"In our northern markets, other codes are getting the jump on us up there," AFL deputy Gillon McLachlan said as he announced the home-and-away season would start in mid-March , featuring opening-weekend games in New South Wales and Queensland .
"We just need to have a voice in those markets when who we're competing with for a share in those markets is playing … we've invested a lot of money and it makes sense."
MORE: AFL 2014 fixture released | Magnificent seven: Best 2014 AFL games
The NRL starts the weekend prior, so will find itself head-to-head with the AFL earlier than ever before in the southern code's key expansion markets.
And with the A-League's season dragging into early May, the competition is fierce.
Through both necessity and design, the 2014 AFL fixture is a draw more noteworthy for its structure than its content.
With the MCG in cricket lockdown for the first two weeks of the season, the AFL is making the best of a less-than-ideal situation by starting early and spreading some love around Australia.
Timeslots are spreading too. There will be six Sunday night matches and six Thursday night matches.
The game is now further than ever from the traditional 2pm Saturday afternoon timeslot it was built on.
Television's former blue-ribbon Sunday timeslot is now no longer blockbuster movie-time. As torrents and time-shifting take charge, it is in danger of becoming a virtual wasteland.
So the AFL – always a pioneer in made-for-TV content – is stepping in.
Entering year three of its five-year television-rights deal, should the AFL save Sunday night telly, it could then expect to beef up the asking price when the negotiating table beckons again.
The Sunday night line-up is a beauty. Essendon-Carlton, Collingwood-Carlton and North Melbourne-Richmond all feature. Not much is being held back.
But at risk are actual attendances at these matches. School-friendly they are not. McLachlan, though, doesn't believe there'll be less bums on seats and more bums on couches as a result.
"There's an element of experimentation, but we're certainly not doing it expecting to sacrifice attendances," McLachlan said of Sunday night football.
McLachlan admitted one thing the AFL did not want to see was uncompetitive matches. For the past three seasons as Gold Coast and GWS have bedded in and Melbourne have gone into unshakeable slumber, they've been a fact of life.
They should become less so as GWS hopefully lift and the Demons get premiership coach Paul Roos to guide them. Already Gold Coast have proven themselves competitive, and possessing the best player in the competition has always helped make them watchable.
Despite the fascinating macro view taking shape for 2014, most fans will predictably go micro in their analysis of the obvious questions arising from the fixture.
What does it mean for my club? Have we been ripped off? How many interstate trips for the 10 Victorian clubs? And now importantly, what time is my team playing?
Hawthorn, Brisbane and Fremantle look early losers. North Melbourne, West Coast, the Western Bulldogs and Essendon look to have more favourable draws.
But much can change in an off-season. This time last year, you'd have been punching the air at the thought of playing Port Adelaide twice and crestfallen at double match-ups against West Coast and Adelaide. It never worked out that way once the season started.
In more ways than one, that is when winners and losers will be determined.
MORE: Adelaide | Brisbane | Carlton | Collingwood | Essendon | Fremantle | Geelong | Gold Coast | GWS | Hawthorn | Melbourne | North Melbourne | Port Adelaide | Richmond | St Kilda | Sydney | West Coast | Western Bulldogs