When it comes to marketing a sport few do it better than the AFL.
It starts with the very name itself.
Ask a lot of parents what sport their kid plays, and they will say, “AFL”. The kids will say the same.
Yet they aren’t playing AFL at all. They are playing Australian football, for the AFL is the 18-team elite level national competition.
No other sport in the world is referred to by the name of its national league.
When asked about which sport they play, no Australian kids would say NBL, NRL or A-League if referring to basketball, rugby league or football.
Likewise, in England they would not say they play EPL, or in the United States that they play NFL or Major League baseball.
It is a simple illustration of how all pervasive the AFL has become within the code itself.
On a global scale, by average attendance per game, the AFL is the fourth largest league in the world with 33,200 fans attending each match.
The introduction of clubs on the Gold Coast and in Western Sydney in the past six years – two non-traditional Australian football markets – has seen average match attendances decline from the record 38,400 in 2010.
The NFL leads the way with average crowds of 68,400, ahead of the German Bundesliga (47,500) and the EPL (36,500).
Like the NFL, the AFL is an unusual beast in the fact that it is a purely domestic sport.
In the case of Australian football, this has proven to be a double-edged sword.
One of the great attractions of sports like football, cricket, basketball and the rugby codes is that they have all have an international flavour – none more so than football with the ‘world game’ having a strong footprint in over 200 countries.
For anyone taking up those sports, there is the ability to either tour overseas or base yourself off shore and play professionally.
That has seen many leading athletes leave Australia to ply their trade overseas.
With Australian football, there is no such issue which means the very best in the sport must play here.
It means that the highest possible level of the sport is played solely in this country, just like the NFL is in the United States.
The greatest change to Australian football came with the expansion of the VFL.
South Melbourne morphed into the Sydney Swans in 1982 ahead of the West Coast Eagles and Brisbane Bears joining an expanded competition in 1987.
The VFL was renamed the AFL in 1990 and subsequently, further expansion teams sprouted in Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales.
The league also took home-and-away fixtures regularly to places like Canberra, Darwin, Hobart and Launceston.
Unlike the NRL, the AFL took on the guise of a truly national competition.
There is no doubting that Australian Football is being challenged by football and that will continue to be the case.
The factional infighting that blighted the sport in this country for so long is a thing of the past and has consequently resulted in a far more professional and businesslike approach at the board table.
The world game is better placed than ever to make solid inroads into Australian football’s dominance of the nation’s sporting landscape.
Football participation rates nationally are significantly higher than Australian football’s and there has been an increase in spectator numbers with match crowds averaging around 13,000 for A-League fixtures.
By comparison, the NRL averages 16,100 fans per game.
It is the TV rights area, however, where the AFL continues to garner massive leverage.
The latest TV broadcast deal – to run from 2017-22 – netted the AFL $2.51 billion. The new deal, worth $418m per year, represents a 67 per cent increase on the previous agreement.
By comparison, the NRL’s latest five-year TV deal was worth $1.8 billion while the FFA’s recently signed TV package for Socceroos, Matildas, A-League W-League and FFA Cup matches with Fox Sports over six years is worth $346m.
A separate deal for the A-League on free-to-air television on Saturday nights for the next six seasons is expected to be inked shortly.
This year, Fox Sports is launching a dedicated 24-hour NRL channel.
The AFL had its own 24-hour Fox Footy channel between 2002-2006 and it was re-established in 2012.
The major reason the A-League and NBL are played primarily in the summer months rather than the traditional winter period for the codes in this country was predicated on being able to find greater media traction rather than it being head-to-head with the NRL, and in particular, the AFL.
The financial muscle of the AFL – garnered through its broadcast rights, membership and spectator base, and record levels of Australian corporate sponsorship – has allowed it to introduce its AFL Women’s competition which has been an overwhelming success.
The TV audiences have massively outstripped other female domestic leagues and some of the matches have seen lock-outs with crowds as high as 25,000.
Cannily, the AFL made admission free, which has been a masterstroke.
It has resulted in exposing thousands of people to the new competition who may not have otherwise attended.
The large crowds and the big TV audiences will inspire thousands of young girls to take up the sport which will, in turn, bring their parents to the code as well.
