Can the AFL capture Asia?

The classic "but but but if we could only get 1%" - hilarious

.....agree on all accounts. The AFL is ONLY interested in growing the code through a potential tele market. This is the brave new frontier that will ensure its empire competes with other footy brands. Their criteria has naught to do with 'support' in this context and so yes - the AFL are not so much hiding stiff but not telling us everything in order to continue their expedience towards the long suffering faithful. I reckon relocation is unlikely while the AFL won't force anyones hand in this respect and who should it be? One things for certain, the next expansion will be exclusively determined by television interests, while the team will be owned by the said network.

....I also might add that I find it the height of cringe that many i.e. the author and other contributors to the Roar, measure the success of a game i.e. ours against any potential global appeal. Sad really......

.......of course you are right. The code has degenerated into a spectacle resembling a rolling maul, mainly contested at ground level, while any aerial skills, open play and kicking ability is little more than a branding cliche these days.

Agree with Tassie... Growing the AFL "brand" is super important to ensure the longer term viability of this great game. However, neglecting the Apple Isle would be similar to making Collingwood play home games in New Zealand! The AFL needs to prioritize the growth inside Australia before launching massively into overseas markets such as India, China ETC. No argument to dip the "toe in the foreign waters" but AFL states such as Tassie rightfully deserves an AFL team. Back in the early 80's, South Melbourne got shunted to Sydney & 10's of millions got pumped into getting up to where it is today - a respected, professionally run club. If a current club wont re-locate, a start up team should happen immediately. If there are still doubters on whether the Apple Isle would support their team, either conduct or publish the surveys. Maybe this is being hidden from us so the overseas growth plans the AFL are pursuing with the vigor they are? Bite the bullet AFL; time has arrived....

just as your ridiculous 2 articles on tasmanian NRL were terrible your second attempt at this farcical notion of asian afl is worse. maybe this is all part of a weird experiment grade F

the biggest road block will be that people in asia dont care

The biggest impediment to the expansion of the game anywhere is the current style introduced by Roos, Eade, etc. and now followed slavishly by all coaches. Virtually all in one half of the ground most of the time, leading to congestion, repeated stoppages and lack of one on one contests. Bring back the open game style of the 1980s, when forwards could compete one on one, high marking and the scoring of multiple goals viz Ablett, Salmon, Dunstall etc. Thats what makes our game distinctive, exciting and attractive. Poor Jack Riewoldt. Exciting superstar a few years ago who lit up the arena. Now reduced to an average Tiger (and that's ordinary). The 80s style could work in Asia. Not this stuff I'm afraid.

Temptation is one thing, reality is quite another.

The AFL are already making a huge profit out of Tasmania and Canberra without having invested a cent. If they put two teams there and lose the government funding they will lose the profit. If they had lept 16 teams they would have saved 200 million, and have higher average crowds(even higher considering the GWS crowd fudging) and higher ratings(they changed the ratings criteria to hide the drop off).

I give this 0 out of 100 for hyperbole. What is this guy on about?

Trying to influence the wealthy is a lot harder than influencing the poor. If the AFL was looking for places which were populated to invest in China and India the cost of getting in there would have been 100 times cheaper 30 years ago and they would have been flattered by the attention. Gold Coast they got drawn in by people saying there would be a million by 2030 living there, its way under the lowest projection. Sydney Swans were already playing at Homebush and they had train loads of fans who travel from west of Strathfield. AFL naturally have a significant level of support in NSW and the Gold Coast just through interstate migration. Have they flushed 200 million down the drain on people who would have supported them anyway, probably. I would say Bangladesh, could be the next place to get into before it booms.

