AFL FANTASY will again commence in round one in 2025, a week after Opening Round, after a successful 2024 season.
With Opening Round to consist of just four games again, the Official Fantasy game of the AFL will start a week later with a full slate of nine games from March 13-16.
Opening Round has changed things for Fantasy coaches and how the game has been structured compared to the past. The usual mid-season byes are still there as per previous seasons, but a series of bye rounds for teams participating in Opening Round will occur over rounds two, three and four.
The Fantasy Classic competition will commence from round one. Fantasy Draft leagues can play Opening Round, but there is plenty of flexibility (see details below).
Commissioners can choose to not play through byes for their leagues, but this will only impact the mid-season byes. All leagues will play through the early byes, so get planning.
Dual-position player updates will occur after rounds six, 12 and 18.
Some tweaks specific to Classic and Draft are outlined below.
Fantasy Classic
More than 170,000 coaches participated in Fantasy Classic last season, competing with others for overall prizes and bragging rights in tens of thousands of leagues.
Our salary cap-based game will tackle the early byes by implementing the familiar best 18 rule. That is, the highest 18 scores from your on-field 22 will count towards your weekly score.
This is how the mid-season byes are treated, but only two (2) trades can be made during the early byes. Coaches can make three (3) trades throughout the mid-season byes.
Prices will not change between Opening Round and round one. Scores from players who participated in Opening Round will impact their price movements after round one. This, along with timing of bye rounds for certain players, will dictate some strategy with initial team selection.
Early byes
- Rounds two, three, four
- Best 18
- Two (2) trades
- Leagues play head-to-head match-ups as normal
Mid-season byes
- Rounds 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
- Best 18
- Three (3) trades
- Leagues can choose to turn off match-ups for these five rounds
Pricing
- Player prices won’t change after Opening Round, but breakevens will update
- Player prices will change for the first time after round one
- If a player played in Opening Round or round one, or both, their price will change after round one
Fantasy Coach subscribers will have access to the Early Bye Detector to help with their planning before it switches to mid-season bye mode after round six.
Fantasy Draft
The game that is continuing to grow year-on-year is Fantasy Draft, where every player is unique. It has a significant amount of customisation that allows you to play the way you want.
Leagues will be able to draft from mid-February, including during the March long weekend when the Opening Round is being held. Leagues can commence from Opening Round if they wish, but if you want to avoid the early byes, you could choose to begin your head-to-head match-ups at round five.
The flexibility is yours.
There are several options to help your league cope with the bye rounds.
Play it as normal – Players on a bye? So what! Use your bench to cover for them or hit up available free agents. Leagues may opt to add an extra couple of bench spots for 2025. Drafting strategy may change slightly as you may want to avoid having too many players from one bye round.
Minimise number of on-field scorers – In Fantasy Classic we have best 18, in Draft you could choose to make it your best ‘whatever’. For example, if you’re running with a 5-7-1-5 structure, you may choose to have the best 15 scorers rather than the 18 that are taken in full rounds. When setting up your league, you can adjust the Bye round squad size, so only a certain number of players count towards a team’s score.
