Get ready for more Thursday night football in 2024.
The AFL will release the fixture later this week with a number of changes to previous years.
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Among the changes is an increase to games played in the primetime slot on Thursday night.
The timeslot has proven to be a huge success for the AFL with TV ratings through the roof, as well as strong crowds.
Last year, Thursday night footy featured for the first five weeks of the season, but then the rounds moved to a more traditional Friday to Sunday.
Richmond and Carlton will once again feature on Thursday night in 2024. Credit: Getty Images
The feature slot returned in Round 13 during the bye weeks and ran for an additional six weeks for a total of 11 Thursday night games across the home and away season.
But new CEO Andrew Dillon has revealed next year’s fixture will have Thursday night games in the first 14 rounds of the season.
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“Thursday night footy is a big hit, really popular with our fans, great for people to watch it on free to air around the country,” Dillon told 7NEWS.
“When we announce the fixture you’ll see the first 14 rounds will have Thursday night footy so I think everyone will be excited about that.”
The AFL will also confirm the new-look start to the season on Wednesday.
In a break from tradition, the season will begin with four matches in New South Wales and Queensland in what has been labelled ‘Round Zero’.
“We’ve got a really unique opportunity with access to venues in New South Wales and Queensland a week earlier so we will have four big marquee slots for the first round,” Dillon said.
It’s been reported the eight teams in action on the opening weekend will be Brisbane, Carlton, Collingwood, GWS Giants, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Richmond and Sydney.
Round 1 will then follow with all 18 teams in action, headlined by the annual Richmond-Carlton blockbuster on Thursday night.
The eight teams that feature in the first week of the season will likely have a bye early in the year – within the first eight rounds of the season.
Gather Round in Adelaide is locked in for the first weekend of April with the full schedule released last weekend.
The full AFL fixture is expected to be released on Thursday.
AFL GATHER ROUND 2024 (all times local)
Thursday, April 4
Adelaide v Melbourne, Adelaide Oval, 7.10pm
Friday, April 5
Brisbane Lions v North Melbourne, Norwood Oval, 4.40pm
Port Adelaide v Essendon, Adelaide Oval, 7.40pm
Saturday, April 6
Sydney v West Coast, Mount Barker, 1.00pm
Carlton v Fremantle, Adelaide Oval, 3.50pm
Geelong v Western Bulldogs, Adelaide Oval, 7.40pm
Sunday, April 7
Gold Coast v GWS, Mount Barker, 12.00pm
Richmond v St Kilda, Norwood Oval, 2.50pm
Collingwood v Hawthorn, Adelaide Oval, 4.40pm
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