THE AFL is exploring an idea to play an additional round in a single state from next year, chief executive Gillon McLachlan has revealed.

The idea of all 18 teams playing in a single state was floated to club presidents and CEOs in a meeting on Monday.

Depending on the location, the "carnival" would likely feature triple-headers and McLachlan confirmed the AFL was looking at potentially introducing the additional round as soon as next season.

"We work with the clubs about how they want the season set up," he told SEN radio on Tuesday. 

"This year, if you would recall, they played some internal practice matches and low-key stuff and then they played one proper hitout in venues with all the systems going. They just played it like a home and away game, they belted into each other and people got suspended and people got injured. 

"We had the CEOs and presidents on the back of that just before the opening week, and I said, 'If you're going to do it like that, why don't you play it as a home and away game and we'll just have a very limited pre-season?' There was not a 'no' so the team have gone off and explored all of that.

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"Now we've got multiple states interested in doing it and it's got to the point where three states say, 'Yeah, we'll do it, we'd love to have all nine games in this market.'

"The members in each state still get their 11 home games and it's an additional one and we can come together as an industry, whatever state it would be it would have a different logic and yesterday we got a tick to go and say, 'Yeah, OK, now we can start drilling into it.'"

McLachlan said it would be a huge initiative if introduced, with more to be known in the next two to three weeks.

The AFL is looking at the school holidays in April, after the first few rounds of the season, as a potential slot.

"We briefed the clubs where we're at and what it would mean in a marketing sense, a financial sense, a logistical sense," he said. 

"Now we're working through that with the clubs and importantly the footy departments, obviously talked to the clubs about what it might mean for members and others and we'll see where we get to probably over the next two or three weeks, but it would be a big thing."