2024 International Cup

[Canberra Pear]

With the 2024 International Cup approaching, I thought it would be a good idea to open up a new thread in the lead up.

As most of you know, it’s the first time the tournament will be played since 2017, with some obvious postponements.

As was planned for 2020, it’s set to be played on the Sunshine Coast. Based on 2020’s plans, I’m guessing it’ll be played July 27-August 10 at the Maroochydore Multi-Sports Complex. The grand final was set to be played at the Gabba as a curtain raiser, so hopefully that’s still the plan this time.

It’s hard to tell after the pandemic, but I would expect a similar sized pool for the men’s, and an expanded pool for the women’s. My guess is 18 men’s teams and 10 women’s teams.

I’ve taken a stab below at which teams I think might be coming. Please correct me or affirm me if you know anything extra.

 

[Canberra Pear]

Men's division

The past three ICs have had 18 men’s teams and I would expect that to be pretty similar. No doubt some will drop off, and other countries I’ve underestimated will make an appearance. But after the interruptions of the past few years, I think 18 would still be a good result. There is no reason to my order, just alphabetical.


Highly-likely to certain

Canada
Leagues across the country have bounced back nicely. Competed with two squads (main and development) in 2022 49th Parallel Cup. Will compete this year in the 49th Parallel Cup.

Fiji
Has competed at the past three ICs. Not too much on socials, but they also just played an under-18s game. Still seems probably to play.

France
Played in the past three ICs. Played in the European Championships (16-a-side). At least eight active teams in the Championship of France. Plus the Lille Eagles playing against Dutch competition.

Germany
Played IC17 and played in the Euro Champs. They have at least eight active men’s teams playing across the country.

Great Britain
Leagues have bounced back relatively well. Can’t see why they wouldn’t be there.

Indonesia
Activity has resumed in Jakarta and Bali. The all-Indonesian Borneo Bears have also been reactivated, with 15 players travelling for a tournament in December. That, combined with the Krakatoas in Melbourne, I think they’re highly likely to send a team.

India
Has competed in the past four ICs. Has footy in 10 states, and leagues in most of those. Has had interstate matches already this year, so the momentum looks good.

Ireland
Has competed at every IC. Competed at the most recent Euro Champs and will compete at the Trans-Atlantic Cup. Has grown to the point that Northern Ireland now competes separately at 9-a-side tournaments.

Japan
Has competed at every IC. Recently put a call out for 2024 IC players.

Nauru
Has competed at every IC. Their national sport. Can’t see them not coming.

New Zealand
Has competed at every IC. Can’t see them not coming.

Papua New Guinea
Has competed at every IC. Can’t see them not coming.

Pakistan
They’ve been at the past two ICs. Recently competed (and won) their division at the Asian Championships. Footy’s doing well. Reported a 45% increased in participation in 2022.

US
Leagues across the country have bounced back nicely. Competed with two squads (main and development) in 2022 49th Parallel Cup. Will compete this year in the 49th Parallel Cup. BigBrainUSA might be able to provide some confirmation or insight.



Likely

China
Has competed at the past four ICs. The GDAFL has just bounced back, but only with three teams. I believe they also have a few national players in Beijing and Shanghai.

Croatia
Croatia debuted at IC17. They played in the recent 16-a-side Euro Champs, but they also hosted, which means it was logistically easier to get their players to the tournament. Their league has contracted a bit over Covid, hopefully they’re financially able to get to the IC.

South Africa
Have played at every IC. The 2021 AFL annual report said their participation was still strong, but they’re relatively inactive on socials, so it’s hard to tell just where they sit. It looks like post-pandemic, they’ve contracted from six provinces, to the one, but they’re still at 10 centres in the one province, so hopefully strong enough to send a team.

Vanuatu
Personally, I think a strong chance to debut at the IC. Local development as looked incredible on socials. They had three players attend an under-19s talent camp on the Gold Coast. jarrod_island_doggies might have some better insight?


Less likely to unlikely

Denmark
The local competition seems pretty strong, but they haven’t seemed focused on international competition. Competed at early ICs, but missed the past two. Didn’t even compete at the 9-a-side Euro Cup. Or the most recent pre-Covid Euro Cup.

Netherlands
Yet to debut at the IC, but has a consistent local league. Didn't play at the Euro Champs, but plays consistently at the Euro Cup.

Poland
Poland has grown incredibly in the past few years and has had a strong focus on local players. They competed at the most recent Euro Cup. I don’t see them being ready yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see them at IC27.

