加拿大软件工程师Rick Stone因一次偶然的巴士相遇，此后20多年来一直担任Fastbreak AI的首席调度官，协助澳大利亚足球联赛（AFL）制定赛程[1]。在Stone协助的全球约90项赛事中，AFL的赛程复杂程度已跻身前十，仅次于NFL等少数竞赛[1]。
目前，AFL赛程由超过400条加权不同的规则集管控，这些规则各自包含众多子规则[1]。2028年塔斯马尼亚队正式加入联赛后，球队数将增至19支（奇数），这将进一步增加赛程制定的难度[1]。为应对这一变化，AFL已提议四种19队赛程方案，分别为22场比赛加季后赛、24场比赛加季后赛、20场比赛加前四分之一小组赛，以及20场比赛加季后赛和赛季内锦标赛[1]。
联赛面临在保留现有规则与简化复杂性之间做出艰难权衡[1]。从观众参与度看，本赛季至第19轮已有6,147,830名球迷现场观看，比去年同期增加约10,000人[1]。2024整个赛季观众约1.41亿人次，而2025年至7月23日的观众数为1.119亿人次[1]。
A fortuitous encounter aboard a Canadian bus set in motion a relationship that would fundamentally shape Australian football scheduling for over two decades. Rick Stone, a Canadian software engineer and chief scheduling officer at Fastbreak AI, has been instrumental in constructing the Australian Football League's fixture lists since that pivotal meeting, working on what ranks among the world's most intricate sports scheduling challenges [1]. Among approximately 90 sporting events globally that Stone's firm assists with scheduling, the AFL places within the top ten in complexity, trailing only a select few competitions such as the NFL [1].
The complexity of AFL fixture-making has reached unprecedented levels, with the current schedule governed by more than 400 weighted rules, each containing numerous sub-components that must be balanced simultaneously [1]. This elaborate system faces imminent intensification: the league plans to admit Tasmania as its 19th team in 2028, introducing the logistical complications of an odd number of competing clubs [1]. To accommodate this expansion, the AFL has proposed four distinct fixture models: a 22-game regular season plus finals, a 24-game regular season plus finals, a 20-game regular season with a finals bracket system, or a 20-game regular season combining finals and mid-season competition [1]. As the league navigates this transition, administrators must weigh the tension between preserving the intricate ruleset that currently governs scheduling and simplifying the system to manage growing complexity [1].
Audience engagement remains robust as the league approaches this significant structural change. Through Round 19 of the current season, 6,147,830 spectators attended matches in person, representing an increase of approximately 10,000 compared to the equivalent period in the prior year [1]. The 2024 season recorded approximately 141 million total attendances, while the 2025 season through July 23 had accumulated 111.9 million attendance figures [1].