Placing the competition where it has, in the two months leading up to the AFL home-and-away season, has provided the sport with an extra two months of media coverage, especially in the month prior to the start of the AFL pre-season series.
The AFL has always looked to maximise its media exposure with the months of October and November nowadays peppered with stories surrounding the trade period, free agency and the national and rookie drafts.
What used to be a sport that garnered public attention between the months of February and September is now pretty much a year-round staple for media outlets.
On Wednesday, Mike Fitzpatrick announced he will be shortly stepping down after ten years as AFL chairman, to be replaced by outgoing Wesfarmers managing director, Richard Goyder.
While the man at the top of the tree may be changing it is safe to assume that the sport itself will continue to dominate the Australian sporting landscape for many years to come.
stephen
Guest
I find the ignorant blow-hards in Canberra, NSW and QLD make me laugh the most. They have no idea how old the code of Australian Rules Football is. RL was only invented at the end of the 19th century, and RU was only codified as a code here in the 1860s.
Dean - Surry Hills
Guest
Glenn - that's poor use of the English language, and is akin to someone saying "I used the ATM machine". Most people knew the game as Australian Rules when I was a younger man, regardless of whether the competition was known as The VFL or The AFL. The words Australian (or Aussie) used in conjunction with Rules should be proudly used at all opportunities to highlight the invention of a contest that took place on our shores. Keep up the good work. Hopefully, a few more articles like this will help the average punter to spread their wings and take a second glance at rival codes.
Perry Bridge
Guest
That sounds like 6 pages of football to me.
Perry Bridge
Guest
largely I had to give up the concern about 'playing AFL' - back in '98 had a footy trip to Sydney and even though we were low level VAFA players - locals are like 'You play AFL'.....and to us - clearly NO - we played in the VAFA. Wish we were good enough to play 'AFL'. However - in almost 20 years since then (that's scary!!) - we now even have AFL-Fiji, AFL-Vanuatu, the old 'QAFL' is now AFL-Qld, and worst of all AFL-Victoria in contrast to the old 'Football Victoria' which now appears to relate to 'soccer'. The annoyance is - the AFL have vacated the ambiguous branding and that has allowed soccer to stroll in and adopt it for themselves. However - let it be stressed - when the BBC reports on 'Match fixing in Australian football' - they were referring to soccer and not AFL or the AFL.......so, for me - I'll tend to use 'Australian (Rules) Football' and everyone will know what I mean. Soccer of course is not Australian football or is is '(soccer) football in Australia?
Republican
Guest
......ah Wookie, my hope for you is that you get to appreciate your indigenous code in its droll domestic existence and despite a lack of true global status. In the meantime can I suggest you turn your attention to Soccer, Union or one of those less insular protectionist brands.......? These local rags sell a lot of product - to be sure.
Republican
Guest
.......ours and the Gaelic equivalent, seem to be surviving in this not so serious market quite well I would have thought Chris? You couldn't say the same for the Rugbies in this country while League may be touted as global but in truth, it is a lightweight that struggles to live up to its expectation of itself. Your concern for our game is anything but sincere Chris; more like contempt me thinks.......
Republican
Guest
....its all relative Chris. What really causes you heightened consternation, is that our code gleans far greater and more passionate support than the so called international brands that compete for our patronage here. Our indigenous 'product' is something you would prefer to dilute to resemble the remaining homogeneous lacklustre sporting brands, that have lost any semblance of distinction in terms of heritage. I can understand why the existence and popularity of our great game is a constant source of envy for you and those of your ilk.
Republican
Guest
Sport is also cultural Chris. What we see is that the globalisation of sport has compromised the cultural capital of any code, resulting in an abject lack of tribalism, community, historical references and so on it goes. You can support Celtic out of Glasgow and the name, community and tradition means diddly in reality while 99% of the club is staffed by players from foreign nations. There are any number of avenues for Australians as with US athletes who suffer no cringe regards their homegrown codes, to realise their 'global' aspirations. The value of a code i.e. ours is obviously lost on those of your persuasion sadly, while your belief that it is somehow holding athletes back together with the national sporting cause is simply melodrama in the extreme.
Glenn Mitchell
Expert
For those that keep saying that the term 'AFL' is used only in NSW & Qld to describe Australian Football. Have a look at www.play.afl.
