Saturday night football live and free on the Seven Network is coming to the Smithy’s VFL, with Essendon having 5 matches to be broadcast.

In an exciting development, a Saturday night match will feature every round of the 2025 Smithy’s VFL home and away season. The match will be broadcast live and free by the Seven Network via 7mate in Victoria and 7plus Sport nationally from 7:00pm.

The Saturday night broadcast match will be played at multiple venues, including Port Melbourne's ETU Stadium, Carlton's IKON Park, Frankston's Kinetic Stadium and Footscray's Mission Whitten Oval.

AFL Head of State League Competitions, Jennie Loughnan, said: “The introduction of weekly Saturday night football is a fantastic result for the Smithy’s VFL, our clubs and supporters.

“We are thrilled to be continuing our long-standing broadcast partnership with the Seven Network and look forward to showcasing the Smithy’s VFL to more fans in prime-time.

“Twelve players who were VFL-listed during the 2024 season have been added to AFL lists and we are excited to watch more stars emerge this year.

“We are extremely grateful to our host venues for working with us to bring this concept to life and thank our clubs for their support.”

Seven Network Head of AFL and Sport Innovation, Gary O’Keeffe, said: “In 2025, Seven is taking its VFL coverage to the next level, bringing fans prime-time, live, and free state league footy like never before.

“The growth of the game from the grassroots to the elite is extremely important to us at Seven,” he said.

“For the first time, weekly VFL games will hit prime-time on Saturday nights, live and free on Seven and streamed on 7plus Sport. This is a game-changer for fans, giving them the chance to watch the next generation of stars shine under the lights in a blockbuster time slot.

“We couldn’t be more excited to deliver state league footy to a bigger audience than ever before, live and free on Seven and 7plus Sport.”

Below is the Seven Network's Smithy's VFL broadcast schedule for Rounds 1-13.

Round 1: Footscray Bulldogs vs Northern Bullants at Mission Whitten Oval
Round 2: Port Melbourne vs Frankston at ETU Stadium
Round 3: Carlton vs Southport Sharks at IKON Park
Round 4: Port Melbourne vs Essendon at ETU Stadium
Round 5: Essendon vs Collingwood at ETU Stadium
Round 6: Box Hill Hawks vs Richmond at Kinetic Stadium
Round 7: Carlton vs Sandringham at IKON Park
Round 8: Port Melbourne vs Geelong Cats at ETU Stadium
Round 9: Richmond vs Essendon at Kinetic Stadium
Round 10: Frankston vs Sandringham at Kinetic Stadium
Round 11: Collingwood vs Casey Demons at Mission Whitten Oval
Round 12: Casey Demons vs Essendon at ETU Stadium
Round 13: Frankston vs Essendon at Kinetic Stadium

The Smithy's VFL fixture will be updated to reflect the changes in scheduling for the Saturday night broadcast matches.

The 2025 Smithy's VFL season begins this Friday, March 21. Click here to view the fixture.