HAWTHORN will be the primetime king of 2025, following its whirlwind rise up the ladder last season, with the Hawks scheduled to play seven Thursday or Friday night games in the opening 16 rounds.
As the League officially released its fixture for the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season, the other big Melbourne club to fare well was Essendon, matching the Hawks with seven games in those coveted timeslots.
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At the other end of the spectrum, preliminary finalist Port Adelaide will be seen just once on a Thursday night, with run-and-gun Greater Western Sydney missing from the Thursday and Friday night action.
The AFL revealed the complete fixture for the first 16 rounds, while also releasing the match-ups and venues for the entire home and away season.
The timeslots for games from round 16-23 will be announced later in the season, while the schedule for round 24 won't be finalised until much closer to the final round as the AFL seeks to fixture the biggest games in the most valuable timeslots.
In other key details from the 2025 fixture:
- Thursday night footy will feature in 23 of the 25 home and away rounds, including every week for the first 16 rounds of the season;
- There will be nine Sunday night games in the first 16 rounds, including Easter Sunday and King's Birthday Eve;
- Gather Round returns for a third year, and will feature two matches at a new venue in the Barossa Valley;
- The season will again begin with Opening Round held in NSW and Queensland, with reigning premier Brisbane to start the season against Geelong on Thursday, March 6.
Port will not have to wait long to face off against its former star and two-time All-Australian Dan Houston, who will line up for his new team Collingwood against the Power at the MCG in round one (the second week of the season).
New Geelong midfielder Bailey Smith is scheduled to line up against his old Western Bulldogs teammates on a Thursday night in round 11 at GMHBA Stadium.
Fifteen of the 18 clubs are scheduled to play in the Thursday night timeslot during the first 16 rounds.
The Hawks have the most Friday night fixtures with four, and their round 14 game against Adelaide will be played at the University of Tasmania Stadium in a historic event, marking the first time Friday night football has been held in Launceston.
Carlton and Collingwood are also regulars during primetime, with three games apiece on both Thursday and Friday nights.
Reigning premier Brisbane has just two Friday night slots to go with three Thursdays, a total matched by Geelong and the Western Bulldogs.
The Lions and Sydney will square off in a Grand Final rematch at the SCG in round one.
The Western Bulldogs will host St Kilda in the Easter Sunday night clash in round six, ahead of the traditional Easter Monday blockbuster between Geelong and Hawthorn.
Brisbane and Gold Coast will square off in a round eight QClash at the Gabba for a second straight year on Queensland's Labor Day long weekend, while Essendon and Carlton will play at the MCG in round 13 on King's Birthday Eve.
And the traditional Dreamtime at the 'G clash, which is the showpiece game of Sir Doug Nicholls Round, will be played on a Friday night for the first time between Essendon and Richmond.
"We are pleased to offer fans more Thursday nights than ever this season with 23 matches set to be played across the season," AFL Head of Broadcast and Scheduling Josh Bowler said.
"Sunday nights proved to be very popular last season and we have a number of marquee matches slated for this time slot, including Gather Round, Easter Sunday, Queensland Labour Day Eve, WA Day Eve and King's Birthday Eve.
"We understand our fans want certainty and in these first 16 weeks we have scheduled a number of exciting marquee matches that our fans can plan around while the dates for Rounds 16 to 23 will be confirmed four to six weeks out, and round 24 to remain floating."
