AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan has declared this year's shorter quarters a 'once-off', signalling 20-minute quarters plus time on will be the norm again next season.
Speaking to 3AW Radio on Friday, the league chief said 16-minute quarters would remain in place for 2020 in case the COVID-19 situation changes.
Should the coronavirus force a further halt to the season, clubs may need to play multiple matches each week in order to complete the season, he said, and 16-minute quarters would lessen the strain on the players should they be required to "compress" the season. He added due to quarters being shortened, interchange benches would remain unchanged at four players.
"We're staying flexible. If we need to, we're going to be agile, I think there's an acceptance from supporters and clubs that we need to in case we need to compress games at the end of the year, but at the moment, with reduced quarters, we don't need [extended benches]," McLachlan told 3AW.
"The 20 minutes to 16 is for the flexibility we need to get through this season ... our broadcasters understand that, the supporters, the clubs and others (as well) but it's not something we're contemplating for next year."
Following the return of the NRL on Thursday night, McLachlan also revealed the AFL and its broadcast partners were in discussions about potentially bringing in canned crowd noise, following what McLachlan described as a success in the NRL.
"Our broadcasters are looking at lots of different things - they're certainly looking at [crowd noise]. I'd be interested to take a look at it, I think it added to the atmosphere of [that NRL game]," he said.
"I've seen a couple of things [broadcasters] have been trying ... there's some real skill in it and technical stuff so they're wanting to get it right, but they're looking at lots of stuff."
McLachlan added the league was about "80 percent done" on a "crowd plan", should governments give that the green light for 2020.
"We'll be ready when the government and health officers say we're right [to go]," McLachlan said, confirming temperature checks would be an addition at the ticket gate.
The AFL returns on June 11.