The case against Americanising the AFL

“Just copy the NFL, that’s the blueprint.” It’s a sentiment that’s been echoed for years and is only growing as the NFL’s popularity skyrockets in Australia.

But would an American approach to Australia’s game really be feasible? Let’s take a look at some of the more popular suggestions.

Make the AFL Draft more of a spectacle
In theory I like this. The NFL draft is one of my favourite television events and I haven’t missed a first round telecast in nearly five years now.

However, to make this a reality in Australia, the AFL would need a total overhaul of the draft process and the avenues of access for incoming players.

The reason the NFL Draft is so popular is because the college system allows the consumer a three-year period to know the player before they are drafted. A fan can faun over a prospect based on a three-year workload in high-profile situations rather than the expert opinions on a round-robin competition that very few watch.

For this level of fan interest the AFL would need to raise the minimum age of entry in the AFL and truly establish a feeder competition to allow the average person to keep track of draft prospects.

I’m not opposed to this at all as it will reduce the number of young, unprepared players while also allowing opportunities for mature age recruits of state-based leagues, but the upside of draft interest isn’t worth the costly upheaval of the current state of play.

Another factor that increases interest in the NFL draft process is that there’s such a thing as a ‘franchise saviour’.

American football is so individually driven that if you can get “the guy” and make sure he constantly has the ball, it can change a team’s fortunes. Case in point, Cam Newton for the Carolina Panthers.

Australian football is a different beast to the point where these franchise saviors don’t exist. Best-case scenario, you pull off a Hawthorn 2004 draft but that involved more than just one guy.

Furthermore, the lack of importance of one position or one player reduces the need for draft day trades, arguably the most exciting part of the NFL Draft.

Conference and division-based schedule
In my opinion, we are extremely lucky with the AFL schedule. There are some bumps along the way that could be ironed out, but all in all we see every team and often get the rivalry games twice in a year. Not a bad deal.

The NFL needs conferences and divisions is simply because there are 32 teams. Dividing the AFL would lead to competition inequality, as traditional rivals would clamour to be together and leave smaller clubs on the outer.

Just divide geographically I hear you say? While the excitement of a Western division composed of both Western Australian and South Australian teams is intriguing, no one should be subjected to a Northern division of Brisbane, Gold Coast, GWS and Sydney.

I wouldn’t wish that upon my worst enemy.

And what to do with Melbourne? What about a dividing line between Carlton and Collingwood or a north and south alignment? Personally, I think we’ve handled ourselves well without the confusion.

Increase game day entertainment
Australia’s personal identity is relatively blue collar. We create idols out of criminals, larrikins and men who just didn’t agree with the whole ‘vibe’ of it.

Australia begrudges Hollywood and Melbourne even begrudges Sydney for being too Hollywood. Go figure.

Australian football doesn’t need game day and half-time entertainment for the simple fact that footy is entertainment enough as it is.

The constant flow of the game demands our constant attention and for this I’m thankful. Having lived in America for two years I can comfortably say the most engaging and fun fan experience of a big four event (football, basketball, baseball, hockey) is hockey.

The constant action and substitutions that don’t interrupt the flow of the game make it similar to the AFL whereas the constant stop start nature of the other sports make it hard to watch on occasion.

Ask yourself, when was the last time you left an AFL game thinking “yeah the game wasn’t bad but I tell you what, I’d go again just for the music”?

The AFL should be commended for its efforts to increase game-day experience recently but I’m adamant the general public would trade it all for a simple kick on the field after the game.

Lo and behold, after its reimplementation into the footy world the kick to kick has been a massive success.

Also worth noting, I may be somewhat discriminatory against entertainment at the footy after witnessing Vanessa Amorosi’s rock take on the national anthem at the 2011 grand final.

Quick takes
Names on the back of guernseys are needed in NFL for identification purposes and are popular in NBA and football because the players themselves are the brands. Until AFL players are allowed and encouraged to venture into individual promotion there’ll be no need for personalisation apart from making the occasional quick merchandise buck.

Score review in the AFL needs to be all or nothing. Invest in higher quality cameras and have there be a call to be overturned rather than the goal umpire merely ‘checking to see if it might have been touched’. At the moment it is starting to feel more time consuming but not at precise as NFL, more akin to basketball.

Finally it’s important to remember that so many of these character traits of US sports are available due to the uber-capitalistic nature of the country and monetary involvement in sport. Now, we love our sport in Australia, but not enough to make up for 300 million or so people.