AFL’s “leap of faith” with proposed expansion

The AFL admits its bold plans to start up teams on the Gold Coast and western Sydney in the next five years represent a “leap of faith”.

The winter code is planning on spreading its tentacles into NSW and Queensland by putting a team on the Gold Coast in 2011 and a side in western Sydney by 2012.

“All we want I guess is our share. We’ve always been clear that we have national ambitions and we are keen to have a national foot print,” AFL broadcasting and commercial operations general manager Gillon McLachlan told FoxSports.

“If we didn’t have a team on the Gold Coast and we didn’t have a team in western Sydney in the next five to ten years, I don’t think that we would be really being true to what we are saying we want to do.

“We are certainly spending enough money in those areas and at some point we are going to have to take a leap of faith.

“When that is, whether it’s 2011, 2012 or 2013 we couldn’t be precise about that at the moment.”
The main club to be affected by the expansion plans is the Swans.

But Sydney officials were quiet today, having gone to ground on the issue.

They have been very keen in the past to keep Sydney as a one-team town and little has happened to change that thinking.

The dilemma the AFL has if it wants to establish a second side in the burgeoning western Sydney market is when to do it.

The Swans for most of their time in Sydney have been a financial drain on the AFL but the 2005 premiership win has done plenty to cement their foothold on the city’s sporting psyche.

The problem for the AFL is if they go too early in setting up a club they could having two clubs needing regular cash injections in a state where rugby league still rules.

But if they hold off too long, the Swans could become such a financial force that they could corner the corporate dollar and squeeze out any second side.

McLachlan said the AFL understood the Swans’ concerns.

“But western Sydney is a market we are only really just starting to get a foothold in. It’s a huge market and a market in itself.

“We have the infrastructure up there. We are spending a lot of money on the grassroots in facilities and in game-development programs.

“Ultimately though to own and dominate that market our view is they need to have a team to themselves.”
Rugby League has rebounded over the last decade following the Super League war and televisions numbers have shown that it still holds the hearts of the vast majority of sports fans north of the Murray River.

The success of the A-League has also sped up the AFL’s move to tap into new territories such as western Sydney.

The AFL is realistic about its chances of competing in the most hotly-contested sports market in Australia.

“We don’t ever expect to dominate rugby league or even soccer in western Sydney,” said McLachlan.

Free Email updates:

• Get a daily AFL email

Our daily emails are only sent if there is content for the sport or that author. You can subscribe to multiple daily emails; or get the daily Roar email with all our content in it. We value privacy. More...

© 2007 AAP