The AFL today released the fixture for the 2015 Toyota AFL Premiership Season, which will kick off on the Easter Weekend across April 2-5.

AFL Chief Executive Officer Gillon McLachlan and AFL General Manager Broadcasting, Scheduling and Major Projects Simon Lethlean released the fixture today, which retains the key elements from 2014 with a 23-round season for all clubs to play 11 home and 11 away games. The season structure will have 20 rounds of nine matches and three rounds across rounds 11/12/13 where six matches will be played each week, enabling six clubs to have a bye in each round.

Mr McLachlan said the fixture included a number of significant decisions around timeslots and match placements in various states, to best reflect the differing needs of fans in various parts of the country.

In Victoria in 2015, there will be a renewed focus on weekend afternoon football with 20 Saturday day games and 27 Sunday day games for a total of 47 weekend day games overall in Victoria, increasing from the 34 weekend day games in 2014 that were broken down into 14 Saturday afternoon games and 20 Sunday afternoon games. A further two holiday Monday afternoon matches will again be played on Easter Monday and Queen’s Birthday Monday.

Among the Saturday afternoon games in 2015 will be Carlton v Essendon / Essendon v Collingwood / Richmond v Geelong Cats / Hawthorn v Essendon / Essendon v Melbourne / Collingwood v Melbourne / Collingwood v Carlton and Collingwood v Richmond.

In 2015, the timeslot for Saturday night matches in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland will come forward by 20 minutes from 7.40pm to 7.20pm, while start times will remain at 7.10pm for Saturday matches in South Australia and 5.40pm in Western Australia, Mr McLachlan said.

“The feedback from country-based fans and those fans with younger children is that this time slot change on the eastern seaboard is a significant factor for their ability to attend night matches,” Mr McLachlan said.

“Across the country, we have sought to work with the respective clubs in each state for the best timeslots for fans in those parts of the country and, while we cannot meet all requests, we believe there are significant moves as part of today’s fixture release that will be well received, depending on the different needs and requests of fans in different parts of Australia.

Among those changes, Mr McLachlan said, would be a focus on Saturday twilight football for the Gold Coast, no early start-time matches for the two WA-based clubs at Patersons Stadium and an increase in the number of day matches played in Victoria.

“After our trials with a number of different timeslots in 2014, I can confirm the AFL will play no Sunday night matches anywhere in Australia in 2015 and we have also removed the recent use of the Monday night match as part of Mother’s Day round from our fixture,” Mr McLachlan said.

The 2015 Toyota AFL Premiership Season will open immediately after the conclusion to the Cricket World Cup, which enables the AFL to have access to all major venues. Carlton will host Richmond at the MCG on Easter Thursday with round one to be concluded on Easter Monday with back-to-back premiers Hawthorn to host the Geelong Cats.

A total of 198 home and away matches of season 2015 will be played in venues throughout every state and territory, with matches outside the regular capital cities to be played in Cairns (one), Darwin (one), Alice Springs (one), Hobart (three), Canberra (three) and Launceston (four), as well as one game in New Zealand for the third successive year.

St Kilda will host Carlton in Wellington as the first match on ANZAC Day, Saturday April 25, 2015, and the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli will see five matches played on the day, starting with the game in New Zealand and then followed by Essendon v Collingwood (MCG), GWS Giants v Gold Coast Suns (Canberra, StarTrack Oval), Port Adelaide v Hawthorn (Adelaide Oval) and the Len Hall Tribute Match at Patersons Stadium in Perth between Fremantle and the Sydney Swans.

Mr McLachlan said the fixture was constructed with the primary aim to maximise attendances at all matches to enable fans to access the game in strong numbers, as well as to continue to build the AFL game as the number one code in this country.

"The fixture has many constraints, which are well-known to our fans and across the competition, and equity around the fixture, when all teams do not play each other both home and away, is a key priority," he said.

In the construction of this year’s fixture, the final 2014 ladder was grouped into the top six teams, middle six teams and bottom six teams with regard to better managing the equality of double match-ups for all clubs in 2015.

  • Sides ranked 1-6 on the ladder have a minimum of two double-meetings with other top six sides and a maximum of three meetings with sides ranked 1-6. They have a minimum of one double-meeting of sides ranked 7-12 and a maximum of two double-meetings of sides in the 7-12 range. They have either no double meetings or a maximum of one double meeting with a side ranked 13-18.
  • Sides ranked 7-12 on the ladder have a minimum of one double-meeting with sides ranked 1-6 on the ladder and a maximum of two meetings with sides ranked 1-6. They have a minimum of two double-meetings of sides ranked 7-12 and a maximum of three double-meetings of sides 7-12. They have a minimum of one double-meeting of sides ranked 13-18 and a maximum of two double-meetings of sides ranked 13-18.
  • Sides ranked 13-18 on the ladder have either no double meeting or a maximum of one double meeting with a side ranked 1-6. They have a minimum of one double-meeting with sides ranked 7-12 and a maximum of two double-meetings of sides ranked 7-12. They have a minimum of two double-meetings of sides ranked 13-18 and a maximum of three double-meetings of sides 13-18.

A standard round, as part of the AFL’s agreement with the Seven Network and Foxtel/FOX FOOTY, will continue to feature one Friday night match, two Saturday afternoon matches, one Saturday twilight match, two Saturday night matches, one early Sunday match, one Sunday afternoon match and one Sunday twilight match.

