Expansion of the Australian Football League

The Australian Football League, currently an 18 team competition, has a history of expansion since 1908 when its eight-club competition, formed as an 1897 breakaway from the rival Victorian Football Association, grew to ten teams.

Many clubs have been proposed since this time, particularly since the 1980s when the league began to expand nationally. Only three teams have left the competition in its history.

The AFL Commission controls the competition's expansion licenses, and its most recently granted licenses occurred during the league's nationalisation: the 19th license was awarded to the Tasmania Football Club in 2023 (they will enter the league in 2028).

The private ownership model for licenses was more common in the 1980s, however clubs are run under a membership model. As of 2025, four of the expansion franchises and the Sydney Swans (who relocated from South Melbourne at the end of 1981) are now either directly controlled by or owned by the league.

The AFL Women's competition has followed the AFL in its expansion awarding licenses to each of the existing AFL clubs as it expanded from eight teams in 2017 to the current 18 teams in 2022, and will also have 19 teams from 2028.

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