For over 150 years, Australian Rules Football has been one of the most romantic games in the world. But AFL football is not what it used to be.
In an era where ‘spectacle’ and ‘ratings’ have become buzzwords in the headquarters of elite sporting codes around the land, the essence of what the fans buy their tickets to see is missing: the game itself.
We’re living in a world where people want to see fast-paced sports, resulting in the evolution of Twenty20 cricket, rugby sevens and Fast4 tennis.
The spectacle of these games and their resulting spike in crowds and TV ratings is pushing the AFL to go where every other sporting code has gone – not an abridged version of the game, like they are doing with AFLX, but playing the grand final under lights.
The spectacle would be great, there is no denying that, but the day the AFL decides to play the grand final at twilight or night time is the day the grand final becomes bigger than the game.
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Look to the Super Bowl and the performance and production are brilliant. The dollars spent and the star power available allows them to splash the cash and put on a show. But, unlike the AFL, the Super Bowl isn’t all about the teams playing in it.
Many argue the Americans are more worried about the halftime show and TV commercials, both of which get scrutinised more than the game itself.
Entertainment is a factor in Australia and it is slowly improving every year – we had Ed Sheeran in 2014, Bryan Adams and Ellie Goulding in ’15, Vance Joy and The Living End in ’16 and who could forget the stunning performance of The Killers last year, with a dose of Jack Riewoldt?
It’s not Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé or Lady Gaga keeping everyone in their seats to be a part of the spectacle, but the traditional fans know exactly what the day is all about: the two best teams of the season, fighting it out at 2:30pm at the home of football.
It’s the force driving every player who pulls on a jumper, hoping one day they will get their day on the dais receiving their medallion. The game is about them, their teammates and their opponents, not who will appease the crowd around the actual game.
Jack Riewoldt of the Tigers sings on stage with The Killers. (Photo by Scott Barbour/AFL Media/Getty Images)
The AFL has expanded rapidly in the past decade to become one of the leading industries in Australia. The introduction of free agency, the broadcasting rights deal, and the collective bargaining agreement allows players more freedom to move around, while receiving a bigger chunk of the pie.
Sponsorships for both the clubs and code flood the ground, while the AFL carefully doctor the fixture to ensure the best-looking games and teams are set aside for prime time television to maintain ratings and keep the revenue piling up.
At its core, Australian football is still that traditional game for the fans, and historically, it was played on a Saturday afternoon. While that is not possible in this day and age, with an 18-team competition and the will and the want to broadcast every game live, traditionalists hope that the one thing that remains is the biggest day on the football calendar staying a daytime match.
While it may seem exciting, for the sake of the tradition of our great game, we should stay far away from the twilight zone.
Paul D
Roar Guru
I would have thought a shallow comment was claiming Murdoch wants a night GF for Foxtel when it's the one game of the year they don't get to broadcast live, Seven has exclusive rights to it. I'm sure Rupert is really banking on the value of their delayed replay skyrocketing but hey, you keep on saying it's all Murdoch. I'm sure you will anyway
Penster
Roar Guru
Won't someone please think of the drinkers.
andyl12
Guest
Paul D, Foxtel is owned by Murdoch. And something tells me they want a night GF. Seriously, who do you think you can fool with your shallow comments?
republican
Guest
.......concur but of course the AFL have long been an excuse for custodianship of what is a cultural institution. They are a symbiosis of multi national televisions empire building, pure and simple. This will allow the AFL to tap into off shore markets while the talent pool will be predominately made up of Aussies, spreading any talent thinly to realise their meglomanic illusion. If aflx gains traction it will be akin to what T20 has been for Test Cricket, while the prosaic consumer will ensure its success over the likes of myself, a dinosaur supporter..........
Paul D
Roar Guru
Channel 7 is actually owned by Kerry Stokes & Seven West Media - but yeah, it's all the Murdoch bogeyman, sure, why not
Reservoir Animal
Guest
All you're really saying is that the AFL can't get the right people to its marquee event. If this is true then all it proves is that the AFL should focus on the football and not the less relevant aspects of the day.
Reservoir Animal
Guest
Anon, have you ever had kids? Thought not.
