The AFL today announced it had written to each of the 18 AFL clubs, along with the AFL's broadcast partners, venues and other key partners, to outline the likely key dates for the 2019 Toyota AFL Premiership Season and to begin the work of the construction of the fixture.

AFL General Manager Clubs Travis Auld said the AFL had written to major stakeholders seeking their input and it was expected the fixture would be completed in mid to late October 2018, as per the schedule of recent seasons.

He said the likely key dates for each part of the 2019 season had been advised at this stage to be as follows: 

The 2019 Fixture will retain the current structure of a ‘regular round' of one Friday night match, two Saturday afternoon matches, one Saturday twilight match, two Saturday night matches, one early Sunday match, one Sunday afternoon match and one Sunday twilight match.

The AFL will again schedule a number of irregular rounds principally around key public holidays, bye weekends and/or matches scheduled in specific timeslots such as Thursday nights.

In conclusion, Mr Auld said, the other key considerations when developing the fixture for the 2019 Toyota AFL Premiership Season will be:

- AFL and AFL Club contractual obligations with broadcasters and venues
- Player welfare, including days' breaks
- Travel considerations for AFL Clubs
- Maximising attendances, tv audiences and general fan engagement
- Continuation of "blockbuster" matches and "themed" rounds
- Maintaining consistency of match start times where appropriate
- Balancing second round match-ups - the 'Weighted Rule" (as per recent seasons)
- Expansion market and related growth objectives
- Rewarding on-field performance