Footy fans are relishing the return of the AFL, the 123rd season of this elite competition. The AFL is the most highly attended spectator sport in Australia, and one of the top five best attended league’s world-wide, with an average of well over thirty-thousand people in the stadiums for each game.

Entering the 2019 AFL Premiership season West Coast are the defending champions and looking to make it two in a row, but a number of teams have improved their teams with an eye toward dethroning the Eagles and you can enjoy the action when watching at home on your big screen, or streaming matches live to a mobile device.

Must See 2019 AFL Live TV

There will be a number of fascinating contests during the 2019 AFL premiership season, including a Grand Final rematch between the Eagles and Magpies on April 6, two games on Easter Monday (April 22) with one seeing the Geelong Cats vs Hawthorn, the traditional Anzac Day clashes on April 25, as well as the four local derbies that see the clubs take on their cross-town rivals in heated matches starting with the Western Derby at Optus Stadium on Saturday, April 13. April will also see the two newer derbies contested, with Brisbane and the Gold Coast playing in QClash 17 at the Gabba, and Sydney and GWS competing in the 17th edition of the Sydney Derby on Saturday, April 27.

2019 Toyota AFL Premiership

When: March 21 – September 28
Where: Australia

May’s fixtures include a pair of strong rivalries in Round 8. Two of the league’s oldest and proudest clubs, the Magpies and the Blues, will do battle on Saturday, May 11, before arguably the fiercest and most entertaining rivalry in the league in recent years, the Showdown between Port Adelaide and Adelaide, takes place at the Adelaide Oval that night. Two weeks later, the Richmond Tigers and the Essendon Bombers celebrate the contribution of Indigenous Australians to the AFL with ‘Dreamtime at the G’ on May 25. As the season hits its halfway mark, the Saints and the Power head to China to showcase the popularity of Footy to the city of Shanghai on June 2. The remainder of June promises more excellence, with the Queen’s Birthday fixture between Collingwood and Melbourne headlining Round 12 on Monday, June 10, and the Hawthorne Hawks hosting the reigning champion West Coast Eagles during round 15 on the 29th of June.

Among the matches that will be broadcast in this round with no ad-breaks during play on the AFL dedicated Fox Footy channel (Kayo/Foxtel), but either not available or limited by location on Free to Air TV (ch. 7) are:

AFL 2019 LIVE TV Fixtures (Sydney time)

Wed April 24 LIVE: Richmond Tigers vs Melbourne Demons at 7.35pm (Seven/Foxtel/Kayo)
Thurs April 25 LIVE: Essendon Bombers vs Collingwood Magpies at 3.20pm (Seven/Foxtel/Kayo)
Fri April 26 LIVE: Port Adelaide Power vs North Melbourne Kangaroos at 7.50pm (Seven/Foxtel/Kayo)
Sat April 27 LIVE: Gold Coast Suns vs Brisbane Lions at 1.45pm (Foxtel/Kayo)
Sat April 27 LIVE: St. Kilda Saints vs Adelaide Crows at 4.35pm (Foxtel/Kayo)
Sat April 27 LIVE: Sydney Swans vs GWS Giants at 7.25pm (Foxtel/Kayo)
Sat April 27 LIVE: Fremantle Dockers vs Western Bulldogs at 8.10pm (Seven/Foxtel/Kayo)
Sun April 28 LIVE: Hawthorn Hawks vs Carlton Blues at 3.20pm (Foxtel/Kayo)
Sun April 28 LIVE: Geelong Cats vs West Coast Eagles at 4.40pm (Foxtel/Kayo)

Above events shown as Sydney time, adjust for regional differences. The AFL TV replays will be available exclusively on Fox Footy (Foxtel/Kayo) through-out the following week.

Watch or Stream the AFL Live

While the free to air AFL telecasts are limited to an average of four contests in each round, the Fox Footy channel (Foxtel/Kayo) will provide the most complete live coverage with no ad-breaks during play before the grand final. This includes watching the AFL live online with eligible internet connected devices (PC & Mac excluded) using the 10 days free Foxtel Now trial, and replays so you can enjoy the action no matter your schedule.

Alternatively, Kayo Sports have a 14 day trial offering. With the Kayo trial you will have access to these same Fox Footy broadcasts, and include the convenience of streaming the AFL free and Live using eligible mobile devices. Kayo also have a split-view feature so you can watch up to four live events at the same time, ensuring you never miss a key moment of the wide range of sport listed in the Kayo TV guide. This offer also applies to existing Telstra customers, to get started just visit the website listed below.

