Stadiums are about to be filled to the brim, group chats will be going berserk and passion will be steaming out of Aussie’s ears, and that is all because the AFL season is just around the corner.
Kicking things off, Kayo Sports launched its 2026 AFL season in Melbourne yesterday, drawing an A-list lineup of guests. In attendance was AFL stars and Kayo Sports ambassadors Nick Daicos, Will Ashcroft and Patrick Cripps, Fox Footy’s commentary line-up, AFL executives, media and key partners.
The afternoon was centred around building off the back of a record-breaking 2025 season that saw audiences on Kayo Sports grow by 19 per cent year-on-year. During the lunch Kayo predicted that 2026 is set to be the biggest in AFL history. This is all thanks to the inclusion of the Wildcard Round, and rivalries.
Kayo will also be leveraging the dramatic off season that saw the game’s biggest and best names finding new homes. You only have to look to the opening match of the season when Charlie Curnow and the Swans go up against his old team, the Carlton Blues.
“Rivalries create fandom and really build exposure for a sport. In AFL, you can go through every club, and there’s always going to be an individual little matchup where someone doesn’t like someone, and there’s going to be a club versus club story to tell as well. And that absolutely drives the health of the game,” Adam Howarth, director, content acquisitions and sports partnerships at Foxtel Group explained to B&T.
The 19 per cent growth was a result of the new broadcast deal that Fox has with the AFL right through to 2031, where Fox Footy has exclusivity of its own commentary team and graphics for every match of every round. This is different to previous years where Fox Footy’s coverage of matches that were shared with Seven also shared Seven’s commentary team and graphics.
This change not only saw growth for Kayo Sport, but AFL revenue also rose 26 per cent year-on-year since Fox acquired the new rights.
With all things considered the interest of brands in the AFL is higher than it has ever been. Even so, CEO of Foxtel Media, Mark Frain was “surprised” of the level of interest.
“We’re seeing a structural shift towards sport even more so, and because of the change in exclusivity it’s given us more opportunities from a state based perspectives, there’s a lot of new brands coming on at a lot of the different state markets. We have more brands than we’ve ever had before on the AFL this year,” he said.
Fox has confirmed there are 25 new advertisers already for the 2026 AFL season opening.
Frain added that thanks to the Plethora of pre-game and post-game content, Fox has plenty of opportunities to serve the most amount of brands its ever had on board.
“You’re talking seven day’s a week of content to integrate brands. We just keep expanding that on top of baseline audience growth, which gives you great capacity to serve more brands,” he said.
‘Complete Refreshment’
During the afternoon, Kayo Sports reiterated that it is dedicated to bringing fans the most comprehensive coverage across the week with every team, every week live and in 4K, by promising fans a “complete refreshment”.
Keeping fans on their toes and giving them something new this year, Fox Footy has welcomed former Port Adelaide head coach Ken Hinkley to the fold. Hinkley will be a key part of the Adelaide-based commentary team, alongside Mark Ricciuto and Shaun Burgoyne, bringing his extensive coaching expertise and unique perspective to the coverage.
Patrick Delany, Foxtel Group CEO explained to B&T that changes like adding Hinkley to the commentary team are vital because “if you stay still, you die.”
“It’s all very good to look at the game through the eyes of a 40 year old man, but it’s also important to give social context to the game in order to be able to communicate with various demographics, including 20-40 year olds.”
Delany has identified 20-40 year olds as a growth point because that is where the “young families are”.
“We are constantly innovating. Anthony Hudson has been with us for years, and he’s the best. But then we brought in Matt Hill in from horse racing, and gave Gerard Whateley a run in, in calling, and then being able to use them in the weekly shows, together with the legends, is all about delivering refreshed insight for all of us, and it’s absolutely essential.”
On the other hand, Kayo being a paid streaming service, its viewer is the sporting fanatic that is willing to pay for sport. This means the commentary team need to have “a level of sophistication to do what they do, but at the same time, the art in what they do is being able to explain the complex, very simply,” continued Delany.
Further bolstering the commentary line-up, three-time premiership player Tom Hawkins will be ramping up his involvement on Friday Night Footy, offering fresh insights into what is typically the most watched game of the week.
The Friday night and Adelaide crews will be lacing up alongside Sarah Jones, Gerard Whateley, Nathan Buckley, Adam Simpson, Matt Hill, Ruby Schleicher, Anthony Hudson, Eddie Betts, Kath Loughnan, Alastair Lynch, David King, Cameron Mooney, Leigh Montagna, Jason Dunstall, Mark Howard, Gerard Healy, Kelli Underwood, Jack Riewoldt, Will Schofield, Nick Dal Santo, Dwayne Russell, Jess Webster, Corbin Middlemas, Adam Papalia, Brad Johnson and Ben Dixon.
“We’re building on what was already an awesome commentary line-up from that first year of this rights agreement [2025]. The addition of Ken Hinckley, we get more access to Tom Hawkins, I really think we’re building on what was already a bit of a freight train of momentum for our broadcast,” added Howarth.
Howarth even had a cheeky little dig at his rival commentators over at Seven. “Every time you get to grand final time and viewers have to listen to other commentary, you can hear them going, can you guys please get the rights to this.”
The Foxtel Group are already looking at ways to continue to build on its coverage in 2027 and beyond. Even so, Leigh Carlson, executive producer at FOX SPORTS, lifted the lid on the plans of leveraging AI to B&T.
“We can feel AI coming. We are encouraged to use it, and it feels like it’s nearly there. In saying that we’re not locking into something just yet. It’s been talked about at a higher level, there’s no doubt at all, it’ll be on our radar soon,” said .
But lets not get ahead of ourselves. The 2026 season is here and the Foxtel team is dedicated to delivering a comprehensive schedule of analysis shows, ensuring fans are across every angle of the game. From in-depth tactical breakdowns to lively debates and exclusive interviews, Fox Footy is stamping its authority on the AFL.
Fox Footy’s 2026 Toyota AFL Premiership Season will kick off on Monday, 2 March with AFL360, followed by coverage of the Opening Round beginning on Thursday, 5 March.
