AFLX, the League's high-octane version of the sport, will debut on February 15 next year with the AFL including traditional soccer and rugby venues among the venues for three separate round-robin tournaments.
The modified game will be played in three cities across three nights, with six AFL clubs represented in each competition.
AFL.com.au can exclusively reveal that Adelaide will host the first round-robin at Hindmarsh Stadium on a Thursday night, the week before the JLT Community Series begins.
The Crows and Port Adelaide will be joined by Collingwood, West Coast, Fremantle and Geelong in the first ever AFLX tournament.
The fast-paced game will then head to Melbourne's Etihad Stadium on February 16, where the Demons, North Melbourne, St Kilda, Carlton, Hawthorn and Essendon will compete under Friday night lights.
The action then heads north to Allianz Stadium in Sydney on Saturday, February 17 when the Swans, Greater Western Sydney, the Brisbane Lions, Western Bulldogs, Richmond and Gold Coast will face off.
AFLX pre-season fixture
Pool A, Hindmarsh Stadium, Thursday February 15
Adelaide, Collingwood, Fremantle, Geelong, Port Adelaide, West Coast
Pool B, Etihad Stadium, Friday February 16
Carlton, Essendon, Hawthorn, Melbourne, North Melbourne, St Kilda
Pool C, Allianz Stadium, Saturday February 17
Brisbane Lions, Gold Coast, Greater Western Sydney, Richmond, Sydney, Western Bulldogs
AFLX was trialled by North Melbourne during last year's pre-season, while VFL clubs Port Melbourne and Coburg have also experienced the shortened format.
AFL general manager of game development Andrew Dillon said AFLX was an exciting alternative that could be used to take the game overseas.
"AFLX has been created to provide us with the options to play a form of the game in places where oval grounds are limited and to showcase our game internationally at a point in the future," Dillon said.
"Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide have each been chosen to host the individual tournaments with six clubs playing against each other in a round-robin format.
"The decision to hold three individual tournaments during the men's 2018 pre-season period has been chosen to introduce clubs, their players, their fans and the wider public to the AFLX game,” he said.
All 18 AFL clubs were provided with an AFLX document on Friday afternoon, which outlines the fixture and format of the tournament.
Clubs are yet to be shown a detailed brief of all the rules, but will be informed in due course.
Each AFLX tournament will consist of six teams, divided into two pools of three.
Teams in the same pool will play against each other once, with the top team from each pool facing off in a Grand Final.
Games will consist of two 10-minute halves with a two-minute break at half-time.
AFLX will be played on a rectangular field with dimensions similar to that of a soccer field, with 10 players per team.
It is a seven-a-side format with three players on the bench and there is no limit to rotations.
In order to create a fast and free-flowing game, the last touch out-of-bounds rule has been introduced, while the ball will be kicked in after all scores.
To promote high scoring, the League has also introduced a 10-point super goal for majors kicked from outside the 40m arcs.
Two field umpires will adjudicate the shorter format, while two boundary umpires and two goal umpires will also be required.
