The AFL has announced a new VFL broadcast agreement, which will see Smithy’s VFL matches broadcast by KayoSPORTS, ABC, the Seven Network and SEN throughout the 2026 season.
Under the expanded broadcast deal, at least 53 Smithy’s VFL matches will be broadcast across the four networks, with more matches to be confirmed once scheduling for Rounds 14 to 21 is confirmed.
Kayo SPORTS will broadcast 16 matches across the opening 13 rounds of the Smithy’s VFL home and away season, with at least one match each round of the regular season to be broadcast throughout the first portion of the season.
A number of Kayo SPORTS’ VFL broadcast games will be curtain-raisers to AFL matches, allowing supporters to watch both their VFL and AFL teams back-to-back on the platform.
In addition, Kayo SPORTS will broadcast Smithy's VFL finals coverage.
The ABC will broadcast one match each round of the Smithy’s VFL home and away season, along with one final in each of the first three weeks of the Smithy’s VFL Finals Series, and both preliminary finals and the Grand Final.
The ABC broadcast match will generally commence at 12:05pm each Saturday of the regular season, with coverage available on the network’s main channel in Victoria and via ABC iview nationally. Matches will also be simulcast on ABC Radio and available on ABC Listen.
The only exception to the ABC’s Saturday afternoon coverage for the first portion of the Smithy’s VFL season will be the ANZAC Day weekend match between Sandringham and Box Hill Hawks during Round 5, which will be played on Sunday, April 26 from 12:05pm.
And in a huge win for Tasmanian football fans, the Seven Network will broadcast all ten Tasmania Football Club home matches in its debut season in the VFL via Seven Tasmania and 7plus Sport nationally.
Meanwhile, SEN Tasmania will broadcast all home and away matches on radio via SEN Tassie 1629am into Hobart, SENTrack 1611am into Launceston and Devonport, plus they will also be streamed onto the SEN app.
All Smithy’s VFL and VFLW matches will continue to be streamed live and free on AFL platforms via AFL.com.au and the AFL Live Official App.
The Smithy's VFL fixture will be updated to reflect changes in scheduling for broadcast matches where they require amended start times. Click here to view the 2026 Smithy's VFL fixture.
CLICK HERE to read the full release on the AFL website.
