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The AFL has a history of trying to emulate (some would say copy) things the NFL does.
There is a salary cap, a draft, a draft camp, experiments with Monday Night and Thursday Night football and any number of entertainment and marketing concepts.
Some make sense, many don’t and the latest trial balloon is one of the most intriguing yet: the ‘NFL style’ draft day.
A few weeks after watching the successful circus that is the NFL draft, the AFL will apparently attempt to incorporate the same ideas into its draft. Interestingly, one of the articles about the proposed change included a reference not to the NFL draft but to the film Draft Day.
So not only is the AFL copying the NFL, it’s now copying American movies.
Now don’t get me wrong, some changes to the AFL draft can only be a good thing.
Maybe we won’t start at #10 and work our way to #1 the way Fox Footy did it a few years ago. We also – hopefully – won’t have to hear players identified by number: “With the fourth pick, the Brisbane Lions select player number 13875, Bob Jones.”
Certainly a little pizzazz and a heightened buildup would increase the entertainment factor. More game vision of draftees, more interviews and more awareness of the young talent on tap can only improve the event.
Already, journalists like Emma Quayle have upped the ante on profile pieces of young stars and have become part of a potential new wave of new ‘draft experts’. But will we now see an AFL version of Jon Gruden reviewing video with potential top picks? A Mel Kiper Jr with big hair and strong opinions?
The AFL is also hinting at more flexibility with the draft, including the trading of future picks, which is something American pro sports leagues have been doing for years.
All of these things sound great, but the bottom line is that the AFL is fighting some uphill battles if it really wants to emulate its American big brother.
For one thing, American football is the number one sport in the United States. End of story. It doesn’t have to share space with two or three other codes. All NFL news is consumed by fans all over the US, from Maine to Florida to California.
Rugby league fans in Queensland and New South Wales couldn’t care less about who goes first in the AFL draft.
The second problem is even more daunting. As many of you know, the US college football system is incredibly strong and its television ratings are enormous. So an American football fan tunes into the NFL draft having watched many of the draftees on national television for two to four years.
A debate over whether to pick Jameis Winston or Marcus Mariota is a truly nationwide talking point. You can’t say the same for Paddy McCartin versus Christian Petracca.
Finally, players drafted by the NFL (and the NBA) can often make big contributions right away.
Indianapolis Colts’ fans knew they would see Andrew Luck behind center in his first season. New York Giants’ fans may not have known how good Odell Beckham Jr would turn out to be, but based on his efforts at LSU, they knew he had the potential to help the team immediately.
The AFL draft is more about building for the future. It’s a bit like Major League Baseball, whose draft is the least publicised and least popular of North America’s ‘big four’ professional sports.
So what does the AFL think it’s going to accomplish by jazzing up draft day? Do they expect to see tense war rooms and tables full of agents, girlfriends and hangers on? Will gold chains and garish suits become the dress code du jour?
Of course not. Essentially an NFL-style draft gives the AFL, its fans and its media another thing to promote in the off-season.
Former Essendon superstar and 1116 SEN radio commentator Tim Watson hit the nail on the head when he said, “What other sports around the world do well, including the NFL, is occupy time and space in the media when their season is not in action.”
Admittedly, allowing future draft picks and making changes to the academy and father-son selection will make things more interesting – although possibly more confusing – for hardcore draft followers.
And a two-day carnival will add a sense of fun and might brings some fans to the site like we’ve seen in New York and saw in Chicago this year.
But that’s about as far as it goes when you use the term ‘NFL style’.
Swan Districts will never be Florida State and most Victorian fans still won’t have seen the kid from North Adelaide their club took with pick #25 in action.
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