<Tr> <Th> Highest attendance </Th> <Td> 90,151 (round 1, Richmond vs. Carlton) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> ← 2017 2019 → </Td> </Tr> <P> The 2018 Australian Football League season is the 122nd season of the elite Australian rules football competition . There are 18 teams competing in the league, the same as the previous six seasons . The first game was played on Thursday, 22 March, and the season is scheduled to conclude with the 2018 AFL Grand Final on Saturday, 29 September . </P> <P> On 17 November 2017, the AFL confirmed that the pre-season would feature an AFLX competition . The game is played on a soccer - sized pitch over two ten minute halves . Each team features seven players on the field and three interchange players . Teams were split into three groups of six, with a grand final to be held for each group . The matches were played from 15--17 February 2018 . The winners of the competition were Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane . </P>

When is the start of the afl season