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The Saints are returning to Friday night football with four marquee timeslot games scheduled in St Kilda’s 2017 fixture.
The Saints are poised to take on preliminary finalists GWS Giants on Friday night at Etihad Stadium in Round 7, and will come off their Round 11 bye with a blockbuster against the Crows at Adelaide Oval in Round 12.
In Round 13, St Kilda will back up against Friday night pioneers North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium and they will finish off their primetime run against Essendon in Round 17 at home.
St Kilda CEO Matt Finnis said that after a season without Friday night footy, the Saints welcome this and the other highlights of their 2017 AFL Fixture.
“We welcome the 2017 fixture and we’re particularly pleased to have secured four Friday night matches, which is a reflection of the exciting brand of football our team played in 2016,” he said.
“Seven primetime games across Friday and Saturday nights is a fantastic outcome for both fans and our commercial partners.
“This fixture gives our members and supporters great flexibility, with 16 games in Melbourne and six interstate matches across a variety of timeslots,” Finnis said.
St Kilda will again host Maddie’s Match in support of Maddie Riewoldt’s Vision, taking on Richmond at Etihad Stadium while also sharing the hosting duties of the second annual Pride Game with Sydney Swans at the SCG.
“Maddie’s Match is a very important event on the Saints calendar and we’re thrilled that St Kilda and Richmond, assisted by Nick and Jack Riewoldt, will be able to share the game again in support of Maddie Riewoldt’s Vision,” Finnis said.
“After the success of the inaugural Pride Game, we look forward to supporting hosts Sydney in 2017 to help further spread the message that all are welcome at the footy,” he said.
Members and supporters will have 16 opportunities to see the Saints in Melbourne.
“We’d love to see all our members and supporters join us to kick off our 2017 campaign against Melbourne at home, followed by exciting clashes against Geelong (Round 5), Carlton (Round 8), Richmond (Round 16) and Essendon (Round 17),” Finnis said.
“We think we’ve made great strides in recent years in putting together family friendly match-days and with 11 home games at Etihad Stadium this year we’ll continue to make it a spectacle for our supporters,” he said.
The Saints will make six interstate trips visiting South Australia and Western Australia twice, while supporters in both New South Wales and Tasmania will each get an opportunity to see their team.
“While the team’s performance on the road wasn’t a strength in 2016, it’s another area of development and we’ll be looking forward to the challenge of six interstate games in 2017,” Finnis said.
“As we were very pleased with the turnout and support at our Round 4 match in Launceston this year, we’re excited to play in front of our Tassie fans when we take on Hawthorn in Round 6,” he said.
With every Saints game available on AFL broadcast partner Fox Footy, supporters will also have the opportunity to watch nine games telecast free-to-air on Channel 7 in 2017.