Glenn Mitchell
Expert
Not 'pumping' it up at all Norad. The figures I quoted a fact.
Perry Bridge
Guest
'expand'. So the bedding in of the Suns and Giants and now the AFLW isn't enough. What more do you want? Games in China for premiership points?.....oh, wait... psssst.....500 up.
Perry Bridge
Guest
#Chris You're the one refusing to enter into a discussion. My comments below - - discuss. Do we agree that during the period of the SoO in the NRL that the regular H&A club season is negatively impacted. (I'm pretty sure that's so widely acknowledged that I shouldn't have to ask). The players are contracted to their clubs - that is where there income is primarily sourced. We know - even in the NRL - that clubs such as Storm, Broncos etc get really nervous during SoO - not wanting to lose players to injury. Certainly though the players DO enjoy the NRL SoO - it somehow helps that there are only 2 states involved. For the AFL - a truly national competition in the mid 90s by which time the Eagles and Crows were established - was killing off interest in the SoO. Players didn't want to play (or were easily convinced by clubs to not be available due to a minor strain or tweak). AFL removed the SoO. I'd like to see it back - perhaps every 3 years. However with more than 2 states it's difficult - you need to run a meaningful tournament. It would work better in the current 18 team AFL environment with players spread more around the nation due the draft. The concept of international competition to test skills etc is a very valid point - certainly for the example of cricket (although, often a Vic vs NSW Sheffield Shield contest will be tougher than say Australian vs West Indies last summer, so, international just for the sake of it is not necessarily a step up other than the pride aspect of wearing the baggy green). In general though - Australian cricket is put in perspective by the national team performances - although, home compared to away can be such major factors that there can be very limited directly transferable form/skills in what truly are 'foreign' conditions. The NFL doesn't seem to suffer too much for lack of higher representation nor the AFL. The NRL probably shouldn't bother (season long enough as is and SoO is the peak interest around any of the Rep games, even more than the GF it often seems.).
Perry Bridge
Guest
#Agent11 Part of the issue here is that some people (seemingly) in NSW and QLD claim AFL is not representative of them, it's all expats etc and NRL is their game. However - it's then suggested even NRL is more international than AFL and that to me seems based in some respects upon hypocrisy. And the recent 'World' team against the Indigenous All-Stars was a case in point. Ironically this morning the French national team for this years AFL International Cup was confirmed - no expat Aussies who have moved there and no Australian raised players with French parents or grand parents. (Players from Cergy-Pontoise Coyotes, ALFA Lions, Bordeaux Bombers, Paris Cockerels, Paris Cockatoos, Perpignan Tigers, Toulouse Hawks & Blagnac Aviators. The 2 from Blagnac; Anthony Girard and Sylvain Maylie become the first ever Blagnac team players to represent their nation.) So - again - at what point is a game international with amateurs in other countries - it reminds me in part of what the Olympics originally represented - y'know, amateur contestants. And this is why an event like the AFL International Cup is a really cool atmosphere - no professional egos and pressure. The interaction of players and (not nearly enough) fans is greater and more real than can happy around the professionals (if only due to security!!).
Chris
Guest
exactly my point.
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
breaking news: local paper covers local professional sporting interests that sell papers. news at 11.
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
people have been blaming packer and Murdochs moods for the AFL getting overs for the last three deals....
Chris
Guest
And yet this mornings SMH had 3 pages of league, 2 pages of football, and 1 page of union. No mention of AFL. What gives?
Chris
Guest
See this is the delusional world you live in. So not having international competition enhances the local competition using your logic. What a joke. So the fact that local players never ever get to test and hone their skills against international opposition somehow strengthens the local competition? As someone said earlier, no point discussing this with brainwashed acolytes.
clipper
Guest
Fair enough, but your statement that NZ and PNG teams are 100% homegrown is incorrect. The whole point of this argument is that more international teams in AFL are filled with homegrown players than league teams, which is the case, thanks to the very, very lax eligibility rules league has.
clipper
Guest
It's very conclusive, but I think you'll either get silence from league fans or those that say Wikipedia is not a reliable source - I've had that when using it, even though they've been using figures from the NRL!