Source : the age
The AFL has crowned Sydney as the primetime kings, with the Swans set to face their former star Nick Blakey in a highly anticipated grudge match in round eight, as the full 2027 fixture was released on Thursday.
New Hawk Zach Merrett won’t have to wait long to face his former side Essendon, where he had been captain and claimed seven best and fairests, with a clash between Hawthorn and the Bombers scheduled for the Saturday night of round three (April 3) at the MCG.
Sydney – whose 2026 season ended in controversy after the Pullman hotel incident, into which there is an ongoing police investigation – will appear in seven Friday night timeslots and two Thursday nights across the first 16 rounds.
Hawthorn, Adelaide and Geelong also claimed several primetime spots, with the Hawks and Crows snagging four Friday night slots while the Cats claimed three.
The Swans will face their former teammate Blakey – who left Sydney under frosty conditions and joined North Melbourne on a multimillion-dollar contract – in a clash at the SCG on May 8.
Blakey is one of five Sydney players handed season-ending suspensions by the club for their part in a wild night of partying in August.
A separate Victoria Police investigation is ongoing after three women, working as exotic dancers, variously alleged they were sexually assaulted and touched inappropriately without consent. No charges have been laid, and the investigation is ongoing into four players (Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, James Jordon and Blakey), with one (Riley Bice) being treated as a witness. The players have denied the allegations.
Similar to 2026, Collingwood have retained their primetime spots, claiming three Thursday night games and three Friday night games.
Josh Fraser, entering his first full year as senior coach at Carlton, will guide the Blues in their opening match against Richmond at the MCG on Saturday, March 20 at 12.35pm. Carlton have been given two Friday night games and two Thursday night games.
Grand finalists Fremantle and the Brisbane Lions have also been rewarded with marquee timeslots with six and four Thursday night games, respectively.
The Dockers – who fell short of their maiden grand final after an ill-fated Wharfie Time – will have an opportunity for revenge in round eight on Sunday, May 9, when they face the Lions at Optus Stadium in Perth.
Port Adelaide, GWS, Richmond, Gold Coast and Essendon will all feature on a Friday or Thursday at least once, while West Coast claimed two spots.
Meanwhile, St Kilda and North Melbourne have been snubbed from primetime footy, receiving no allocated games on either a Thursday or Friday night across the opening 16 rounds of the season.
Both the Saints and Kangaroos enter 2027 enter pressure, with North Melbourne eager to rise under new coach Jaymie Graham, who succeeded Alastair Clarkson.
Saints coach Ross Lyon is also facing the heat after a disappointing 2026 campaign in which the club failed to make an impact despite a significant recruiting spree at the end of 2025, and with superstar Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera out of contract at the end of the year.
In other fixture highlights:
- New Gold Coast player Scott Pendlebury is scheduled to face his former team Collingwood, at which he broke the AFL games record, in round 15 on Saturday, June 26 at People First Stadium in Queensland.
- After claiming three consecutive premierships with the Brisbane Lions, Lachie Neale has moved to Collingwood and will face his premiership teammates in round two at the Gabba.
- New Bulldog Zak Butters will face his old side Port Adelaide in a Gather Round blockbuster at Adelaide Oval in April.
- As previously revealed, Essendon and Richmond will play a second Dreamtime match in 2027 and 2028, taking their rivalry to Optus Stadium in Perth.
AFL bets on Sunday nights as overlapping matches are scrapped
Peter Ryan
Sunday night football will become a feature of the AFL fixture in 2027, with a match to be played in the timeslot in each of the first 13 rounds for the first time.
The overlapping of Sunday matches that impacted viewer satisfaction at times this year will be removed, giving fans the chance to end their weekends watching three AFL matches back-to-back-to-back.
In all but rounds one and six, the first game each Sunday will start at 12.30pm, leading into a 3.15pm match and then finishing with a night game, which is defined as starting after 6pm.
Next year’s fixture marks an increase from eight Sunday night matches in the first 13 rounds in 2026, with four of the matches to be played at Marvel Stadium and one at the MCG.
When possible, the AFL has attempted to anchor the Sunday night fixtures to public holidays in the states where they are played, with two of the biggest such games reserved for Easter Sunday and the night before the King’s Birthday public holiday.
The extension of Sunday night football means nine matches will be broadcast each round on four nights of the week from Thursday to Sunday.
Marvel Stadium co-tenants the Western Bulldogs and St Kilda will clash at Marvel Stadium on Easter Sunday in round two, presenting the Saints with a tough opening to their critical 2027 season (matches against Collingwood and the Bulldogs). Luke Beveridge’s men will also be coming off a tough round one clash against the Dockers in Perth.
Essendon and Carlton will again meet on King’s Birthday eve in a match that has been locked into the fixture since 2023. Each of the four previous matches in that timeslot have attracted crowds of more than 70,000 to the MCG.
In round one, the Sunday night clash will occur when West Coast host Gold Coast in Perth in the afternoon local time, a game that will be beamed back into the eastern states on a Sunday evening.
Port Adelaide will host the Western Bulldogs as Zak Butters returns to Adelaide Oval in the red, white and blue on Sunday night during Gather Round.
Six of the eight matches played on Sunday nights in the opening 13 rounds in 2026 were played outside Victoria, but the removal of Opening Round means that nine matches will occur in each round during most of the early rounds of the season.
The AFL’s first attempt to regularly lock Sunday nights into the fixture stalled after a night match in the middle of winter in 2014 between Carlton and Collingwood attracted just 40,939 fans.
The backlash to the six-match trial made the league gun shy about adopting the timeslot, particularly in Victoria, but they have been slowly building the number of games played then since 2025 – with careful programming in place to ensure attendances at the matches reflect the enthusiasm of television viewers.
The addition to the competition of the Tasmania Devils in 2028 could lead to each team playing 24 matches each home-and-away season, up from 23.
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Hannah Kennelly is an award-winning sports reporter and Formula 1 writer at The Age.Connect via email.
