Seven locks in major brands for 2026 AFL season

Seven Network has confirmed its commercial partners for the 2026 AFL Premiership Season, with Toyota, McDonald's, AAMI and Harvey Norman returning as broadcast partners of the competition.

A broader group of brands will also feature across Seven’s AFL coverage this year, including Coles, Telstra, Sportsbet, Bunnings, Chemist Warehouse, Industry Super Funds, Hostplus, CBUS, NAB, Asahi Beverages, BWS, Colgate-Palmolive and Uber Eats.

Additional sponsors tied to AFL programming and integrated packages include SEEK, OMO Ultimate, Disney, Bupa, Gulf Western Oil, Jim Beam, Betr, Equip Super and view.com.au.

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Seven’s AFL coverage will again be supported by its studio and ancillary programs, with The Front Bar returning in 2026 with Lion as premier partner and additional sponsors including Youi, BWS, Hyundai and Sportsbet.

The announcement follows strong audience numbers for Seven’s AFL coverage in 2025. The network said its AFL broadcasts reached 17.6 million Australians across the season, including 4.56 million viewers on 7plus Sport.

Seven reported an average weekly audience of five million viewers across broadcast and streaming during the regular season, up 7% year-on-year.

The 2025 AFL Grand Final averaged 4.18 million total TV viewers nationally and reached 6.2 million, marking the highest-rating Grand Final audience in two decades. Streaming audiences on 7plus Sport also grew, with the Grand Final attracting 985,000 viewers on the platform, up 51% from the previous year.

Seven’s national television sales director Katie Finney said the 2025 results had helped attract strong advertiser demand for the upcoming season.

“The numbers from 2025 were remarkable – 17.6 million Australians reached, five million viewers every week, and streaming audiences growing strongly,” Finney said. “Through a single conversation with Seven, brands can access inventory across Seven’s broadcast channels, 7plus Sport and Fox Footy simulcast matches on Kayo.”

Seven said its streaming strategy continues to drive incremental reach among younger audiences, with 80% of its weekly 7plus Sport AFL audience unique to the streaming platform.

Among viewers aged 16 to 39, that figure rises above 90%, according to the network. Seven’s national sport sales director Rob Maclean said the combination of broadcast coverage and additional programming was expanding total audience reach.

“Our strategy of creating new ancillary content delivered a 25% incremental weekly reach on top of live match coverage in 2025,” Maclean said.

Seven’s 2026 AFL coverage will include Thursday and Friday night matches, State Footy Saturdays, Sunday afternoon games and an expanded schedule of Sunday night matches.

The network will also broadcast marquee fixtures, the Charles Brownlow Medal and the 2026 AFL Grand Final exclusively on Seven and 7plus Sport.