How to watch every game of the 2020 AFL season live

Update: Plans for the resumption of the AFL season have been announced

The coronavirus pandemic has caused chaos for world sport, including the AFL. The league was able to complete just one full round before postponing the season. With competition now scheduled to return on 11 June, you have a number of options for watching games, compared to the old scenario of just TV or radio.

Footy fans can follow their favourite teams online via AFL live streams, whether they choose to watch with Foxtel, Kayo Sports or the AFL Live Pass. Thanks to the competition in the streaming market, you now have plenty of choice for watching AFL online. No matter where you are or who's hogging the TV, all the footy you could ever want is just a tap away.

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How to watch the 2020 AFL season

The 2019 season came to a close with Richmond winning their second flag in the past 3 years. Now all 18 teams are back in the running in this shortened 2020 campaign. Every game of this year's 17-round home-and-away season will be available live and on demand via the options below.

How to stream AFL on Kayo Sports

Kayo Sports has access to all of the FOX SPORTS channels, along with two ESPN channels and three beIN SPORTS channels. That means subscribers can stream every match of the Toyota AFL Premiership live, with replays also available. The same goes for the finals series. The only exception is the grand final, which is shown exclusively on free-to-air. However, a replay of the big match will be available to Kayo users shortly after the final siren.

Kayo also offers live coverage of the 2020 Marsh Community Series pre-season fixtures, Under-18 Championship and the NAB Rising Star Award Ceremony. There are also a host of magazine shows, including pre- and post-match analysis, entertainment programming, panel discussions and interviews.

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The Kayo app delivers live HD streams and works with a wide range of devices, including Mac, PC, iOS, Android, Chromecast, Apple TV, Android TV, Telstra TV, Sony Bravia TV's and Samsung TV (2017 models and later). There are 2 price points: $25 and $35 per month for 2 and 3 simultaneous streams respectively. Regardless of which option you choose, there’s a 14-day free trial for new customers.

Other than its significantly cheaper price, what separates Kayo Sports from everything else in this list is its sport-specific viewing features. This includes a picture-in-picture mode, SplitView (allowing four sports to be watched at once), hide scores, jump to Key Moments, match centre and more.

New features are constantly being added, too, such as RaceView for motorsport, with three cameras to select from. You can see some of these features in action on the video below and read about them in our comprehensive review.

Watch AFL on Foxtel iQ

Foxtel broadcasts every match of the Toyota AFL Premiership Season live on Fox Footy, with the exception of the grand final. You’ll need a Foxtel subscription with the Sports HD pack to join in the fun. Once that’s done, you can stream AFL matches on your laptop or mobile device with the Foxtel GO app, which is available for free to Foxtel iQ subscribers.

You simply need to download the app from Google Play or the App Store and enter your Foxtel ID. You’ll instantly have access to all the channels you’re subscribed to. If you want to stream on a computer, go to the Foxtel website and check out the Foxtel GO page.

Foxtel iQ is $74 per month in order to access the sports channels and HD. This is because it includes the set-top box, its installation, non-sports channels and additional features such as 4K support (when you watch on your TV, not streamed) and recording. You need the Sports HD pack ($25/month) plus the Foxtel Plus package ($49/month).

Watch AFL on Foxtel Now

Don’t want to get cable? You can keep up with AFL matches via Foxtel Now. Fox Footy is available in the Sport pack, priced at $29/month. This is a Premium pack though, so you will also need to get the Essentials pack to have access to it. This includes Pop and Lifestyle channels and costs $25/month, bringing your total monthly cost up to $54.

Foxtel Now is available on various devices, including PC, Mac, iOS, Android, Chromecast, AirPlay, PS4, Telstra TV and the Foxtel Now box. New customers get a 10-day free trial.

Note: None of the advanced sports viewing features seen on Kayo Sports are available through Foxtel GO or Foxtel Now. These are exclusive to Kayo Sports.

Watch AFL live on free-to-air television

If you’re a casual footy fan, free-to-air coverage might be enough to satisfy your cravings. Channel Seven has the broadcast rights to between three and five matches per week. The matches you can see varies significantly from state to state. You can keep an eye on the broadcast guide from the AFL website to find out which fixtures will be available on free-to-air. The Seven Network also shows every match from the finals series live nationally, including the grand final.

However, you cannot watch AFL Live on the Internet through the 7plus app. The rights to AFL live streaming belong to Foxtel and Kayo Sports.

Stream AFL matches from outside Australia

If you’re outside Australia when your favourite team is playing, you can still stream AFL matches live or on demand with WatchAFL. The platform is only available outside the country and comes with three subscription options. When the regular returns, a weekly pass costs $19, a monthly subscription is $33 and a membership for an entire year is available for $189. During the finals, the weekly pass rises to $25 or you can get the entire finals series for $85.

It's a neat way of doing it, allowing you to navigate around work trips or family holidays depending on their length and frequency.

Travelling abroad? Watch the entire AFL season live from Watch AFL

If you're out of the country, streaming Aussie Rules football can be a bit of a pain. For those travelling the globe, there's Watch AFL.

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You can watch on your laptop on the WatchAFL website or download the app to your mobile device. WatchAFL is also compatible with Chromecast, AirPlay and Apple TV.