AFL on Free to Air

Continuing in 2019, the twenty-three rounds of the AFL Premiership will be for the most part held three days a week, Friday to Sunday. The AFL Free to Air coverage on Seven Network will include live telecasts of the Friday night game, up to two matches on Saturday, one contest on Sunday afternoon, and any games that fall on a public holiday, a Monday or a Thursday. Channel 7 will also broadcast the entire Final series live, including the Grand Final.

Channel Seven vs Foxtel/Kayo

While the Channel Seven television coverage is limited, Foxtel and Kayo Sports will televise every game in every Round Live, before the Grand Final, with up to five exclusive matches each week including the games on Saturday and Sunday night. Additionally, the Kayo Sports AFL coverage will include the option to pause, rewind, check scores, watch multiple matches and other fan friendly features.

Friday Night: Ch. 7 and Foxtel/Kayo
Saturday Afternoon Game 1: Ch. 7 and Foxtel/Kayo
Saturday Afternoon Game 2: Foxtel/Kayo
Saturday Evening: Foxtel/Kayo
Saturday Night Game 1: Ch. 7 and Foxtel/Kayo
Saturday Night Game 2: Foxtel/Kayo
Sunday Afternoon Game 1: Foxtel/Kayo
Sunday Afternoon Game 2: Ch. 7 and Foxtel/Kayo
Sunday Evening: Foxtel/Kayo
Monday & Public Holidays: Ch. 7 and Foxtel/Kayo

The above listing offers a guide for what games are shown on each channel, Australia-wide, and does not reflect Channel Seven’s free to air state-to-state variations which may also include:

New South Wales (NSW) – Sydney: All GWS Giants and Sydney Swans matches will be televised by the Seven Network, primarily on their 7Mate and 7HD channels.

Queensland (QLD) – Brisbane: All Gold Coast Suns and Brisbane Lions matches will be televised by the Seven Network, primarily on their 7Mate and 7HD channels.

South Australia (SA) – Adelaide: All Port Adelaide Power and Adelaide Crows matches will be televised by the Seven Network across Channel 7, as well as 7Mate and 7HD.

Western Australia (WA) – Perth: All Fremantle Dockers and West Coast Eagles matches will be televised by the Seven Network, live, alternating between Channel 7 and 7Mate.

ACT – Canberra: All GWS Giants and Sydney Swans matches will be televised by the Seven Network, primarily on their 7Mate and 7HD channels.

Victoria – Melbourne: No special Free to Air broadcasting arrangements apply.

Northern Territories (NT) – Darwin: No special Free to Air broadcasting arrangements apply.

Tasmania – Hobart: No special Free to Air broadcasting arrangements apply.

AFL 2019 Teams to Watch

The Richmond Tigers will head into the 2019 season as the favourites to take out their 12th Premiership, and how they bounce back from a hugely disappointing end to 2018 will make for intriguing viewing. Their rabid forward pressure was on full show throughout last season, enabling them to consistently blow teams out in the latter stages of games despite boasting only one genuine key forward. This year, Tom Lynch will pair up with Jack Riewoldt in the forward line to create a formidable key duo, and if they can develop any semblance of chemistry this team will be extremely difficult to beat, and you won’t miss a minute when watching this week’s AFL live online.

One team which which will back themselves to do just that is last year’s Premiership winners, the West Coast Eagles. West Coast were the second best team throughout last season, though doubts remained about their ability to win away from home right up until the final day of the season. They dispelled those, however, with a rousing win in probably the most exciting Grand Final since 2006, and after retaining the services of star midfielder Andrew Gaff – who missed the last eight weeks of 2018 through suspension and was widely tipped to return to Melbourne at its end – will justifiably feel confident in their ability to go back-to-back.

Another team likely to be thereabouts at the pointy end of the season is the team West Coast beat in last year’s Grand Final, the Collingwood Magpies. The Magpies were responsible for one of the biggest upsets of the season when they beat the Tigers in the preliminary final, and though they weren’t able to get over the line on Grand Final day, any critics who still doubted their ability to compete against the best teams were silenced with their performance throughout the finals series. With Dayne Beams returning from Brisbane to what is already an elite midfield, the Pies are likely to once again find themselves playing deep into September, something which will thrill their huge and passionate supporter base.