- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
The AFL has successfully managed itself to become the premier sporting code in Australia. Andrew Demetriou and his team has lead a successful phase of Australian Rules footy, arguably its most successful period in his history.
With the imminent increase of AFL teams within the competition, and TV rights soon up for negotiation, AFL HQ is looking rosy.
Traditionally, Australian sports fans have been accustomed to watching AFL in the winter, and cricket in the summer.
However, the sporting landscape in this country is changing. We are beginning to notice non-traditional sports luring the attention of young Australian athletes away from AFL and cricket at an alarming rate.
Domestically, rugby and football are the prime movers.
The latter now offers a National Competition that would be the envy of their State cricket counterparts. Average A-League attendances are proving to be stronger by the year. And with the FFA house in order, it must be a concern for those bustling for a share in the Australian sporting market.
The AFL sees no reason to look over their shoulder just yet, with healthy figures in all measures.
However, when kids of today are deciding which boots to lace up, rugby and football can offer kids what the AFL doesn’t: National Representation, the pride of pulling on an Aussies guernsey and the honour of representing the people of our country on the global stage.
Kids, and especially parents, these days are an ambitious lot. The opportunity to become either a Wallaby, or Socceroo, or Matilda, or potentially an Olympian, is appealing in comparison to playing AFL club games.
State Representation at AFL level is no longer on the agenda, leaving little or no opportunity for wider recognition as an athlete whilst playing AFL.
The AFL must look at taking the game globally as a means to demonstrate to our kids that the AFL are serious about putting its players on the sporting map.
Twilight footy is the ideal platform podium.
Australians living in, say UK, home to over 600,000 ex-pats, cannot watch AFL matches at reasonable hours due to differing time zones.
Bringing the bounce back to 5pm would provide global sports lovers an education into why the Australian game is so great.
It can only be beneficial to the game: TV ratings in Australia will be higher, international TV audiences will increase, and overseas-based corporations wanting greater visibility in Australia could use our game, via potential sponsorship, to gain leverage into Australia.
All of which means more money for the game, and its stakeholders, assuring viability for the struggling clubs.
We live in a world where global partnerships are critical. It seems the AFL and its perceived ignorance through distancing itself from global collaboration, in a sporting sense, could mean missed opportunities for our game.
The prospective growth that twilight footy offers far out weighs the benefits of the traditional 2pm start.
The AFL must not turn the backs on investing in this idea.
Global television provides future stars with the podium of an international audience, and the platform to demonstrate why AFL footballers are arguably the best athletes in the world.
Love this article? Nominate it for The Roar’s Armchair Sports Writer Award. Or vote now for this week’s nominated articles.
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.