| 2016 premiership season | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Date | 8 September – 1 October 2016 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Premiers | Western Bulldogs (2nd premiership) |
| Runners-up | Sydney (17th grand final) |
| Minor premiers | Sydney (9th minor premiership) |
| Attendance | |
| Matches played | 9 |
| Total attendance | 558,343 (62,038 per match) |
| Highest | 99,981 (Grand Final, Sydney vs. Western Bulldogs) |
The 2016 Australian Football League finals series was the 120th annual edition of the VFL/AFL final series, the Australian rules football tournament staged to determine the winner of the 2016 AFL Premiership Season. The series ran over four weekends in September and October 2016, culminating with the 2016 AFL Grand Final, between the Sydney Swans and the Western Bulldogs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 1 October 2016. The Western Bulldogs defeated the Sydney Swans by 22 points to end the Western Bulldogs 62-year premiership drought, becoming the first team in AFL history to win the premiership from seventh place.
The top eight teams from the 2016 AFL Premiership season qualified for the finals series. AFL finals series have been played under the current format since 2000. The qualifying teams were Hawthorn, Sydney, Geelong, Greater Western Sydney, Adelaide, West Coast, Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne.