AFL is on the decline - the younger generation is just not that into you

[PetterdHoisted]

Port vs Carlton today (listening on the radio no less!) rekindled some kind of memory for me of what was great about footy pre-covid. Terry Wallet and....?...calling it, exasperation heaped on exasperation as port constantly butchered shots at goal in the final minutes, then the finale.

 

[BigPond101]

Virtual reality tech in 50-100 years will be the end of pro sports IMO. It will seem very strange to people of the future watching other people when you could just "play" yourself

 

[Cuzz09]

Virtual reality tech in 50-100 years will be the end of pro sports IMO. It will seem very strange to people of the future watching other people when you could just "play" yourself

yeah something like this.

It'll be weird but we'll all be dead so meh

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[BIRDBRAIN]

Virtual reality tech in 50-100 years will be the end of pro sports IMO. It will seem very strange to people of the future watching other people when you could just "play" yourself

There will always be the spectacle of human vs human in fields of sport. The fastest man in the 100m sprint will always be intriguing to the masses.

 

[HaroLad]

The main problem is the youth and captivating the interest of immigrants.

At primary school 10-15 years ago my mates and I would play footy every break. I seriously hadn't even heard of soccer as a sport until I was about 9 years old and saw it on TV, thought it was Gaelic Football. Nowadays they have built a soccer pitch over the oval, and the kids are always playing soccer.

Also, you don't see many immigrants involved in the game. Everytime I go to the footy it's like a KKK rally, about 99% white. If we don't get immigrants involved in the game it's going to be a problem as the white population is in freefall.

Other than that the game is in a pretty healthy state really. They've been saying stuff like this for decades now - wasn't basketball supposed to takeover in the 90s?

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

Have to say, the decline of our sport is now glaringly obvious. It's been this way for a good number of years.

You do have to wonder if soccer does eventually become the no.1 Australian sport in a few more decades time because this crap is really turning a lot of people away for good.

Nah. During the breaks in the (highly entertaining) Swans/Suns game in Saturday I was flipping across to Perth Glory/Central Coast on the ABC. Utterly sterile spectacle. No contest.

I’m confident that millions of Australians willl continue to conclude that regardless of what the rest of the world thinks, and for all its flaws, Aussie Rules is simply a better game.

 

[Pessimistic]

Port vs Carlton today (listening on the radio no less!) rekindled some kind of memory for me of what was great about footy pre-covid. Terry Wallet and....?...calling it, exasperation heaped on exasperation as port constantly butchered shots at goal in the final minutes, then the finale.

A lot of people thought that, but its not a rewind, its how good contemporary footy could be.

I also noticed very few players faking and sitting on the ball, just keeping it going. Did 'clarkos rule' contribute to that? just a simple interpretation and no need for 6-6-6 etc and a cast of thousands rules comittee.

 

[bresker]

Carlton play a great style of footy, Teague is happy to let his players off the leash and take risks.

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

All this soccer is gunna....

luck for us they consistently appoint useless admins. I hear from parents it’s phenomenally expensive for kids

Yes, no-one seems to be able to explain where the money goes.

You’d think soccer admin would realise they’re putting themselves at a considerable disadvantage to other sporting options for kids.

I can only conclude it’s either the hilarious it’s-the-biggest-sport-in-the-world-and-soon-it’ll-destroy-all-other-contenders-here soccer arrogance/wishful thinking, or else the admin is seriously corrupt.

Guess it might be a combination of the two.

 

[NoobPie]

The main problem is the youth and captivating the interest of immigrants.

At primary school 10-15 years ago my mates and I would play footy every break. I seriously hadn't even heard of soccer as a sport until I was about 9 years old and saw it on TV, thought it was Gaelic Football. Nowadays they have built a soccer pitch over the oval, and the kids are always playing soccer.

Also, you don't see many immigrants involved in the game. Everytime I go to the footy it's like a KKK rally, about 99% white. If we don't get immigrants involved in the game it's going to be a problem as the white population is in freefall.

Other than that the game is in a pretty healthy state really. They've been saying stuff like this for decades now - wasn't basketball supposed to takeover in the 90s?

I went to school decades before you and at high school particularly we overwhelmingly played soccer (occasionally kick to kick footy would break out).

Soccer and basketball will always have more mass casual participation because they a safer / simpler

 

[NoobPie]

Yes, no-one seems to be able to explain where the money goes.

