The AFL's Friday night lights will shine on GWS next year with the Giants set to be handed their debut in the league's most coveted timeslot when the 2017 fixture is released on Thursday morning.
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Last year's preliminary finalists have forced the AFL's hand after a ratings boom in the fledgling club's fifth season which was easily its most-watched campaign to date, up almost 37 per cent from 2015.
Almost 6.7 million viewers tuned in to watch the Giants' 22 regular-season games last year at an average of 304,409 per match.
And the club's two finals games, a six-goal win over cross-town rivals Sydney Swans and the heartbreaking loss to eventual premiers the Western Bulldogs, were watched by a combined 3,865,000 people across the country.
That Bulldogs loss was the second-most viewed game of all time outside of an AFL decider, bested only by the 2007 preliminary final between Collingwood and Geelong.
GWS blossomed into the AFL's entertainers in 2016 en route to their 16-win season and a maiden finals finish.
That tag is only set to remain next year with the addition of Richmond star Brett Deledio to the half forward line, a month after triple premiership player Steve Johnson announced he'd play on for another season.
Thursday morning's fixture announcement comes amid the ongoing AFL and ASADA investigation swirling around young Giants star Lachie Whitfield, and former club staffers Graeme Allan and Craig Lambert.
Allan, now head of football at Collingwood, is alleged to have advised Whitfield to hide away for three days in Lambert's house last year to avoid a potential illicit drugs test.
The Magpies have come under intense scrutiny this week for bringing Allan to the club despite a possible multi-year ban hanging over his head, leading club president Eddie McGuire to say "it's a GWS issue, it's got nothing to do with us" on Wednesday morning.
GWS issued a statement this week reiterating their original stance on the issue.
"The Giants reiterate that mid-way through last year the club received an allegation from a member of the public that warranted investigation," the statement said.
"As soon as the Giants' CEO was made aware of the allegation the AFL and the Giants board were immediately notified. The club's Integrity Committee also immediately commissioned an independent investigation by a senior counsel based on the then available evidence.
"The club takes all integrity matters extremely seriously and will continue to co-operate fully with the AFL as it has done from the outset.
"Until the club receives the AFL's findings it is not in a position to comment further."
Meanwhile, Port Adelaide will play Gold Coast for premiership points in Shanghai next season, the first time an AFL game has been taken to China.
Port president David Koch has long been keen to take a game to China, but only if his club didn't have to sacrifice a home game in the process. Next year's clash in China will be a Suns home game.
The Giants were initially slated as a potential opponent for Port in China, but GWS didn't have a spare home game to use for the fixture given it is contracted to play three regular season matches at Manuka Oval in Canberra.
