AFL CEO Andrew Dillon says the start of the 2025 NAB AFLW season will be brought forward as the competition expands to 12 games per team.
The past two AFLW seasons and the current one have all started in late August during the pre-finals bye in the men's competition, giving the women's teams clear air for the opening week of a new campaign.
But with the competition expanding from 10 games in 2023 to 11 this year and 12 in 2025, starting so late in the year would likely necessitate pushing the Grand Final as late as mid-December.
The expansion to 11 games this year has led to a rush of midweek games to ensure the season does not finish too late in the year.
Dillon said while starting the W competition in late August during a week without men's football has been a proven success, the expansion to a 12-game season would require an earlier start date.
"I think next year as it goes to 12 it will necessitate us bringing the season forward and into the men's (home-and-away) season," Dillon said on Fox Footy.
"Then the conversation will be (about) how much earlier do we bring it forward and when do we want to finish the season?
"We still want to be playing through October and November, I think that's really important for us. It's just when we start and trying to get that right.
"We've already been speaking to the players about their views on how they've gone with the compression this year and how it might look for next year."
When asked if the season could start as early as July to coincide with the bye rounds in the men's competition, Dillon said: "I'm not ruling that out, but we just need to work through it.
"What we saw when we had round one (during the men's pre-finals bye), the TV ratings and the number of people watching those games was the highest we've had by a fair way.
"So finding time for W to have its ability to shine and get those primetime slots is really important."
Earlier on Wednesday, AFL football boss Laura Kane backed the scheduling of midweek games this year and flagged double-headers with men's matches could be a possibility in future seasons.
"The (fixture) compression has been really interesting," Kane said.
"I have personally loved watching football every single night. It feels like something like 27 of 32 nights or days there's AFLW footy on.
"I've loved the Tuesday night games, tuning in on the couch or going out if the games are local to me. We're really pleased with the game, and we know that there is so much growth ahead of us.
"I think there's a movement in women's sport that everyone's excited about, and that's something that we will continue to work on, push and get more people, more eyeballs.
"Growth is our next frontier. I love AFLW and I know it will continue to grow."
Having been played in February-March between 2017-2020, the AFLW expanded to a January-April window in 2021 and 2022 before it was shifted to an August start.
