More AFL Women’s games are set to be played in prime time slots in the hopes of building on the competition’s strong start.
The AFL, on Friday, will release fixtures for the second season of the women’s competition, which is again expected to run across eight weeks, including the grand final, through February and March.
This year’s inaugural season included several double-headers played either before or after AFL pre-season games.
But AFL broadcasting manager Travis Auld has confirmed that every AFLW game next year will be played as a stand-alone fixture, with the league keen to provide oxygen for the fledgling competition.
The league has largely kept the prime Friday night slots free for the women’s games to be played in front of the biggest audience possible.
Just one AFL pre-season game is scheduled for a Friday night, with Sydney facing cross-town rivals Greater Western Sydney on March 9.
That opens space for up to six Friday night AFLW games ahead of the grand final, which was played on a Saturday afternoon.
“What’s important is that we provide the AFLW with enough clean air throughout the fixture,” Auld said on Thursday.
“We were overwhelmed with the level of support we received (last year), both in terms of the TV audience but also then the attendance on the day.
“And in some cases they’re different crowds, so we decided this year to keep the two separate and run them as two stand-alone competitions.”
The league last month unveiled an ambitious plan to expand the AFLW to 14 teams by 2020.
North Melbourne and Geelong will lead the charge in 2019, with Richmond, West Coast, St Kilda and Gold Coast to follow in 2020.
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