The AFL has followed the NFL's suit in many ways over recent decades: draft, free agency, a weekly marquee night game, legislated revenue sharing.

Now a prominent media analyst has suggested that the AFL could be heading for another US initiative: a televised fixture announcement.

The NFL released its schedule for the 2015 season in prime time on Tuesday night (US time.) It was broadcast in a two-hour special on ESPN, as well as being streamed online and on cable television via the league-owned NFL network in a three-hour news and analysis program.

TV rights expert Steve Allen of Fusion Strategy said that while he did not believe networks were actively seeking to show the unveiling live he believed the AFL could use it as a bargaining chip to leverage value in a competitive bidding market.

"I think it would be a high-risk strategy if it was in prime time. It might be in a very successful strategy if it were in fringe peak," Allen said.

However, Allen believed that if encouraged by the AFL, Foxtel would show it "no matter what".

"That would put the incumbents Seven in a slightly difficult position, because if they know Foxtel is prepared to do it, the pressure's on them. So they might make a strategic decision to not worry about the audience they net, because it's part of the goodwill package."

Allen reiterated his organisation's view that the rights are fully priced and networks are unlikely to increase their bids significantly.

If networks were unable to offer more, Allan suggested it could be a point of difference for a bidding network.

"If you were sitting there and were good negotiators you'd be saying, 'Well, what else can you offer us?' Extra coverage in some form or another would be one of the things they might be able to offer, even if it wasn't a very sensible commercial decision."

The league has typically announced its fixture via its website and at a press conference, which last year was streamed live on the AFL website. The fixture generally comes out on a weekday morning in late October.

Foxtel has televised the national draft live in prime time on a Thursday night since 2009. The event previously had been held on weekend afternoons. Over the past three years, the draft has attracted an average of 115,000 viewers nationally, on each occasion placing it in Foxtel's top-two rated shows for the night.