What will the sporting landscape look like in Sydney in 2050?

Yeah, these once in a lifetime event, big Euro clubs playing a practice match, but it seems to be happening every year & a few times per year. I would think the AFL Grand Final as a event even though it happens every year, so why wouldn't Sydney hosting a semi finals considering they can never host a GF as an event. But only 15K, hmmmmm.

Sydney naval ..... again you are wrong about 1899!!!, there was no comp and previously to 1894 the game was never number 1, clearly RU was. https://nswfootballhistory.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Officials-Sydney-Naval3.pdf

My link above which is the official history org, states that in 1899 the local Rules comp was in recess, so please explain as you have stated that it was number 1 in Sydney in that particular year. Link me to any site that states ARF was number 1 in Sydney ? The game had some traction in Sydney in the 1880's but due to RU attempting and succeeding to lock them out of grounds at times and the games inability to organise itself better it fell down, access to fenced grounds was very important as it allowed a sport to charge patrons When ARF had people on what was then the SCC board to enable ground access the code did OK. Things dont change, you get people in positions of power and influence that support you, you move forward.

Aligee, 1/ Please tell me what ARF is..(Sorry, I guess you mean Australian Rules Football) 2/ In 1999 there were 100 year Centenary Tests. Rugby Union, played between British Isles & Australia. Australia played in Blue & Maroon hoops as per 1899. Australia walloped them. Johnny Wilkinson made his debut for British Isles (England) There were articles reproducing articles from 1899 Sydney Newspapers about the curiosity of the Aust.Rules Crowd in the Exhibition Ground adjacent to the SCG. I have done a google search for this (these) newspaper articles.No luck, but I didn't make it up. BTW Sydney Naval was another leading club. I know you said nothing about China, it was my Ex Pat Melbourne Mate. When I say it was No1 ,Rugby League did not exist and I am leaving out Soccer. If GWS does not receive AUD $21 Million + from the AFL they are gone.

Grobbelaar the same thing happened in Sydney with the Lebanese community, which took to rugby league, and in particular clubs like the Bulldogs, Eels, Dragons and Tigers. The soccer clubs of the time were all dominated by south European immigrants (and their descendants). To a degree the Lebanese felt excluded from their clubs, and instead of setting up their own club, ended up following their local rugby league club. There was also some racism within the soccer community towards Lebanese. There were some Lebanese who stuck to the game of their homeland, and there are many Greeks, Maltese and Italians who got involved in rugby league.

Are you telling me that if the game of ARF was not a distinctly British school or upper class invention like Rugby for instance that it would not be played all over the world in former British colonies probably in a variety of forms.? It definitely would be, if you think not then you fail to understand how sport migrates through emigration and immigration. It also appears you fail to understand the distinct sporting cultural differences between Sydney and Melbourne and what lead to some games becoming accepted whilst others not. How many hundreds of thousands or indeed millions of Australians have migrated and settled half the world like people from the British Isles, taking their preferred codes with them ? Tell me that Concerned supporter ??

You stated it was number 1 in 1899 - in fact the game was in recess then, just how wrong can you be ?, 100% IT APPEARS, the game like any other has gone through peaks and troughs, but it was never number one and never close. I am disputing YOUR claim that it was number one, then you tell me i am blinkered for thinking something about conquering China - huh? - never mentioned China, but you are the one claiming it was number 1 !!! There are many reasons for ARF lack of success in Sydney, it has occurred to many that it has been easier to sell ice to eskimos than sell AF to Sydney. The game may indeed at some stage in Sydney in the future be more popular or less popular, my bet is ATM is it in some sort of growth phase, whether that can be replicated in 10 or 20 years is something that both you and i dont know, who knows history may repeat and the game may go backwards, but you would think that the AFL will pull out all stops to stop this occurring.

You are misinformed and/or deluded, not sure which yet "President Xi Jinping in 2015 has set out a 10 year plan, running from 2015-2025, to double the size of the Chinese sports economy to more than £600 billion, based on state and private investment in football. President Xi and avid football fan has a plan to turn China into a superpower in the sport, capable of qualifying for, hosting and then winning the World Cup." So that is over $1 trillion Australian Dollars on FOOTBALL So yea nah China has chosen football sorry AFL "According to Nielsen, 31% of urban Chinese residents say they’re interested in soccer, and that number is growing steadily." "Having at least 20,000 soccer training centres and 70,000 pitches by 2020, and one pitch for every 10,000 people by 2030."

