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Australian Football League: Dates, teams, location, format, history and more

The pinnacle of Australian Rules Football, the AFL consists of 18 teams from across Australia competing for a place in the Grand Final to win the Premiership Cup.

Australian Rules

Australian Football League dates

The 2025 Australian Football League will take place between Thursday 6th March and Saturday 27th September.

Australian Football League teams

The 2025 Australian Football League will see 18 teams compete for a place in the grand final to win the Premiership Cup.

The competing teams are all placed in one league table, there are NO pools or conferences.

Full teams list:

  • Adelaide Crows

  • Brisbane Lions

  • Carlton

  • Collingwood

  • Essendon

  • Fremantle Dockers

  • Geelong Cats

  • Gold Coast Suns

  • GWS Giants

  • Hawthorn Hawks

  • Melbourne

  • North Melbourne

  • Port Adelaide

  • Richmond

  • St Kilda

  • Sydney Swans

  • West Coast Eagles

  • Western Bulldogs

Australian Football League location and venues

The 2025 Australian Football League will take place across Australia ranging all the way from Brisbane to Perth.

The 18 teams play their games across nine stadiums which play host the 414 regular season games throughout the season.

Adelaide Oval

The Adelaide Oval is based in North Adelaide and is the home venue of two sides:

  • Adelaide Crows

  • Port Adelaide

Melbourne Cricket Ground

The Melbourne Cricket Ground, sometimes referred to as the MCG, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere and the 11th largest globally.

The MCG is based in East Melbourne and is the home venue of five sides:

  • Carlton

  • Collingwood

  • Hawthorn Hawks

  • Melbourne

  • Richmond

Marvel Stadium

The Marvel Stadium is based in the suburb of Docklands in Melbourne and is the home venue of four sides:

  • Essendon

  • North Melbourne

  • St Kilda

  • Western Bulldogs

Optus Stadium

Optus Stadium is based in Perth and is the home venue for two sides:

  • Fremantle Dockers

  • West Coast Eagles

Other stadiums

There are five other stadiums used which are used for the AFL that only house one side, these are:

  • Brisbane Cricket Ground (Gabba) - Brisbane Lions
  • GMHBA Stadium - Geelong Cats
  • People First Stadium - Gold Coast Suns
  • Engie Stadium - GWS Giants
  • Sydney Cricket Ground - Sydney Swans

Australian Football League format

The regular season lasts for 24 rounds with each side facing 23 matches, 11 at home, 11 away, one neutral match and one bye. Teams receive four points for a win and two for a draw.

The top eight teams compete in a four-week finals series building up to a Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in September.

Australian Football League history

The inaugural edition of the Australian Football League took place in 1897. It was called the Victorian Football League (VFL) up until its rebrand in 1990 to reflect its national representation.

Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon share the record for the most Premiership wins, with 16 wins to their name.

The current holders of the AFL are Brisbane Lions, who won their fourth Premiership in 2024 thanks to a 60-point win over Sydney Swans in front of a record 100,013 crowd.

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