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It’s fair to say there’s been a lot of talk of the inequities of the national comp in favour of the Victorian clubs and there is some fair arguments to back that up.
Let’s be frank, whether or not it is a level playing field is irrelevant, the AFL is borne out of a state comp and by and large, some opinions rightly or wrongly still see the competition as Victoria-centralised.
Back in the late 80s, to simplify, the West Australian football commission bailed out the VFL – financially – in exchange for a licence to bring in a club from the West, enter the West Coast Eagles. This is how it looks externally, because of the financial situation it was a fait accompli – feel free to correct me if warranted.
I’m not going to get into arguments here, I’m here to state facts. Let’s look at the competition if it was completely and undeniably fair.
There would be an even amount of teams spread across the nation, all clubs would get equal access to draft and each team has equal travel (even though this is geographically impossible).
I’ll state clearly that this is how I think it would look like – make no mistake this is not what I would prefer it’s just how I think it would appear if it were to be completely fair.
Three teams from each state/territory (taking into account ACT is NSW), the West Australian, South Australian, Queensland and NSW teams would remain and the current Vic clubs would go back to the VFL and South Melbourne and Fitzroy would be reinstated into the VFL.
The desired result would be that there would be new teams from Victoria, Tasmania and the NT. There’s your 18 teams. Much like the big bash, new teams.
Obviously we can see numerous faults in this model. For starters it is highly unlikely that Tasmania and the NT could sustain three teams each. I’ll hazard a guess the crow eaters and sandgropers would likely go follow the WAFL and SANFL as well as their teams in the national comp.
A certainty would be that in Victoria the VFL would once again be the most attended and watched league in the land. It is more than likely the top end talent would go to the VFL teams in Victoria leaving the second tier players in the National comp teams representing Victoria.
Like it or lump it, clearly the bulk of football followers are in Victoria. It may leave a sour taste in your mouth but fact is the game began in Victoria – it is the home of footy, it’s impossible to argue that and the numbers are there to back it up.
Since the inception of the ‘AFL’ the attendance and TV ratings are that of a population three or four times our current 24 million. For example, only four years has the attendance been less than five million since 1990. It is regularly six million plus and there were even four seasons of seven million plus. Overall attendance of the AFL is around the 15th mark – take into consideration, our population and the lesser amount of games (by a lot!) compared to other leagues and on average attendance it is fourth. This is very healthy among the world leagues, regardless of sport.
AFL HQ are doing something right and it is not going to change anytime soon. Admittedly the league did lose a lot of supporters when Brisbane took over Fitzroy and South Melbourne left to go to Sydney, but those clubs have won premierships and are well supported.
Furthermore, the grand final is the largest attended single championship event in the world and that is why the grand final will stay at the MCG.
To be truly national? Not achievable. Luckily there is the choice as to whether you follow your local team or a Victorian one. So do you follow or snub?
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.