Hot on the heels of the highest-rating AFL Grand Final since 2005 and record-breaking streaming audiences on 7plus Sport, the Seven Network has unveiled its roster of partners for the 2026 AFL Premiership Season \u2014 underlining the commercial power of live footy in a soft advertising market.<\/p>\n
Last year, Seven\u2019s AFL coverage reached 17.6 million Australians, including 4.56 million on 7plus Sport. Seven\u2019s AFL reached five million viewers each week of the 2025 regular season across Seven and 7plus Sport, an increase of 7 per cent year-on-year.<\/p>\n
Returning as broadcast partners are Toyota, McDonald\u2019s, AAMI and Harvey Norman, joined by a deep bench of 2026 sponsors including Coles, Telstra, Sportsbet, Bunnings, Chemist Warehouse, Industry Super Funds, Hostplus, Cbus, NAB, Asahi Beverages, BWS, Colgate-Palmolive and Uber Eats.<\/p>\n
Beyond the live game, Seven\u2019s ancillary programming has become a key entry point for brands. Shows such as The Front Bar, The Agenda Setters, Unfiltered, Extra Time and Sunday Footy Feast have evolved into standalone commercial platforms.<\/p>\n
In 2026, Seven is doubling down by adding a second weekly edition of The Agenda Setters on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe core way we\u2019re seeing new brands come into the mix are via the ancillary shows,\u201d Seven\u2019s national sport sales Director, Rob Maclean told B&T.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re a really core part of our offering last year because they underpinned growth in new segments. Across the course of the season, they were adding about 25 per cent incremental reach to our live AFL proposition.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were fans watching one or multiple of those programs and not watching Seven\u2019s live AFL coverage and vice-versa. We\u2019ve continued to lean into those by adding another night of The Agenda Setters this week on Wednesday.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also stated that this was a way for brands to get involved with the AFL who may have previously thought the sport is too expensive for them.<\/p>\n
Cross-advertising on Fox<\/p>\n
A unique part of Seven\u2019s broadcast rights agreement with the AFL, is that every Seven-produced match also shown on Fox Footy must include 15 minutes of ad inventory sold exclusively by Seven.<\/p>\n
Seven-produced matches where this applies include: Thursday and Friday Night matches, Sunday afternoon matches, marquee matches (ANZAC Day, King\u2019s Birthday, Dreamtime etc.) and all ten Finals.<\/p>\n
The commercials bought (via Seven sales) for the Fox Footy Channel are guaranteed to transmit onto all Fox platforms for the relevant game\u2014meaning they are seen by Fox set-top box viewers as well as those watching on Fox Digital platforms. The inventory is allocated into the match zone which includes the breaks at quarter time, half-time and three quarter time.<\/p>\n
Tackling a soft ad market<\/p>\n
In a tough advertising market Seven has placed a heavy emphasis on sport in 2026, giving brands optimal chance to showcase themselves across its content slate.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe that live sports have never been more important to fans but also the brands that want to be reaching those fans as well,\u201d Maclean explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cFooty and cricket are integral to our spine across extended periods of the year. And then you add to that 52 weeks of Horse Racing, Supercars, LIV Golf. Beyond that, we then look strategically to sports that can land in key periods where we may need that robust programming to guard against the sort of fluctuations of the market as well. The Rugby League World Cup drops in there across October and November to strengthen our proposition for the market and for brands in a really meaningful way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seven\u2019s national television sales director, Katie Finney, concurred that 2026 will be Seven\u2019s biggest year of sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got the Rugby League World Cup and the Commonwealth Games. You look at brands and the they are doubling down in live sport,\u201d Finney told\u00a0B&T.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor us, we\u2019re all about news, live sport and entertainment. They are our content pillars and the backbone of our schedule. It really does give us an opportunity for brands to have such a deeply integrated relationship with our broadcast and then connect with our audiences at scale.\u201d<\/p>\n
With a stacked sport calendar and expanding AFL ecosystem, Seven Network is betting big on not on live footy but sport in general to anchor brands in an unpredictable market.<\/p>\n
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