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Will football overtake other Australian codes?

Roar Pro
28th October, 2009
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Roar Pro
28th October, 2009
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2185 Reads

Whilst I applaud the passion and fervour with which football fans follow their sport, I’m always bewildered by their assertions that the sport is going to overtake the other football codes in Australia.

There is absolutely no evidence to suggest this will ever happen.

Not only does football have to become much more popular than it is, but the AFL and NRL would need to have significant popularity declines and this just isn’t happening.

In Australia, we all got behind the Socceroos at the last World Cup, but that event hasn’t had any impact on the popularity of the NRL and the AFL.

Entry into the Asia region has meant many more interesting Socceroos matches and qualification for the next world cup. But the A-League isn’t taking the public by storm – ratings and crowd attendances are down and disappointing.

And there are serious questions about the standard.

Now I notice the Gold Coast team is moving ahead with plans to cap crowds at 5,000. And this in one of the fastest growing population centres in Australia.

Compare that with the success of the Gold Coast Titans, in the NRL, from day one.

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A lot has been said and written about the AFL’s push into Western Sydney. But you can be assured that team will attract crowds better than the most popular A-League team in its first season in the AFL.

And let’s not forget the A-League plays in the off-season for the NRL and AFL.

But the most important fact, that all the football zealots ignore, is that it hasn’t happened anywhere else in the world where a strong, national indigenous football code exists.

Ireland – Gaelic Football
Canada – Canadian Football
United States – Gridiron

In each of these countries the indigenous codes and national competitions have flourished. Their popularity has not been undermined by football in any way.

Any national football competitions in these countries sit way down the pecking order in terms of popularity and public consciousness.

And Ireland is within spitting distance of at least four major European Leagues.

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I’ve read a lot of blah blah blah on The Roar about digital television and the internet bringing the diversity of world game to the masses. The truly international nature of football and its grass roots popularity are also popular themes.

But to everyone out there who is telling me “just wait and see what things will be like in 20 (50) years time”, none of that means the A-League will ever be able to compete in our winter with the NRL or the AFL.

The AFL and the NRL will always be our premier football competitions.

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