AFL innovates with 2024 fixtures

The AFL's 'Opening Round' of its 2024 season is to kick off with four marquee games in NSW and Queensland - with all four teams from the northern states to host Victorian rivals for the first premiership points of the year.

The season will officially start with a Sydney-Melbourne clash at the SCG on Thursday 7th March, with the Brisbane Lions to host Carlton at the Gabba on Friday 8th March.

Saturday 9th March will see Gold Coast take on Richmond at Heritage Bank Stadium followed by GWS hosting reigning premiers Collingwood at Giants Stadium later that night.

With the Lions v Blues and Giants v Magpies being rematches of last season's preliminary finals, the AFL hopes that the fixtures will create significant interest in will give it a leg up in NSW and Queensland.

Announcing the fixtures, AFL Chief Executive, Andrew Dillon commented “we were fortunate to be in a position where we were able to have access to our major venues in Queensland and New South Wales a weekend earlier than usual which gave us a unique opportunity to play these four games in key markets where footy continues to grow in popularity.

"The four match-ups are big, with four of our biggest supported Victorian clubs travelling north, and we look forward to starting our season with real momentum before we head into a blockbuster round of matches in round one."

AFL Gather Round
The AFL has also announced details for next year's Gather Round, with all 18 teams again travelling to Adelaide in April.

The inaugural event was held in Adelaide earlier this year, and it was later confirmed the state would host for another three years.

The four-day program will begin on 4th April with five games at Adelaide Oval, two at Norwood Oval in the eastern suburbs, and two in the Adelaide Hills town of Mount Barker.

The three venues remain the same as the inaugural event, despite calls for other regional centres such as Mount Gambier or the wine region of the Barossa Valley having been considered.

Noting that the inaugural Gather Round this year was an "overwhelming success, with all nine games sold out", Dillon added “we saw more than 260,000 fans attend, more than 40,000 people travelling in from interstate and over 1,000 player appearances across local footy clubs and schools.”

The four-day event will also include a food and wine festival at Norwood, and a family-friendly Footy Festival in Adelaide's CBD.

Image: Adelaide Oval will be the centrepiece of the AFL's 2024 Gather Round.