AFL’s 2025 fixture to include 23 Thursday night fixtures
The AFL has answered the calls of footy fans by scheduling Thursday night football in almost every round for 2025. See which games are scheduled for the first 16 rounds.
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AFL fans will feast on a smorgasbord of Thursday night football with 23 games locked away for next season’s home and away season.
AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon has confirmed Thursday night football will become the centrepiece of the 2025 fixture - which will be released on Thursday - with only two rounds not including the popular time-slot.
The move to own Thursday nights next season coincides with the first-year of the AFL’s new $4.5 billion broadcasting rights deal.
“There has been a strong desire from fans and our broadcast partners for more Thursday night football and we are excited to be able to deliver in spades next season,” Dillon said.
“Fans will be able to take in a total of 23 games of Thursday night football next season, which is more than there has ever been.”
The 2025 season will start on a Thursday night this year when reigning premiers Brisbane Lions host Geelong at the Gabba, while the traditional round 1 Carlton and Richmond clash will also be played in the same time-slot.
Thursday night matches will feature in the first 16 weeks of the season as the AFL looks to cash in on what will become the kick-off point to every round.
Seven of the final nine rounds in the floating fixture will also have Thursday night games, which allows the AFL some flexibility required around scheduling heading towards the finals.
Fifteen of the 18 clubs will play in at least one Thursday night game in the first 16 weeks.
Essendon will be the main beneficiary in that time, playing four Thursday night games, including round three against Port Adelaide at Marvel Stadium and away clashes with Brisbane Lions and Fremantle in the middle stages of the season.
Brisbane, Western Bulldogs, Hawthorn, Geelong and Carlton will play on three Thursday nights in the first 16 weeks.
Among the blockbuster Thursday night matches in the first half of the season include a Carlton-Hawthorn contest in round 2, a Collingwood-Carlton clash in round 4, a Good Friday Eve Brisbane-Collingwood game in round 6 and the Anzac Eve pairing of Melbourne and Richmond in round 7.
The MCG and Marvel Stadium will host four Thursday night matches, with the Gabba set for three, Perth Stadium to host two and Adelaide Oval, GMHBA Stadium and TIO Stadium one.
The number of Thursday night games has steadily increased in recent years, rising from nine in 2022 to 14 this year.
PRIMETIME HAWKS SET TO SOAR AGAINST FIERCE RIVALS
— Jay Clark
Hawthorn is set to start the new season with a bang as the AFL strongly considers handing the Hawks back-to-back Friday night games across the first fortnight of 2025.
The Herald Sun can reveal the league on Tuesday was weighing up whether to lock in the Hawthorn versus Essendon MCG blockbuster on Friday night in round 1.
It would mean Sam Mitchell’s men play Friday night against Sydney Swans at the SCG in Opening Round and then against the Bombers at the MCG the following week.
While the AFL was still working through its fixture options ahead of the release on Thursday, and could still make changes, it is clear the Hawks will be back in the prime time slots in 2025.
The league is clearly keen to capitalise on one of the most exciting and flamboyant teams in the competition who recovered from a terrible 0-5 start to play finals last season.
And the television audience and ticket sales are expected to increase on the back of a big trade period landing star defenders Tom Barrass (West Coast) and Josh Battle (St Kilda)
But it is in the forward half where livewires Jack Ginnivan and Nick Watson and jack-in-the-box Mabior Chol have thrilled crowds with their goal kicking flair and impromptu celebrations.
Captain James Sicily could also be swung forward next year to add to the forward riches following the acquisitions of Barrass and Battle to solidify the defence in a major positional change.
Said one senior club official on Tuesday, the Hawks will be “one of the hottest tickets in town” in the early part of next season as the club aims to continue its rise.
The Hawks are set to feature regularly in prime time across 2025, helping fill the club’s coffers with extra exposure for sponsors and bumper crowds in big games under lights.
It is a reward for the club’s sharp on-field rise last season with the Hawks underlining their destination club status in the exchange period.
It will be the third-straight year Essendon and Hawthorn play each other in round 1 as the two clubs, who share one of the best rivalries in football, attempt to build on the fixture.
The Bombers won both encounters in 2023-24, but the Hawks will start favourites on the back of a trip to the SCG the week before.
For the Bombers it means Brad Scott’s men will start the season with back-to-back away games after opening their 2025 campaign against Gold Coast the week before.
Essendon, which has headed back to the draft this year as it attempts to build more youth, would be certain to play a home game in Round 2.
The AFL will unveil the 2025 fixture on Thursday afternoon.
DONS SENT DOWN THE HIGHWAY AGAIN IN 2025
- Scott Gullan
Essendon will make a rare trip down the highway in 2025 as part of Geelong’s 10-game home ground bonanza.
Apart from the Covid season in 2021, the Bombers round 18 game at GMHBA Stadium in 2023 was the first time they’d ventured down the Princes Highway since 1993.
The Cats have requested more games against the “big” Victorian clubs at its newly renovated boutique stadium with a proposal to have them play each of them at least once in a five-year rotation.
Capacity is now around 40,000 with the economic benefits for the surrounding Geelong area of each AFL game now valued at between $5-6 million.
This was a major negotiating tool for Cats CEO Steve Hocking when pushing for 10 games at the home venue, the first time that has happened in Geelong since 1996.
During Covid the AFL scheduled a number of non-Geelong games at Kardinia Park – the Bombers played Gold Coast – in the abbreviated season.
Essendon hasn’t had a great strike rate at the Cats home, losing by 77 points two years ago and also going down by 32 points back in round 21, 1993.
The Bombers last win against Geelong at the venue was in round 18, 1990.
Originally published as AFL’s 2025 fixture to include 23 Thursday night fixtures
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