AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou has warned the game must invest its wealth for the future, rather than spend big now.

Using the example of the March 17 community game in Mildura, Demetriou said at Tuesday's official season launch that the league was "an unbreakable thread" in society.

He set out a 13-point agenda for the next decade, aiming for greater penetration into the crucial northern markets and "more certainty" for the 16 clubs.

Essendon played a pre-season match against Richmond in Mildura earlier this month to support the local community after the deaths of six teenagers in a traffic accident.

"Football showed again that it is much more than a game, it is an unbreakable thread that weaves its way through our whole social fabric," Demetriou said.

Only a few months after the league signed a record $780 million television rights agreement with Channels Seven and Ten, Demetriou said the league had to now build on its strength.

"It's all about the game, and all our focus will be making the game even better than it is right now, and that's not about tinkering with rules, and processes, or structures," he said.

"It's about making the AFL game the No.1 choice of the next generation of talent, and the one after, and the one after.

"We must invest for the future, not spend for the present.

"This is not a year for pledges, but to present the AFL's agenda for growth into the next decade."

Demetriou's 13-point agenda included more grass-roots players and facilities, more penetration into New South Wales and Queensland, more indigenous and immigrant players and more money flowing into the game.

"Finally, (we aim for) more certainty for our 16 clubs - and an equality of opportunity for all clubs, on the field and off the field," he said.

"It's a wonderful picture to consider, and one that will concentrate the AFL administration long after I'm gone: a circle, working from the bottom to the top, and from the top to the bottom - all of us in there, pulling together, making it work."

The AFL season will open on Thursday night, four days after the end of the Commonwealth Games.

Demetriou praised the Games, with AFL players involved in the opening and closing ceremonies, and he scoffed at concerns that the Games meant a disjointed run into the regular season.

"Despite concerns to the contrary, I believe the Commonwealth Games has provided us with a great lead-in to the start of our season."

The season launch also included the formal induction of 10 new AFL life members.

Seven qualified automatically during the 2005 AFL season by reaching 300 games of service - current Melbourne coach and former Essendon captain Neale Daniher, Western Bulldogs pair Rohan Smith and Scott West, Adelaide's Mark Ricciuto, the Kangaroos' Glenn Archer, Geelong's Peter Riccardi and Sydney's Paul Williams.

Also honoured were 1967 Brownlow Medallist and former head of AFL Game Development Dr Ross Smith, former Richmond and West Coast player and long-time West Coast coaching staff member Robert Wiley, and Sydney and Brisbane administrator and former Collingwood player Andrew Ireland.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP