AFLW 2025: Expanded Season Format Marks New Era for Women’s Football

A Historic Season for Women’s Football

The 2025 AFL Women’s season marks the tenth year of the competition, running from August 14 to November 29. The season features a comprehensive twelve-round home-and-away season, followed by a four-week finals series where the top eight clubs will compete for the premiership.

Enhanced Competition Structure

This year’s competition introduces significant changes, with AFL executive general manager Laura Kane announcing the move to a twelve-match home-and-away season played over twelve weeks. This marks a departure from the compressed fixture format tried in 2024, which had eleven matches over ten weeks.

National Representation

The competition now features 18 teams spread across five Australian states. The league maintains a strong Victorian presence with ten teams (nine in metropolitan Melbourne), while New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, and Western Australia each host two teams.

Growing Popularity and Achievement

The AFLW has established itself as one of the most popular women’s football competitions globally and ranks as the second most attended women’s football competition in Australia. The league has achieved remarkable success, attracting over 1 million attendees and 2 million viewers since its inception. It consistently ranks among Australia’s top three most-watched women’s sporting competitions, alongside cricket and netball.

Prize Money Equality

In a landmark development, incoming AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon has announced that AFLW will receive equal prize money to the AFL. The prize money for AFLW players will nearly double from $623,922 to $1.1 million, to be distributed among the top 8 teams.

Finals System

The competition now employs the same finals system as the men’s competition, with eight teams participating in the finals series under the AFL final eight system, which has been in use since the 2000 season.