Reservoir Animal
Guest
"I just don’t think it’s worth dying in a ditch over a football game being delayed a few hours" So it seems you're just giving into the Murdoch money because you can't be bothered arguing. That makes your entire argument weak at best, nonexistent at worst.
Paul D
Roar Guru
At least you’re admitting the farmers would watch it in the evenings. Right now they’re not even doing that. Money – yeah, the TV rights deal is paid direct to gilmac via brown paper bags. No money from TV rights is given to clubs, grassroots, charities, social causes or anything else, nope not a cent. I’m calling for this all so GilMac can afford to add another floor to his house. Honestly. Better atmosphere/occasion – purely subjective on your part too. Considering you won’t even let the game be played at night to compare it’s a bit hard to say. You know the half-time show can be assessed entirely independently from the football, don’t you? It is possible to enjoy both. I’m not conned by Murdoch at all. I just don’t think it’s worth dying in a ditch over a football game being delayed a few hours.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Keep building straw men Reservoir, at this rate you'll soon have a starting 22
anon
Roar Pro
A night GF ends at 10.45-11 if you count presentations. I don’t think many 4yos are up at that hour, even on a Saturday. No 4 year old can sit through more than 10 minutes of football any way. They're just waiting to be told when to wave their flag or hanging out for some hot chips. The world doesn't revolve around the considerations of children. They have ample afternoon games to watch during the year. Send them to bed and tell them to watch the second half of the Grand Final in the morning.
Reservoir Animal
Guest
Paul D, years ago the AFL moved the starting time to 2.45 and then to 3. Then when fans realised it was part of a gradual push towards an after-dark timeslot they relented and went back to 2.30. You can bet your life that if Murdoch, Stokes and GilMac get their twilight GF, it'll become a night GF not long after with an 11PM finish. After all, that's what brings in the money isn't it?
Reservoir Animal
Guest
All easily rebutted. -More viewers: Maybe for a day. Then all the outback QLD farmers will go back to work and forget about what they saw. -More $: For GilMac, Rupert and Stokesy, yes. Something tells me they're already rich enough. -Better atmosphere: That might be your opinion. The opinions of those with children or those who just like hanging out in the sun might differ. -Better half-time show: Go to a rock concert if you care. I care more about football. -Bigger occasion: That's as subjective as you could get. The fact is that the AFL Grand Final is a much bigger sporting event (in terms of viewership and general presence) than the NRL Grand Final, despite all these apparent advantages the latter has. And a majority of AFL fans want the GF kept in the day, despite your claims to the contrary. We wouldn't even be having this argument except that people like you are easily conned by the Murdochs of this world.
Slane
Guest
Feel free to name a better AFL GF act, Reservoir Animal. Angry Anderson or Meatloaf? Lionel Richie wasn't too bad but we booked him about 40 years too late. One of the main reasons that the AFL can never get anybody decent to play the GF is because it's in the middle of the day and looks like garbage. Nobody wants to put on a show in broad daylight in the middle of a 100,000 seat stadium with bad acoustics.
Leonard
Guest
My understanding of a 'twilight' game is that the first half is in late afternoon daylight, then come halftime, and the second half is under full night-time lighting. "Under clear weather conditions . . twilight approximates the limit at which [there is enough light] for the human eye to clearly distinguish terrestrial objects" (link later), such as footballs, your club's players and the other mob's players. For all you've never wanted to know about twilight (including why there's three of them, and what it had to do with the Seven Years War): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight .
Paul D
Roar Guru
Macklemore was awesome. All the crying from Lyle Shelton about him singing same love just made it even better Way better than anything the AFL has put up in recent years
Paul D
Roar Guru
Absolute crap, a twilight grand final would probably start around 5 and be done by 830
Reservoir Animal
Guest
A night GF ends at 10.45-11 if you count presentations. I don't think many 4yos are up at that hour, even on a Saturday.
Cat
Roar Guru
Sure ... sure ...
Reservoir Animal
Guest
"Macklemore's show last season was better than every AFL half-time show combined." We now know that Slane, like GilMac, has no credibility on this topic. Next.