I love how you AFL fanboys think the decision to play summer is based on AFL. I know I know you guys have hard time trying to understand international competitions, but here you go. We are aligned with the transfer windows. We play Summer so align ourselves with the larger competitions world wide, we start as the Transfer window closes in NH Summer, and we have another injection of players in January during their winter transfer period. This makes player movement so much easier. It also aligns players for our national campaigns, so domestic based players are in the same match fitness for international matches. I know hard for you all to understand.

Cat, Don't be so perverse.If it is described by many Roarers as öur great game, . If this is true , great game, why has it failed for more than 150 years to attract any traction in all other countries . The people of the Pacific Island countries don't see it as a great game.Some have asked me.why: 1/ the only point scoring method is by kicking. 2/you are "penalised"if you run too far. 3/Too many knock ons. But to give the AFL massive credit, they have evolved a club game to be a money making bonanza.GWS received AUD $21 Million in grants.! In comparison : Their Sydney Rugby Union clubs, Penrith Emus & Parramatta Two Blues received sweet FA from their governing body. Parramatta & Penrith NRL clubs are doing OK, they have massive Junior Leagues and receive grants from the NRL

What people fail to factor in is the scale of China. The AFL doesn’t need to takeover China. It doesn’t need to appeal to the entire country. It doesn’t need mass appeal. It doesn’t need to be the biggest code in the country either. If AFL only attracted 0.1% of China that would still be 1,400,000 more people watching AFL. China’s population is so massive that even a tiny slice of the pie makes the effort worth $$$.

China doesn't have a strong culture towards any particular football code, and so for this reason their people are in a unique position where they can choose the best of the four different codes to watch. This is where the AFL has the advantage over the other football codes. CS, if the AFL continue to play a regular season match in China each year, then by 2050 that bloke you had a drink with could be right.

And it won’t matter one bit it it never does make it beyond Australia’s shores. Why does it need to?

Of course you are entitled to comment on this article. Who are you people who feel the need to tell people you are entitled to an opinion? What is strange is that you scrolled past 180 something comments conveying a miriad of opinions ranging from GWS will fail to Australian football will reign supreme. You chose to comment on a massive outlier on the spectrum and then had the temerity to suggest it was an opinion held by most. It quite obviously isn't.

Cut it out,Aligee, In the 1960's there was a thriving local Aust. Rules Comp in Sydney. Rugby League & Rugby Union was played on Saturdays then.I can clearly remember going to Trumper Park to watch East Sydney play.on Sundays. From memory local teams were Balmain, St George, Newtown, North Shore, East Sydney , Western Suburbs & others. The Aust. Rules Comp was thriving. You AFL people are so blinkered & brainwashed .One bloke I have a drink with is claiming that AFL will be the most popular sport in mainland China?He says that China will embrace his wonderful sport. Hasn't Aust. Rules been around since 1860 odd and has not managed in all that time to have expanded to any other country..I

Ian Dunston is president of our club - an excellent president - and ground space is indeed a problem with the sport going gangbusters at junior lever in NSW, partic around the Eastern suburbs. The private boys school locally are resisting bringing the sport in despite popular demand as they fear it'll canabalise their traditional rugby union. Girls private schools are onboard in droves.

Born in RWH Paddington and lived there for a number of years - and i am the author.

Australian Rules football was never number 1 in Sydney, in 1899 the League was in recess which was from 1894 till 1903. At this very moment in time the game has never been healthier in Sydney, it has record amount of junior and senior teams playing at CLUB level. Please inform yourself. https://nswfootballhistory.com.au/about-us/potted-history/ ATM quite a few junior and indeed senior clubs have a lack of ovals to play on. https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/sport/afl/afl-has-grounds-for-concern-in-sydney-20170906-gycax1.html

Why does it matter if it is expat Vic's or not? Is there some wall being built that is going to suddenly halt the flow of people changing states? People watching is all that matter, the rest is just excuses to discredit them.

Yes, terrible situation with the Force. Don't know if the NRL will make much from NZ, UK or PNG - NZ didn't pay much more for this round, PNG wouldn't be able to pay much at all, don't know about UK. For all we know the AFL may be the only thing keeping up the advertisement budget for 7 - most people tend to watch sport live and therefore the ads, as opposed to time shifting. We will have to see what the respective codes have with their strategies to make up for the assumed fall in broadcast rights. Any code with too many eggs in that market may well be left exposed.