Unveiling its fixture on Thursday, the league confirmed there will be a total of 47 games played on Saturday afternoon in Victoria, an increase on last season's number of 34.
Teams such as Richmond, Geelong, Hawthorn, Essendon, Carlton and Collingwood will be involved in a large number of those Saturday afternoon games.
Saturday night matches on the east coast will be brought forward by 20 minutes compared to the season just gone, with the matches set to get underway at 7:20pm.
Games hosted by the Crows and the Power on Saturday nights will start at 7:10pm as they did in the season just gone, while games in Western Australia will begin at 5:40pm.
The Tigers will face the Blues in the traditional season opener on Thursday April 2 at the MCG with Geelong and Hawthorn set to close out the opening round in a Monday afternoon blockbuster.
In other notable changes, the AFL has jettisoned Sunday night matches after a fan backlash last year with five Thursday night matches scheduled.
Four of the Thursday night matches are to be held between rounds 12 and 15.
AFL chief Gillon McLachlan confirmed Sunday night games will not be making a quick return.
"I think Sunday nights are going to have to dig through a bit of dirt (to get back on the radar)," he told the media after the fixture was announced.
The first grand final rematch will take place in round 8, with the Hawks and Swans to face off again in round 16.
Sydney will also host Collingwood on a Friday night at the SCG for the first time in 15 years as the league continues to take advantage of the pulling power the star-studded Swans command.
St Kilda are the only team to not play any of the top six twice but face a tough end to the year with fixtures against Port Adelaide, Fremantle, North Melbourne, Geelong, Sydney and a trip to West Coast.
Five games will be played on what will be a massive ANZAC Day (which falls on a Saturday in 2015) with St Kilda and Carlton off in Wellington to begin the day.
McLachlan was quick to defend the league's decision to host so many games on what will be the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing, saying the AFL would not hijack the occasion.
"It's the biggest thing we have in our game ... we would never do anything like that," he said.