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Hawthorn have been rewarded for their stunning surge to the AFL finals this year with a suite of prime time fixtures in 2025. Dubbed the 'Hollywood Hawks' last season, Sam Mitchell's entertainers will play seven games on Thursday and Friday nights through the opening 16 weeks next year. The Hawks, who start their campaign in 'Opening Round' for the first time, also feature in a blockbuster Sunday night fixture against Port Adelaide to end Gather Round and the traditional standalone Easter Monday clash with Geelong. Carlton and Collingwood also have seven matches in Thursday and Friday slots, while Essendon (eight) are the only club with more. The Power-Hawks clash in Gather Round is one of a series of marquee Sunday night matches the AFL hopes will help drive record attendances and television audiences in 2025. The new slot is a product of the league's new $4.5 billion broadcast deal, which starts next year. A handful of the Sunday night games will be broadcast free-to-air, while the league is seeking to take advantage of public holidays around many of those fixtures. The Western Bulldogs play St Kilda on Easter Sunday, while Carlton and Essendon meet in their annual night game before the King's Birthday holiday. The first Queensland derby of the season -- Brisbane take on Gold Coast in Round 8 -- falls before the local Labour Day holiday. West Coast will host Geelong in Round 12, the night before WA Day. The Eagles and Fremantle will host five of the nine games which will be broadcast in Sunday night slots on the east coast, including a derby at 3.10pm local time in Round 3. Confirmation of the Sunday night matches comes on top of Thursday night football becoming a regular part of the fixture, set to feature in 23 home-and-away rounds next year. AFL fixtures boss Josh Bowler hopes the marquee matches will help drive another record-breaking year of attendances after more than eight million fans went through the gates last season. "We are thrilled to announce a fixture that will build on this, while also being the fairest possible draw for all of our clubs as they look to chase the premiership flag," Bowler said. "We are pleased to offer fans more Thursday nights than ever this season with 23 matches set to be played across the season. "Sunday nights proved to be very popular last season and we have a number of marquee matches slated for this time slot, including Gather Round, Easter Sunday, Queensland Labour Day Eve, WA Day Eve and King's Birthday Eve. "These matches, along with other big match ups fixtured for key dates in the country's calendar have become part of the holiday celebrations for fans to mark in their diaries and plan trips with friends and family around." Sir Doug Nicholls Round will feature the annual 'Dreamtime at the G' fixture between Essendon and Richmond as a standalone fixture on a Friday night in Round 11. The following day, Marvel Stadium will host a rare double-header with Carlton-GWS (1.20pm) and North Melbourne-Collingwood (7.35pm) matches. The Western Bulldogs, Hawthorn and North Melbourne will all celebrate the 100-year anniversaries of their entry into the competition, then known as the VFL, with marquee matches. The schedule for the first 16 weeks of the season has been locked in, with rounds 16-23 to be confirmed about four weeks out. Round 24 will be left as a floating fixture as the league attempts to set up another grandstand finish to the home-and-away season.
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