Agree with all of that. Putting a team in Asia would be the height of folly. Stick to running camps and trying to find prodigious talents at this stage. That in turn will drive interest back in their home countries, maybe encourage further participation and in 50-100 years if the world hasn't gone to hell maybe you could get a team into Asia. But I think the author is hopelessly misguided if he thinks dropping a team into Delhi is ever going to work. I love too how in his article he doesn't make one mention of the logistics of travelling to and from China/India to Australia to play games. It's not just the 12 hours of travel, it's visas, it's passports, it's customs, it's security, safety and a whole bunch of other stuff that quickly makes it not just improbable but insurmountable as well. Talk about sky castles. 2/10.

............I have watched heaps of junior footy MF that includes Sydney, regional NSW and Southern Qld and some footy out of Cairns & Townsville that were mainly indigenous. The calibre of skills was high while comparing these second tier states skill set with lads from India is typical of Sheedy's hyperbole and quite insulting truth be told.

There will not be AFL teams based outside of Austrlalia. The very minor interest the AFL has in the game being played overseas is: - adding to playing stocks - potential TV revenue - providing additional value to sponsors. That's pretty much it. Coincidentally, just listening to SEN radio now, Sheeds being interviewed on his way home from India, having been there for a shoolboys championship. Some of the teams had to travel thousands of kms just to participate. He said the thing he like most about what he saw from the schoolboys was their agility, but he did have to comment diplomatically about their ability to kick a footy - he likened it to boys who grow up in NSW and Queensland.

Consistent with the AFL's spin is the glaring contradiction again in this piece, that 'it takes a lot of $'s for the AFL to make a new team succeed'. Oh didums, poor altruistic AFL having to spend so much $ to expand its empire of avarice. Yes it does take $'s and yet the AFL are more than happy to throw good $ after bad in punting on demographics i.e. GC and GWS, while in the same breath dismissively talking down established and loyal markets domestically, that they can most certainly build on given how cashed up they really are. This debate is more about cultural priorities and philosophies. Avarice and a myopic dependency on television is a blight on the so called governance of the AFL as supposed custodians of our game. Asia, India, Saffa and so on it goes......... The code must establish itself as truly national before it can begin to contemplate any offshore expansion and that means establishing real teams in the Nations Capital and Tassie for starters. Any off shore plastic entity will only be staffed by Australians from the turf up for ions, so in that respect any AFL presence off shore will be little more than a marketing illusion, whereby real growth may never be realised at the GR throughout respective locations.

Think that's the reality of it, Epiquin.

I think the biggest Road block to this would be Distance. We already see it now with people complain about the game played in Perth for Eastern teams and Vic versa for WA team to Eastern side. In order of how far they would fly now and with adding others, this would be the order. Melbourne to Christchurch - 2401KM Melbourne to Perth - 2725KM Melbourne to Beijing - 9129KM Melbourne to New Delhi - 10217KM Melbourne to Cape Town - 10326KM The first big change you would have to make is that you have game over the complete week so Sunday to Saturday was one Round.

The growth of EPL and 20/20 Cricket in Asia is largely on the back of gambling. Given the AFL is in bed with most major bookies in this country, they are every bit the chance. In terms of anyone in Asia ever actually picking up a Sherrin, forget about it.

I'd suggest that the AFL expanding to Western Sydney and the Gold Coast is not just about profits. It's also about a) growth of the game to ensure b) the long term sustainability of the game. I'm a little bit more forgiving of sports bodies (particularly Australian sports bodies) going after profits, because it's not so much about lining executives' pockets but developing players and fans. You make some excellent points in regard to the size of relative markets and their potential returns to the AFL, but I think it's far easier said than done. After all, if even the NFL hasn't expanded outside of USA, I think the AFL, which requires round fields and whose rules aren't easily picked up will really struggle. Even in the English Super League, the only team in London can barely scrape together a handful of fans and now plays in the second tier. Sure, London isn't heartland, but it is the country's largest city and you'd think they'd at least find a niche supporter base. But stranger things have happened. The Super Rugby is played across 4 continents and Toronto are about to enter the English Rugby system, so never say never. But you'd be facing a major uphill battle. Actually, you'd be scaling a cliff face, and I don't know that the AFL's pockets are deep enough.