Like all great topics for off-season debate, the AFL fixture has endless possibilities but essentially never changes. It’s a tried-and-true discussion piece – and I’ve decided to weigh in.
The Big Bash League ended a little over a week ago in a memorable victory for Mike Hussey and the Sydney Thunder.
In the time since, my mind keeps going back to the idea that the AFL might be better served moving to a fixture like that of the BBL.
In its short time, the BBL had a game airing in primetime almost every night, along with the occasional double-header on weekends.
Compare that to the AFL, where nine games per week are crammed into just three days, maybe four on a rare occasion.
But the AFL could move to a model that sees a game played every day of the week, and two each day on the weekends – a day match and a night match.
There’d be a number of advantages to a move like this. The one that strikes me most is there would no longer be viewing conflicts between games. If you wanted to watch every match of the week live, you could – something that’s impossible now.
By having every match aired separately and seven out of nine matches every week being night games, the AFL would also have a chance to give more prominent timeslots to smaller teams, significantly increasing their profile.
A Tuesday night fixture sounds a lot better than the anonymous Saturday twilight shift.
It would give the AFL a chance to exclusively televise the entire season live through a single TV network, giving every club an even amount of time on free-to-air.
And of course it would mean there’s footy on every night! That might sound like more of a curse than a blessing to some, but it’s not about actually spending every night watching footy, it’s about having the option, on any given night, to settle in and see who’s playing.
The downsides? Those who love to have a weekend packed with footy might be a little disappointed, but two games on each weekend day is still a solid chunk of watching.
Not trying to cram so much top-level footy into every weekend day might even allow the AFL to put more effort into promoting state league or under-18 games by televising them in the freed-up timeslots.
It might have a negative impact on match attendance. After all, the more footy is improved as a TV product, the less likely people are to go in person.
That said, shifting the majority of games to a night slot could also have the opposite effect. Night footy is a great atmosphere and attendances might get a significant boost from fans making their way to matches after they knock off work.
The AFL has given this approach a bit of thought in the past, using this kind of fixture in the NAB Challenge in 2014.
The idea didn’t catch on then, but that might have to do with the fact many NAB Challenge matches were played in regional areas rather than the city where weeknight footy would work best – not to mention the generally low tempo of the pre-season competition.
I’m not suggesting the AFL change its entire fixture right off the bat, but perhaps next year they could trial this sort of approach in Round 1.
It could start with the traditional Richmond versus Carlton fixture on Monday night – or something much better – and build fans’ excitement through the week with a tour de force start to the season.
It’s worth an honest try. What do you think?
Perry Bridge
Guest
AFL 9s format games are played quite widely - especially as off-season/pre-season tournaments. The NRL of course now has their Auckland 9s. Which is interesting in that the 13 a side game is already a reduction on the Union 15 a side game and yet the Union reduced numbers variant is to 7s. Given I already reckon RL is just a variant of RU (and closer to it than T20 is to test cricket) and given cricket has 3 clear variants plus indoor - I reckon the AFL has to get serious about a variant (other than International rules with the Irish) - as suggested above. Anyway - the AFL doesn't seem too keen on it - but years ago we had the Lightning Premiership out at Waverley - across Fri, Sat and Sun in the 2nd weekend of Feb in 1996. There was some horrible weather (wet). Rules -Each game consisted of two 17 minute halves, with a five-minute half-time break -In the case of a tie after normal time, the siren would not sound until another score had been registered -Four boundary and four goal umpires were used -Three points were awarded if the ball hit the post, signalled by a different coloured flag -Three points were awarded for a deliberately rushed behind -The last player to touch the ball before it went over the boundary line was penalised and a free kick awarded to the opposing team. When it could not be determined who touched the ball last, it was thrown back in -The defender kicking in after a score did not have to wait until the goal umpire finished waving his flags -No umpire would bounce the ball, instead it was thrown up on all occasions -Six-man interchange bench Now -- perhaps if we instead ran it as an AFL 9s or AFL 12s per season round robin over a Fri night and the Sat and Sun. Well - of course we saw that in 2013 with mini 3 team round robins in Rnd 1 of the NAB Cup.
Josh
Expert
It'll be quite interesting to see how that pans out for the NRL this season! Thursday night football has had some relative success in the AFL so I wouldn't be surprised to see it become a regular occurrence going forward.
Josh
Expert
It's definitely been great to see the NBL gain some more profile this year. You make a good point about family attendance too Scott, something I hadn't fully considered.
Josh
Expert
Admittedly that's probably the most fanciful part of the idea.
Josh
Expert
Heh. Yeah it would be kind of a pain there!
Josh
Expert
That's an excellent point Jim, and to be honest, not one I had fully considered. I remember seeing Cairns absolutely flooded with Richmond supporters a few years ago when I was up there, back when they played one game a year there.