You’d think soccer admin would realise they’re putting themselves at a considerable disadvantage to other sporting options for kids.

I can only conclude it’s either the hilarious it’s-the-biggest-sport-in-the-world-and-soon-it’ll-destroy-all-other-contenders-here soccer arrogance/wishful thinking, or else the admin is seriously corrupt.

Guess it might be a combination of the two.

For the NPL clubs their "elite pathways" are a money spinner to overpay semi pro soccer players in their men's team. There also seems to be culture of paying people - so even volunteer dad coaches at less serious clubs get paid a grand or so to coach

 

[ItsAllAboutMe]

For the kids its all about basketball, its all they talk about, its all they play at lunch.. My daughters local primary doesn't even have goal posts anymore on the oval.

 

[Cuzz09]

If Basketball didnt explode here when Jordan was at his prime and LeBron lately then it never will here.

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[Coaster2012]

If Basketball didnt explode here when Jordan was at his prime and LeBron lately then it never will here.

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It already did explode. NBL in the early 90s was just as big as footy was almost. It was on primetime television on Friday night. Now, its coming back again. Perth Arena sells out games for the Perth Wildcats and the NBL would probably scrape into the top 5 leagues in the world after the Euro leagues. A reason why some highly touted prospects are playing over here instead of going to college. Australia is the 3rd most represented country in the NBA behind Canada in France.

 

[Cuzz09]

Ok well you never really hear much about it

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[RedV3x]

At primary school 10-15 years ago my mates and I would play footy every break.

That's interesting because I cannot remember any football being played outside of sports days.
The ovals were to far away to play at recess and establishing teams considered much too difficult.
The tennis ball was king. So it was handball that was played religiously, rounders, brandy and French cricket.
At high school there was very little sporting activity at all outside of organised sport.
Today, anecdotally I see improvement for football.
I now see kick-to-kick at primary schools and the schools have football teams.
But handball is still king at primary school and high school.
What does that mean? Nothing, because it's what kids watch on television, what sports they attend and what sports they play on a weekend.

 

[BigPond101]

We all played soccer at lunch in school at the 90s, the difference was with no internet and only 4 TV channels no one followed it beyond that. We vaguely knew who Maradona was and that some Colombian guy was shot dead after scoring an own goal. That was all we knew about soccer

 

[RedV3x]

Talking about schools, the most significant development is the introduction of Australian Football into N.S.W. schools.
When I arrived in Sydney I suppose you could say there was zero Australian Football in Sydney schools.
Now there are school competitions for every level and type of school.
That has dramatically changed the long term football environment.

 

[Smeg Head]

Yes, no-one seems to be able to explain where the money goes.

You’d think soccer admin would realise they’re putting themselves at a considerable disadvantage to other sporting options for kids.

I can only conclude it’s either the hilarious it’s-the-biggest-sport-in-the-world-and-soon-it’ll-destroy-all-other-contenders-here soccer arrogance/wishful thinking, or else the admin is seriously corrupt.

Guess it might be a combination of the two.

Compulsory insurance is my guess where those fees get sucked into.

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

Compulsory insurance is my guess where those fees get sucked into.

But why isn't that the case for other kids' sports, which I believe are much cheaper?

 

[Hawk Dork]

I grew up in the Hawthorn zone, we had players come and visit our school our local club .
Our school footy when it was 2 schools in the Hawk zone would play a game on Glenferrie oval to get looked at for a spot in the under 19s.
All that galvanised a fan,we had heaps of kids have a go from school and club,quite a few made it,sadly I didnt

 

[BIRDBRAIN]

If you played a game of aussie rules in the school yard these days how would the kids even be able to decide on a set of rules to play it by? The AFL players, coaches, commentators and umpires can't even agree on what the rules are and how to interpret them, how will a bunch of kids?

 

[My Tilly]

Where we at a couple years later?
Feels like the game is declining as a spectacle.

 

[greatwhiteshark]

Where we at a couple years later?
Feels like the game is declining as a spectacle.

The game has been on the outs for the over 40’s for years now, nothing has changed.
The game is now for the auskickers

 

[gandaal]

Where we at a couple years later?
Feels like the game is declining as a spectacle.

Or it could just be that your team is losing more often and that's no fun.