The 2025 AFL season is the 129th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest-level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season features 18 clubs and will run from 7 March to 27 September, comprising a 23-match home-and-away season over 25 rounds, followed by a four-week finals series featuring the top eight clubs.
In September 2022, the AFL announced a seven-year, $4.5 billion broadcast rights deal with the Seven Network, Foxtel and Telstra, the biggest sports broadcast rights deal in Australian history, effective from the 2025 season.[1] Key points of the deal included:
Seven and its streaming service 7plus would broadcast Thursday night, Friday night, Sunday afternoon and all marquee matches, with the first 16[a] rounds of the home-and-away season featuring Thursday night matches.[2]
Foxtel and its streaming service Kayo would broadcast every match of the season outside of the grand final,[2] and would utilise its own commentary teams and graphics for all matches for the first time;[4] another Foxtel streaming service, Binge, would also simulcast some matches and include other Foxtel football programs.[5]
All Saturday matches outside of marquee matches would 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 would be exclusive to Seven.[2]
Seven would broadcast matches involving non-Victorian clubs live into their local markets, outside of select matches on delay.[2]
Ahead of the season's fixture release in November, the AFL further elaborated that the home-and-away season would feature Thursday night matches in 23 of the 25 rounds, with each of the first 16 rounds plus seven other rounds – as part of a floating fixture to be determined later in the season – having matches scheduled on Thursday nights.[3] The following day, the AFL announced the addition on Sunday night matches as a semi-regular fixture in 2025, with nine of the first 16 rounds featuring a Sunday night match.[6] In the same month, Adelaide[7] and St Kilda unveiled new club logos,[8] while Gold Coast unveiled a new logo and playing guernseys as part of a rebrand of the club.[9] A match between the Indigenous All-Stars and Fremantle took place at Optus Stadium in February 2025,[10] marking the first Indigenous All-Stars match since 2015.[11]
A view of the Melbourne Cricket Ground during the Dreamtime at the 'G pre-match ceremony
The season began with Opening Round,[42] an initiative introduced in 2024, in which the New South Wales and Queensland clubs (Brisbane Lions, Gold Coast, Greater Western Sydney and Sydney) contest matches against four Victorian clubs (Geelong, Essendon, Collingwood and Hawthorn, respectively, in 2025) to open the season; the eight clubs involved would then have a bye before round 5 so that all clubs would have played the same number of matches leading into Gather Round.[43] In the two Queensland matches, the Brisbane Lions were to host Geelong and unfurl their 2024 premiership flag on 6 March to open the season,[44] and Gold Coast was to host Essendon on 8 March; however, on 4 March the decision was made to postpone both matches due to the projected impact of Cyclone Alfred, which was forecast to make landfall in Brisbane later that week.[45] The matches were rescheduled for rounds 3 and 24, respectively.[46]
The Western Bulldogs hosted a match against Collingwood at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in round 2,[47] their first home match at the venue since 2009, to celebrate the centenary of their entry into the VFL/AFL;[48] to celebrate the occasion, the club reverted to its former name, Footscray, for the round.[49] In round 5, Gather Round, which was played in South Australia for the third consecutive year, featured matches in the Barossa Valley region for the first time, with two matches played at Barossa Park, a new $40 million recreational facility in Lyndoch, along with two matches at Norwood Oval and the other five at Adelaide Oval, including two separately ticketed matches on the Saturday.[50] Hawthorn also hosted a match to celebrate its 100-year anniversary in the VFL/AFL, against Richmond in round 8.[51]
In round 11, during Sir Doug Nicholls Round, the Dreamtime at the 'G match between Essendon and Richmond was moved to the Friday night primetime slot for the first time, having traditionally been held on a Saturday night during the round;[52] two separately ticketed matches were held back-to-back the following day at Marvel Stadium, featuring several Sir Doug Nicholls Round activities in the Docklands precinct throughout the day.[6]North Melbourne commenced a new arrangement to play two of its home matches each season in Western Australia from 2025 to 2027 – each against one of the two Western Australian clubs, Fremantle and West Coast, with one match played at Hands Oval, Bunbury, and the other at Optus Stadium[53] – as part of a deal with the AFL, Tourism Western Australia and the Western Australian government to provide financial security to the club, and as part of its strategy to exit its existing deal to play home matches in Hobart, where it had played at least two per season since 2012; in 2025, the club played its Western Australian home matches consecutively, in rounds 13 and 14, and two matches in Hobart as part of the final year of the club's deal with the state.[53]
From round 16 onwards, the start times for Sunday afternoon matches televised by the Seven Network were moved forward by five minutes to avoid prolonged matches stretching past 6:00pm AEST and delaying the network's flagship Melbourne news bulletin which follows immediately after.[54]
The Brisbane Lions v Geelong and Gold Coast v Essendon matches were postponed due to the projected impact of Cyclone Alfred in south-east Queensland;[45] the matches were rescheduled for rounds 3 and 24 respectively.[46]
The Western Bulldogs reverted to their former name, Footscray, for round 2 to celebrate the centenary of the club's entry into the VFL/AFL.[49]