Dok
Roar Rookie
We need a 10 a side or something similar played pre season, perhaps played over a weekend at Etihad involving all teams, lets even do something right out of left field and play a International rules carnival inviting a stack of Irish teams, maybe a the top American Gaelic ( New York or Boston ) team which BTW plays in the top Irish league. The AFL can still play a pre season comp around the nation, but something a bit different as i have written above would be welcome as well IMO.
Xavier Smith
Roar Rookie
Every night would be a stretch, though I've always wondered whether a Thursday night to Monday night fixture would work.
Slane
Guest
The percentage of AFL revenue that comes from broadcasting rights is often quoted at around 30%. Given that the AFL's yearly revenue is a bit more than twice the NRL's yearly revenue even if broadcasters refused to air AFL content they would still be making money hand-over-fist from the rest of their enterprises.
Chris Vincent
Roar Pro
The one point missing is that Fox pay through the nose for exclusive rights for half the games so they can sell their pay tv channel. Is one FTA network going to be able to afford all the games? Would the AFL want to take a lower overall fee for the above solution? Probably not...
Mister Football
Roar Guru
The NRL experience will be interesting with their new fixturing - I think you are right in the manner you have described it - the ratings will be through the roof, and the little the NRL lose in the way of attendances is no big deal - the bulk of the fans congregate on the wings anyway, so it doesn't look so bad on TV - the AFL ground are so big the lower attendances means gaps all over the ground, which are usually visible (especially with the ball being in the air so often) - so what might work for the NRL probably doesn't work for the AFL, it's fair to say. Having said that, where the AFL can get the timing right, say, around public holidays, Monday arvo and Thursday night fixtures can have very good attendances.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Epiquin definitely agree that TV broadcasting of Australian Football games has always been challenging, it's a logistical nightmare, and it's a miracle at all that they can deliver something half watchable. It's definitely a game which has to be viewed live and which loses a lot by way of TV presentation.
Epiquin
Roar Guru
It's certainly an excellent way of building goodwill.
AR
Guest
You might be right. However, it was pleasing to see the AFL put the fans first with TV scheduling. When Sunday nights flopped (crowd-wise) and Mondays were stagnating (again, crowd-wise) the AFL scrapped them from the fixture altogether and opted for more Saturday arvo games and kids free on Sundays. As a fan, more of that please.
Epiquin
Roar Guru
Yeah I don't think weakness is the correct word. Maybe 'challenge?' At least in the future, anyway. They've certainly managed to have their cake and eat it too so far. I'm simply speculating that a time may come soon where they might be forced to choose between the two. Perhaps the next TV deal may stagnate and the networks (if networks even exist by then) will offer a Monday night carrot and the AFL administration will have to make the call as to whether the money on offer is a significant benefit for the cost. I think the evolution of broadcasting will be very interesting times for all codes.
AR
Guest
Hi Epiquin, I don't think it is a weakness of the AFL that the live experience is better than the TV experience. It's actually a critical feature of the AFL competition that sets it apart from every other sporting competition in the country. Crowds are very very important to the fabric of the game, and the AFL knows it. It's why the AFL imopsed a few "crowd boosting" measures last year - a freeze on ticket prices, lower food-drink prices, kick-to-kick on the ground, kids free on Sundays etc. But as it stands anyway, the AFL still got $2.5B for its broadcast deal, so its having its cake and eating it too when it comes to crowds and TV. But no dobut about it, the GF will soon be a night GF, and we'll be playing on Good Friday as well.
Epiquin
Roar Guru
Thanks Jim. Is it true though that Sunday/Monday night fixtures were only a failure from an attendance perspective? I've not seen what the TV figures were like. I also think that the AFL will soon adopt a night Grand Final purely for the reason that they won't lose any fans by doing so. Of course everyone PREFERS a day time Grand Final, but the fact is if it is moved to the evening everybody will still watch and more people will tune in. This happens in the NRL as well, where everyone laments the loss of the afternoon GF but viewership and attendances for the GF have never been higher.
Jim
Guest
Interesting point Epiquin and I think you can certainly argue on the basis as you had that it is also a key weakness. I have little doubt we will eventually see a night time grand final, which gives a better spectacle for television, but in my opinion would be at the expense of the quality of the footy on show. Monday night fixtures I'm not so sure above, given the dismal failure of Sunday/Monday night experiments so far..
Stewie
Guest
As a fantasy footballer, hell no please!
Epiquin
Roar Guru
Hey Jim, I am curious about one of your statements: "In terms of being a good tv product, the one bonus AFL has over most other major codes is the significant superiority of being at the ground than watching on telly." Could you not argue that this is also a weakness of the AFL? Given how much money comes from broadcasting rights, do you think it might only be a matter of time before the AFL begins succumbing to, say, a permanent Monday night fixture or a night-time Grand Final? No doubt AFL crowds are the envy of every other League in Australia and, lets be honest, the world. But I get the feeling that broadcasting will play an increasingly important role in the future.