North Melbourne will play Essendon in a Thursday night match-up, after the AFL confirmed its Thursday Night Football fixture for the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season.

For the first time, Thursday Night matches will be played in each of the first 16 weeks of matches (Opening Round, Rounds 1 through 15), as well as for a further seven rounds in the second half of the floating fixture.

Essendon will host North Melbourne in a Thursday night clash in Round 8 at Marvel Stadium.

Fifteen of the 18 Clubs will play in a Thursday night fixture in the first 16 weeks, kicking off with the Opening Round match-up between the Brisbane Lions and Geelong before the traditional clash between Carlton and Richmond at the MCG in Round One.

Round 8's is North Melbourne's fourth confirmed fixture for 2025 ahead of the full fixture release.

The Kangaroos will play Gold Coast at Barossa Oval in Round 5's Gather Round.

North Melbourne will also host West Coast in Bunbury in Round 13 and Fremantle at Optus Stadium in Round 14, after the club announced a three-year agreement to play two home games in Western Australia from 2025.

 The agreement secures the Roos' post-Tasmania future while returning two additional home games to Melbourne from 2026.   

The full 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership fixture will be released on Thursday.

Round 8

Thursday, May 1
Essendon v North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium, 7.30pm AEST