The 2026 Toyota AFL season has become the most watched AFL season on Kayo Sports, extending the platform’s run of annual audience growth dating back to 2019.

Fans streamed 8.4 billion minutes of AFL coverage across Kayo Sports, Binge, Foxtel Go and Foxtel Now during the home-and-away season and inaugural Wildcard Round.

Collingwood remained the competition’s biggest streaming drawcard, featuring in seven of Kayo Sports’ eight most watched AFL matches of the season. Carlton and Hawthorn were the second and third most watched teams respectively.

Collingwood’s matches against Hawthorn, the Western Bulldogs and Geelong attracted the three largest audiences of the regular season.

Kayo Sports also recorded its highest-rating Gather Round, led by Hawthorn’s clash with the Western Bulldogs, which became the most watched Gather Round match in the platform’s history.

Round 12 was the most watched regular-season round, featuring Fremantle against defending premiers Brisbane, Collingwood’s meeting with the Western Bulldogs and Carlton’s narrow victory over Geelong.

Round 13 ranked second after six of its matches were decided by eight points or fewer.

The AFL’s first Wildcard Round generated 123 million streamed minutes as four teams competed for the final two positions in the top eight.

The Western Bulldogs’ Friday night clash with Collingwood became Kayo Sports’ most watched Friday AFL match of 2026, while Melbourne versus Carlton was the platform’s biggest match between the two clubs.

Wildcard Round ultimately became the most watched round of the season.

Fox Sports managing director Steve Crawley said the figures reflected fans’ growing embrace of its AFL coverage.

“With every game available live in 4K Ultra HD, ad-break free during play and backed by our unmatched lineup of world-class commentators, we are continuing to raise the bar for fans,” Crawley said.

Every AFL Finals Series match before the Grand Final will be shown live in 4K and ad-break free during play on Kayo Sports and Foxtel, featuring dedicated Fox Footy commentary.