints. Every round of the new format Supercars championship is a must watch event but there’s just something magical about Bathurst that elevates it above all the others.

OCT 15-19: WORLD TRIATHLON CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS, WOLLONGONG

The Gong has always been a nursery for producing talented athletes but now the world’s best will be heading to the Illawarra to decide the overall series winners in a range of different categories, including elite and para men and women.

OCT 18: THE EVEREST, RANDWICK RACECOURSE

The richest race in the world on turf, the $20 million 1200m sprint has become the most exciting minute of sport in the country. Now officially a Group One race, book early because the 50,000 available seats always sell out.

NOV 4: MELBOURNE CUP, FLEMINGTON RACECOURSE

The race that stops the nation never fails to throw up a romantic tale. Foreign horses have been dominating the Cup in recent times but last year’s winner, Knight’s Choice, was a 100-1 homegrown winner that let everyone know that every battler still has its day.

Robbie Dolan returning to scale on Knights choice after winning the 2024 Melbourne cup.

NOV 14-23: BEACH VOLLEYBALL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, ADELAIDE

With Brisbane hosting the Olympics and Paralympics in 2032, pretty much every sport in the world is coming Down Under in the lead up to hold a major test event. An Aussie favourite, the beach volleyball world champs will be one of the best.

LATE NOV: AUSTRALIAN OPEN GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP

Australia is blessed with so many talented golfers and so many great courses that every tournament is something to savour but the national open - held as co men and women’s event in recent years - remains the title every professional desperately wants to win.

NOV 21-JAN 8: MEN’S ASHES SERIES

Nothing brings Australians together more than playing England in cricket. The Aussies have held the Ashes uninterrupted since 2017 but the Poms drew the last series at home so it’ll be a cracker five-Test showdown next Summer.

DEC 26: START OF SYDNEY TO HOBART

A sight to behold when the fleet sets off from Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day, the tragic deaths of two sailors in 2024 were a reminder of how dangerous Australia’s most famous ocean water classic is.

Originally published as Australian sporting calendar 2025: 25 must-see events