The Seven Network has revealed its partners and sponsors for the 2026 AFL Premiership Season, following record audiences across broadcast and streaming in 2025.
Toyota, McDonald’s, AAMI and Harvey Norman will return as broadcast partners for Australia’s biggest winter sport.
A strong roster of broadcast sponsors
Seven confirmed that brands including Coles, Telstra, Sportsbet, Bunnings, Chemist Warehouse, Industry Super Funds, Hostplus, CBUS, NAB, Asahi Beverages, BWS, Colgate-Palmolive and Uber Eats have signed on as broadcast sponsors for the upcoming season.
Additional brands supporting major AFL packages or ancillary programming include SEEK, OMO Ultimate, Disney, Bupa, Gulf Western Oil, Jim Beam, Betr, Equip Super and view.com.au.
The Front Bar will also return in 2026 with Lion as premier partner, alongside program sponsors Youi, BWS, Hyundai and Sportsbet.
Streaming growth drives momentum
Seven’s announcement follows strong viewership results from the 2025 AFL season.
Last year, Seven’s AFL coverage reached 17.6 million Australians, including 4.56 million viewers on 7plus Sport. Across the regular season, AFL coverage averaged five million viewers each week across Seven and 7plus Sport, up 7% year-on-year.
The 2025 AFL Grand Final averaged 4.18 million viewers nationally and reached 6.2 million people, making it the highest-rating Grand Final since 2005. Streaming audiences also surged, with 985,000 viewers tuning in on 7plus Sport, up 51% on the previous year.
The 2025 Charles Brownlow Medal attracted an average audience of 1.45 million viewers nationally, with more than 335,000 viewers streaming the event on 7plus Sport, an increase of 72% year-on-year.
Katie Finney
Seven’s National Television Sales Director, Katie Finney, said the results highlight the continued value of live sport for advertisers.
“The numbers from 2025 were remarkable – 17.6 million Australians reached, five million viewers every week, and streaming audiences growing strongly. That momentum carries into 2026, creating an extraordinary proposition for brands,” 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 – reaching a complementary audience across every platform and maximising their reach. And Seven remains the only place brands can access the most unmissable ad break in marketing: the solus 30-second spot after a goal is kicked.”
Expanding reach across platforms
Rob Maclean
Seven’s National Sport Sales Director, Rob Maclean, said the network’s multi-platform approach is helping brands reach new audiences.
“What makes Seven’s AFL so powerful for advertisers is the true incremental reach brands can achieve via the right combination of inventory across multiple platforms. Eighty per cent of our weekly 7plus Sport AFL audience is unique to the streaming platform, people that brands simply cannot reach on broadcast alone,” Maclean said.
“Among 16 to 39s, that figure rises above 90%. These are new fans and lighter viewers being brought into the ecosystem as our streaming audience grows.”
Chris Jones
Seven’s Director of Sport, Chris Jones, added that the growing streaming audience is helping unlock new fans for the sport.
“The growth we’ve seen in our streaming audiences tells us that new fans and lighter fans are being unlocked, and that is driving scale for our commercial partners,” Jones said.
Seven’s AFL coverage in 2026 will include Thursday night matches, Friday night games, State Footy Saturdays and Sunday afternoon fixtures, alongside more Sunday night games than ever before.
Seven will also broadcast marquee games and every match of the AFL Finals Series, including the Charles Brownlow Medal and the 2026 AFL Grand Final, exclusively on Seven and 7plus Sport.
Top Image: Seven