Sydney's Allianz Stadium – better known for hosting rugby league, rugby union and soccer – has been discussed as a possible venue for AFLX games next pre-season, but club football departments claim they are in the dark about the league's exact plans for its new format.

The AFL on Thursday revealed the fixture for next year's pre-season JLT Community series, with each club's games cut from three to two, seemingly to create space for a series of AFLX events, of which it has been mooted three will be held, one in Melbourne, one in the northern states and one in either Adelaide or Perth, with clubs split across the three venues.

Yet the league still wouldn't confirm that the carnivals would take place, with AFL general manager of clubs and broadcasting Travis Auld telling fans to "watch this space" ahead of a likely announcement, understood to be next month.

Key football department figures at several clubs have expressed frustration about the lack of clarity surrounding AFLX, which is played on a rectangular field with seven players a side and 10 minute quarters. Concerns have been raised about how clubs can plan for their pre-seasons given they don't know what the requirements of AFLX will be.

It's understood there has been interest in holding one of the events at Allianz, the rectangular stadium next to the SCG. This would be a potential win for the AFL, who have had troubles making an early-season splash in the northern states due to limited ground availability, with the SCG and the Gabba bound by cricket commitments. That issue came to a head this year when the Brisbane Lions were denied the chance to host the AFLW grand final at the Gabba, with the match held at Gold Coast's Metricon Stadium.

As expected, the pre-season series was cut to just 18 games, down from 27, with Auld saying the league had sought feedback from clubs, the AFL players association and other stakeholders before reaching that decision.

"We think we've struck the right balance with two [games per team]. Some clubs may decide to play a practice match outside of this," Auld said.

The games will be played over a 16-day period, again with a focus on regional and suburban venues. Etihad Stadium won't host any matches, freeing the ground up for other commitments, while Ikon Park will host a pair of Wednesday night games under lights. All matches will be broadcast live on Fox Footy.

The most talked-about game is likely to be the Gold Coast-Geelong clash in Townsville on March 4, which shapes as the first chance for recently returned Cat Gary Ablett to take on his former club.

There is only one JLT series Friday night game, and unlike last year, no games will be played as double-headers with AFLW, with the league aiming to give the women's competition plenty of clear air. The AFLW fixture will be released on Friday - with the season to begin in the first weekend in February - while the men's home and away fixture is due next week.

On AFLX , Auld was coy. "We're not really in a position to finalise both the format and when we might finalise AFLX games or a carnival, but we'll certainly come back to it when we are," he said.

"It's just a new product [and] new products take time to develop."

"We want to make sure the format's right, that our clubs have bought into the product and the journey and what we're trying to do with it.

"Where is the right slot for it? What is the right time to introduce it? All of those things are getting worked through.

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"There's certainly no need to hurry it."

The AFL's football operations boss Steve Hocking flagged the likely introduction of AFLX on the league's website earlier this month.


Allianz Stadium in the mix for AFLX but clubs in dark