THE Carlton Football Club is set to make its electric atmosphere a feature of the 2024 AFL season, following today’s release of the fixture.

After the Navy Blue faithful were out in force in 2023 - with an average home crowd of 51,421 - the Blues will enter next season ready to embrace the big stage once again.

Seven of its currently scheduled 14 games will see the Club feature on a Thursday or Friday night, timeslots in which the Blues attracted an average TV audience of over 900,000 viewers in 2023.

Four of those prime-time fixtures will be home games against Victorian opponents Richmond (Round 1), Collingwood (Round 8), Melbourne (Round 9) and Geelong (Round 15).

The Club’s other three currently scheduled home games will be on Saturday afternoons against Adelaide (Round 5), GWS (Round 6) and Gold Coast (Round 11), providing a variety of timeslots.

Carlton sold out 11 of the 26 games it played last season (including finals), and with 61,425 members already signed up for 2024 (nearly 10,000 more than this time last year), those who bleed Navy Blue are encouraged to secure their access today to be part of what is a game-day atmosphere unlike any other in the competition.

Thursday 14 March – Bluebaggers will be encouraged to set the date in their calendars now, in what will be the Club’s only home game in the first five weeks of the season, when it takes on the Tigers at the MCG in the competition’s first game of the season in Victoria for 2024.

That opening month will also see the Blues play in the inaugural Opening Round (Brisbane at The Gabba), Good Friday SuperClash (v North Melbourne) and Gather Round (Fremantle at Adelaide Oval).

It will be the second year in which Carlton will have the privilege of co-hosting the Good Friday SuperClash alongside the Kangaroos, after the two clubs raised over $200,000 earlier this year, a record for the Good Friday fixture.

Following that opening stretch of games, the Blues will enter a run of four home games in five weeks, including against the Magpies (Friday night) and Demons (Thursday night) in back-to-back MCG blockbusters.

That is part of a jam-packed schedule that will see Carlton play three games in 14 days from Rounds 8–10.

After attracting over 83,000 fans to its inaugural fixture in 2023, the King’s Birthday Rivalry Clash between the Blues and Bombers will be back again in Round 13.

Bluebaggers will once again be able to be their team’s competitive advantage in the run home at the year of the year, with the Club leaving Victoria just once in the final seven rounds.

The Blues will make an additional trip interstate in 2024 (six in total) against the Dockers (Gather Round), Sydney (Round 10), Port Adelaide (Round 12), the Giants (Round 17) and West Coast (Round 23). Of the currently four scheduled interstate games, three will be shown free-to-air on Channel Seven.

Carlton will face six opponents twice in 2024 – Collingwood, GWS, Port Adelaide, Geelong, Richmond and North Melbourne.

CEO Brian Cook said the 2024 fixture ensure the Club would feature in marquee games right throughout the year.

"We are so fortunate as a club to have a massive supporter base that shows up in real force, no matter the day or time: that is a competitive advantage that our entire club will make a focus of in 2024,” Cook said.

“Our Thursday or Friday night games in Victoria last season averaged crowds of over 65,000, which is just enormous. That figure, coupled with the huge television audience we have been able to attract in those timeslots, gives this football club a level of exposure that is a real point of difference, which we have embraced.

“To also currently have three of our seven home games on a Saturday afternoon gives our members some variety. Our game-day experience is something that became so profoundly unique in the second half of 2023, we want to take that to a whole new level next year – we want our members and supporters to be right there with us as we launch into 2024.”

Fixture summary:

  • Seven of 14 currently scheduled games on a Thursday or Friday night
    • Four of those as home games against Richmond, Collingwood, Melbourne and Geelong
  • Three additional home games on Saturday afternoons against Adelaide, GWS and Gold Coast
  • Additional marquee games:
    • Good Friday SuperClash v North Melbourne
    • King’s Birthday Rivalry Clash v Essendon
  • Opponents to play twice: Collingwood, GWS, Port Adelaide, Geelong, Richmond and North Melbourne.
  • Six interstate games: Fremantle (Gather Round), Sydney (Round 10), Port Adelaide (Round 12), GWS (Round 17) and West Coast (Round 23)
  • Nine games on Channel 7, five exclusively on FOX Footy
  • A total of 17 games in Melbourne, including six of the last seven rounds