The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 7 April until 29 September, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top five clubs.
The premiership was won by the Richmond Football Club for the eighth time, after it defeated Carlton by 30 points in the 1973 VFL Grand Final.
One of the most significant innovations that came into force in 1973 was the implementation of a painted centre diamond area with 45-metre long sides, with a maximum of four players from each team permitted to stand within the diamond at centre bounces.
The purpose of this innovation was to try and solve the problem of congestion at centre bounces, as well as giving skilled players more space to benefit their teams.
At the conclusion of the home-and-away fixtures, the 1973 VFL Premiers were determined by the specific format and conventions of the "McIntyre final five system".