Stream AFL matches with AFL Live Pass

By subscribing to the AFL Live Pass service, you can stream every match live over the Internet directly to your smartphone or tablet. To access AFL content on the go, you'll need to download the AFL Live app. There's a version for Apple devices and another for Android devices.

The app is free and you'll be able to listen to live match commentary, view live scores and statistics and watch video highlights all without paying a cent. To get the complete AFL Live experience, including access to live streams of all premiership and finals matches, an archive of full match replays dating back to 2010 and exclusive expert analyses, you'll have to subscribe to the AFL Live Pass.

• What does an AFL Live Pass subscription get me?

  With an AFL Live Pass subscription, the AFL Live app becomes your hub for all past, present and future AFL content. While free users are limited to streaming radio commentary, checking score updates and watching highlight videos, Live Pass subscribers can stream all Premiership and pre-season matches as they happen.

  You can get on-demand replays, comprehensive possession statistics and positional heat maps as well as exclusive interviews with the players. Beyond watching matches live anywhere in Australia and New Zealand, a Live Pass subscription lets you go back and watch full match replays from as far back as 2010. You can also stream live coverage of special events like the Brownlow Medal as well as keep up to date with the latest AFL news covered by a dedicated team of sports journalists.

• How much does AFL Live cost?

  The AFL Live Pass offers weekly, monthly and annual subscription plans. A Weekly Pass costs $4.99 a week, a Monthly Pass goes for and a yearly subscription will set you back $99.99. Telstra mobile customers get the best deal, with a free Live Pass bundled into all consumer and small business postpaid mobile plans as well as into all

  

  AFL Live App from iTunes Store

  Watch LIVE every game of the 2020 AFL Toyota Premiership Season, Toyota AFL Finals Series and March Community Series with the AFL Live Official App on your compatible device.

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  consumer mobile broadband plans and all prepaid services that maintain more than $30 on their recharge credit. Eligible Telstra mobile customers simply need to log in to the AFL Live app from their Telstra mobile device to claim their free subscription. It's also worth noting that Live Pass subscriptions auto-renew unless you explicitly opt out, so make sure to change your settings if you don't want to be charged indefinitely.

• Which devices are compatible with AFL Live Pass?

  AFL Live Pass is all about AFL coverage on the go, with support for Apple and Android mobile devices. The current version of the AFL Live iOS app is compatible with iPhone 6 and up as well as the iPad 3 and up provided they are running iOS 11.0 or later. On Android, any phone or tablet running Android 6 or higher can access AFL content through the Android AFL Live app.

  If a seven-inch screen isn't big enough for your liking, both the discontinued Telstra T-Box and its successor, Telstra TV, have their own version of the AFL Live app for watching replays and match highlights on your TV. You can also load up the AFL Live website on a modern computer running Chrome 18+, Mozilla Firefox 12+, Safari 6+ or Internet Explorer 9+ and stream post-match content there.

  Unfortunately, live streaming of current matches is not supported on these devices. The AFL Live apps come with a few restrictions worth keeping in mind. Due to digital licensing rights on AFL content, you can only display live streams on Apple or Android mobile devices. This means you can't use a device like Google Chromecast to output live streams to your TV or to some other screen. Additionally, each AFL Live Pass subscription supports a maximum of five devices at any one time in order to prevent excessive account sharing.

• What's included in the match replay archive?

  An AFL Live Pass subscription grants you on-demand access to full match replays for games from the 2010 season onwards. Current matches are added to the video archive no earlier than 12 hours after the match has ended. Match highlights are available from the AFL Live app during the game, with full match highlights typically going up around 30–60 minutes after the final siren.

• How much data does AFL Live use?

  Watching matches and other video through AFL Live can use up quite a bit of data. If you're streaming on the go, it's important to be aware of the toll it'll take on your monthly data cap. As a guide, streaming a 3-hour AFL match to a tablet typically uses around 2GB of data, while on a smaller phone screen that drops to around 900MB. If you're just listening to the radio commentary, a single match will chew through around 80MB of data. Once again, Telstra customers are at an advantage here. If you're on a BigPond ADSL, Cable, NBN or Telstra mobile Internet connection, all AFL Live video content is unmetered. This means it won't count against your monthly cap. This offer does not apply to Telstra mobile broadband dongles, Wi-Fi hotspots or business broadband plans.

Where can I watch AFL live games online for free?

There is no legal way to watch AFL games online for free for the entire season. However, you can pick your moment and strike with the Kayo Sports 14-day trial. This gives you two weekend's worth of AFL live coverage streamed to almost any device. Signing up and cancelling is instant, quick and hassle-free. Plus, it's Kayo Sports that has all the brilliant sports viewing features that really make the experience shine. It's also a great way to check out what this app has to offer if you want to continue to watch the rest of the season (and all the other sports).

Is Amazon making an AFL documentary based on the 2020 season?

Yes. It was revealed in February that Amazon was investing $10 million in an AFL documentary series. Expected to document the highs and lows of six teams across the 2020 season, it is understood to still be going ahead despite the pandemic. We have plenty more details available for those who want to learn more about the AFL documentary series at Amazon.

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