Key features of the 2015 Toyota AFL Premiership Season include:

  • Opening Round to commence on Thursday April 2, with a Thursday night match between Carlton and Richmond.
  • Round 1 to continue over Easter, with the Sydney Swans to face off against Essendon at ANZ Stadium on Saturday twilight, while Brisbane Lions’ new recruit Dayne Beams will immediately face his former club Collingwood at the Gabba. Back to back premiers Hawthorn and the Geelong Cats will close out the holiday weekend with an Easter Monday blockbuster at the MCG.
  • New timeslot for Saturday night matches in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland start times to come forward by 20 minutes from 7.40pm to 7.20pm.  
  • Paterson Stadium to host a Friday night match in Round 2 with West Coast to meet Carlton with big matches involving last year’s finalists both at Adelaide Oval (Port Adelaide v Sydney Swans) and Simonds Stadium (Geelong v Fremantle).
  • Seven matches to be played in Tasmania, with North Melbourne to now play three home matches at Hobart’s Blundstone Arena for the first time, against Richmond (Round Six), West Coast (Round 10) and St Kilda (Round 20), while Hawthorn will play four matches at Launceston’s Aurora Stadium, hosting Western Bulldogs (Round Three), Gold Coast Suns (Round Nine), Fremantle (Round 15) and Brisbane Lions (Round 22).
  • GWS GIANTS to host three matches at Canberra’s StarTrack Oval, in Rounds Two, Four and 17, against Melbourne, the Gold Coast SUNS and the Geelong Cats.
  • Two matches in the Northern Territory with Melbourne to host Port Adelaide in Round nine in Alice Springs and then hosting West Coast in Darwin in round 14.
  • Western Bulldogs vs. Gold Coast Suns match at Cazalys Stadium in Cairns will take place in Round 15.
  • Five Thursday night matches across the season with one to be played at the MCG, one to be played at the SCG, one at Patersons Stadium and two at the Adelaide Oval. Four Thursday night matches will be played in consecutive weeks from rounds 12-15 when the AFL is able to manage appropriate breaks for all competing clubs around the bye rounds.
  • Essendon’s turn to host Collingwood on ANZAC Day at the MCG as one of five games on the day, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli. St Kilda will play Carlton at Wellington as the opening game, while Canberra will see the GWS Giants host the Gold Coast Suns in the twilight slot before night matches involving Port Adelaide and Hawthorn at the Adelaide Oval and Fremantle to host the traditional Len Hall tribute match in Perth against the Sydney Swans.
  • Carlton coach Michael Malthouse to break former Collingwood coach Jock McHale’s all-time VFL/AFL coaching record of 714 games with his 715th senior game as a coach, against his former team Collingwood, under lights on Friday night in round five at the MCG.
  • The removal of Monday night from the 2015 fixture in round six, across the Mother’s Day weekend, will six games played on the Saturday in this round with a second twilight match that afternoon featuring the GWS Giants against Hawthorn at Spotless Stadium.
  • The rematch between 2014 Toyota AFL Grand Final opponents Hawthorn and the Sydney Swans to take place in Round Eight at the MCG, before a return meeting in Round 16 of the season at ANZ Stadium.
  • Indigenous Round to be celebrated in Round Nine, highlighted by the showpiece Richmond vs. Essendon “Dreamtime at the ‘G” match on the Saturday night.
  • A mid-season break for all clubs to be spread across Rounds 11, 12 and 13. Six matches will be played in each round, enabling six clubs to enjoy a bye across each of the three weeks.
  • Melbourne and Collingwood to meet in the traditional Queen’s Birthday Monday holiday match at the MCG in Round 10.
  • The Adelaide Crows to celebrate their 25th season in the national competition with a round 12 encounter against reigning premier Hawthorn, the club they played in their first-ever match in 1991.
  • Multicultural Round to be celebrated in Round 19.
  • Intra-state rivalries in Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and New South Wales to be maintained with two Q-Clashes between the Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast SUNS (Rounds Five and 19), two derbies between the West Coast Eagles and Fremantle (Rounds Three and 20), two Showdowns between the Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide (Rounds Five and 16) and two derbies between the Sydney Swans and GWS GIANTS (Rounds Three and 21).
  • Matches scheduled both home and away between strong-drawing Victorian clubs to maximise attendances and television audiences – Carlton-Richmond (Rounds One and 15); Hawthorn-Geelong Cats (Rounds 1 and 20); Essendon-Hawthorn (Rounds Two and 13); Essendon-Collingwood (Rounds Four and 23); Carlton-Collingwood (Rounds Five and 19); Collingwood-Geelong Cats (Rounds Six and 22); Richmond-Collingwood (Rounds Seven and 21) and Richmond-Essendon (Rounds Nine and 22).
  • No teams to play each other for the second time until after Round 10. There must also be a minimum of six weeks between clubs’ first and second meetings.
  • All clubs to play each other once by Round 22.
  • Minimum six-day break for all clubs between each match.
  • All Victorian-based clubs to travel interstate on a minimum of five occasions.
  • All clubs to play at least one match at the MCG, as part of a minimum four in Victoria.
  • Round 23 matches to remain as a floating fixture to maximise scheduling flexibility for the first week of the 2015 Toyota AFL Finals Series.

Mr Lethlean said all clubs had been consulted in relation to their fixture over the last fortnight with the document completed after discussions with the AFL's broadcast partners - the Seven Network, Fox Footy and Telstra – and venues.

For fans seeking to book travel for next year’s fixture, Any Game Anywhere is the AFL’s official destination for fans to tailor their ultimate footy getaway.  The website provides access to tickets for every game, Virgin Australia airfares, a wide range of accommodation and tourist attractions anywhere AFL games are being played in 2015.

The website will be loaded with the 2015 fixture and available for sale on release of the fixture at www.anygameanywhere.com.au.