The 2026 AFL Fixture has been revealed ahead of next year's season, with all matches up until the conclusion of Round 15 locked in.
The season will run from Thursday, March 5, to Saturday, September 26, with the 2026 AFL Grand Final. The final series will get underway in the last week of August with the newly introduced Wildcard Round.
The AFL will once again rely on a 'floating fixture' from Round 16 onwards to aid its planning for the final third of the new campaign. Matchups for the final rounds of the year have been confirmed, with the dates and times of those games to be released at a later date.
Round 1 will see Essendon captain Zach Merrett make his first appearance since seeking a trade to Hawthorn over the off-season, and he will do so against the Hawks at the MCG, while new Melbourne coach Steven King will debut with the Demons against St Kilda.
Rounds 12-16 will include byes for all 18 clubs, while the sides that compete in Opening Round this year will also have early season breaks in Rounds 2, 3 and 4.
Adding to the Opening Round, the AFL has scheduled Gather Round for Round 5 and the Sir Doug Nicholls Round across Rounds 10 and 11.
With Anzac Day falling on a Saturday this year, four games will be hosted on April 25, with all of Hawthorn, Gold Coast, Port Adelaide, Geelong, Fremantle and Carlton joining Collingwood and Essendon.
In another fixture quirk, the AFL has scheduled six double-ups on Friday nights between Rounds 4 and 11, with the Sydney Derby (Round 6) and the Showdown (Round 8) among the Friday evening games that will overlap with another match.
From a primetime perspective, Hawthorn, Adelaide, and Geelong will each feature in eight Thursday or Friday night games in the first eight rounds. The Western Bulldogs and Carlton narrowly trail with seven each, while West Coast is the only club without a match in either time slot.