Collingwood players Scott Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom played their 308th match as teammates during the match against Western Bulldogs, breaking the VFL/AFL record for the most matches two teammates have played in together.[47]
The crowd of 78,027 for the Western Bulldogs v Collingwood match is the largest crowd for a home-and-away match involving the Western Bulldogs.[56]
Adelaide's score of 25.11 (161) against Essendon was the highest by a non-Victorian club at the Melbourne Cricket Ground since 2013.[57]
Adelaide's win over Essendon was its first at the Melbourne Cricket Ground since 2017, ending a streak[57] of eleven matches without a win at the venue.[58]
The crowd of 65,680 for the St Kilda v Carlton match is the largest crowd for a home-and-away match between the two clubs.[68]
The average winning margin during round 9 was 10.33 points, the lowest in a home-and-away round since 1970, with eight of the nine matches decided by 15 points or less.[69]
Six clubs rebranded themselves with Indigenous names across the two weeks of Sir Doug Nicholls Round: Adelaide (Kuwarna), Fremantle (Walyalup), Melbourne (Narrm), Port Adelaide (Yartapuulti), St Kilda (Euro-Yroke) and West Coast (Waalitj Marawar).[70]
The crowd of 67,697 for the Collingwood v Adelaide match is the largest crowd for a home-and-away match involving Adelaide.[71]
West Coast's win over St Kilda ended an eleven-match losing streak.[72]
Six clubs rebranded themselves with Indigenous names across the two weeks of Sir Doug Nicholls Round: Adelaide (Kuwarna), Fremantle (Walyalup), Melbourne (Narrm), Port Adelaide (Yartapuulti), St Kilda (Euro-Yroke) and West Coast (Waalitj Marawar).[70]
The crowd of 57,919 for the Hawthorn v Brisbane Lions match is the largest crowd for a match between the two clubs.[73]
The crowd of 13,486 for the St Kilda v Gold Coast match is the smallest crowd for a St Kilda home match at Marvel Stadium.[74]
Collingwood fielded the oldest team in VFL/AFL history in its match against Gold Coast, with an average age of 29 years and 184 days.[76]
The Western Bulldogs v Adelaide match was originally scheduled to be played at Mars Stadium, but was moved to Marvel Stadium to allow for increased attendance while the former underwent redevelopment.[77]
Gold Coast's 66-point win over the Brisbane Lions was its biggest win in a QClash.[80]
Adelaide's 98-point win over Port Adelaide was the biggest win by either team in a Showdown.[81]
Port Adelaide's score of 5.5 (35) against Adelaide was its lowest score in a Showdown.[82]
St Kilda trailed Melbourne by 46 points at three-quarter time and went on to win, recording the biggest comeback from a three-quarter time deficit in VFL/AFL history; Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera (St Kilda) kicked the final two goals of the game, the first from a set shot with eight seconds remaining to level scores after taking a spectacular mark inside forward 50, and the second after Melbourne made a 6–6–6 rule infringement at the following centre bounce, with Wanganeen-Milera marking the resultant free kick and kicking the winning goal after the final siren.[83]
The crowd of 54,302 for the Fremantle v Brisbane Lions match is Fremantle's largest home crowd for a home-and-away match outside of a Western Derby.[86]
The crowd of 54,283 for the Adelaide v Collingwood match was the largest crowd for an AFL match at Adelaide Oval.[87]
Adelaide's win over Collingwood was its first since 2016, ending a ten-match losing streak and eleven-match winless streak.[88]
Boundary umpires Greta Miller and Melissa Sambrooks became the first female boundary umpires to officiate an AFL match during the Essendon v Carlton match.[89]
Gold Coast's 95-point win over Essendon was the biggest in its history.[90]
The following table can be sorted from biggest winning margin to biggest losing margin for each round. If multiple matches in a round are decided by the same margin, these margins are sorted by percentage (i.e. the lowest-scoring winning team is ranked highest and the lowest-scoring losing team is ranked lowest). Home matches are in bold, neutral matches (Gather Round) are underlined, postponed matches are italicised and opponents are listed above the margins.
The Brisbane Lions recorded their longest unbeaten start to a season, winning their first five matches.[97]
Gold Coast recorded its longest unbeaten start to a season, winning its first four matches.[98]
West Coast recorded its longest winless start to a season,[99] losing its first nine matches,[100] and only won one match for the season, the fewest in a season in the club's history and the fewest in a season by any club since Greater Western Sydney won one match in 2013.[101]
Essendon fielded 15 debutants during the season, breaking the AFL era record[102] (excluding expansion teams) of 13 set by Fitzroy in 1991.[103]
Adelaide won 18 matches during the home-and-away season, the most in the club's history, to win the minor premiership;[104] however, the club lost both of its finals, becoming the first minor premier to do so since North Melbourne in 1983.[96]
Gold Coast won 15 matches during the home-and-away season, the most in the club's history,[105] to finish seventh and qualify for finals for the first time, having never previously finished higher than twelfth since its first AFL season in 2011.[90]
↑ The deal originally covered the first 15 rounds,[2] however with the addition of Opening Round, this was extended to 16 rounds ahead of the 2025 season.[3]
↑ Whiting, Michael (13 February 2025). "Fagan's Forever Home". lions.com.au. AFL.com.au. Archived from the original on 15 February 2025. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
Known as the Victorian Football League from 1897–1989; no grand finals were held in 1897 and 1924
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