Solomon Islands
There was decent local participation pre-Covid. Looks like there’s still a bit going on, but not a lot compared to Vanuatu.

Southeast Asia
There was a plan for a joint Southeast Asian team to join in 2017 – the Indochina All Stars. It would’ve been a similar concept to the European Crusaders. It would’ve consisted of local players from Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. I haven’t heard of any talk since, but local player development has grown since, so the player pool could be there if they wanted to resurrect it.

Sri Lanka
This is the only team I have dropping out from last IC. They debuted in 2017, but I just can’t tell anything from their socials. Happy to be proven wrong though.

Sweden
Sweden competed at three consecutive ICs before skipping 2017. They didn't play at the Euro Champs, but have consistently competed at the Euro Cup. They’ve got a strong smattering of teams. I reached out on socials, but they said they hadn’t made a decision yet.

Switzerland
Switzerland have come out of nowhere. AFL Switzerland was formed in 2019, and they’ve already got a six-team (9-a-side) league. Similar to Poland, they’ve had great growth, competed at the Euro Cup, but it’s probably just a bit early.

Tonga
Tonga didn’t compete in 2017, and they’ve been pretty inactive on socials. I really hope to be proven wrong, but I’m worried they might have gone the way of Samoa.

 

[Canberra Pear]

Women’s division

I’m less certain on who will make the women’s pool, but again, I’ve taken a stab. 2017 had a record turnout with eight teams. I expect that to be bettered this tournament. I think 10 teams is a realistic target.


Highly-likely to certain

Canada
Has a strong focus on developing the women’s game. Had women’s teams from across the country play in the AFL Canada Cup last year, doing the same again in May.

European Crusaders
Competed at the most recent IC. Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, and smaller European Crusaders side all played in the 2022 9-a-side Euro Cup. I have Croatia, France and Germany in the “somewhat likely” category. If any of those don’t make it, I’d expect them to have a heavy presence on the Crusaders side.

Great Britain
GB debuted at the last IC and have had women’s growth in Scotland, Wales and the universities since.

Ireland
Ireland are my red-hot favourites for this tournament, depending on eligibility. In Ireland, they’ve continued to grow the game, especially with Northern Ireland also playing as a separate national entity for 9-a-side matches. Within Australia, there’s been an obvious explosion of Irish players in AFLW. I assume there’ll be some limits on AFLW players, but there’s also been Irish players in second tier state leagues, too, and I don’t see how they could restrict those. They could split up between Ireland and Northern Ireland and I think they’d still both reach the final.

Nauru
The socials are a bit old, but I believe there’s a decent women’s league, as well as an u19s league. I’d consider them pretty likely to debut.

New Zealand
Yet to debut, which has surprised me. I expected them to enter in 2017. They’ve since introduced a women’s league to complement the men’s AFLNZ Premiership.

Papua New Guinea
PNG has played in two ICs (not 2014). Development looks to have been good since 2017 and a recent article mentioned the Flames' anticipated return.

United States
The US have been one of three countries to attend every IC. They had 11 women’s teams at Nationals. They’ll play the 49th Parallel Cup this year. Again, keen to hear if BigBrainUSA has any insight.



Somewhat likely (with a large margin of error)

I've done a lot of guesswork done with this group, but I think three out of the following six would be a good result.

Croatia
Croatia competed at the 16-a-side Euro Champs, but it was in Croatia, so there were less travel logistics. I think they punch above their weight for player pool, but 2-3 weeks halfway across the world might be too much.

France
France competed at the 9-a-side Euro Cup, and have seven or so teams across the country, but didn’t compete at the most recent 16-a-side European Champs.

Germany
Germany had a team at the 16-a-side European Champs. They’ve a growing league across the country. I have them as the most likely of the European likelies.

Fiji
Fiji have competed at the past two ICs. I would say they’re likely, but I just haven’t seen enough on socials to confirm.

Pakistan
I recently listened to a podcast on which the former women’s coach spoke. He coached the men’s team at the recent Asian Champs, and it sounded like he decided to coach the men this time as they were in a better position to submit a team. I wouldn’t discount the women on that alone, as it turns out the men were in a great position. The 2021 census had 1455 females playing in Pakistan (would say largely juniors though). Would also have a potential bolstering of Australian-based players. I’d say they’re a good chance to attend.

Vanuatu
As mentioned with the men, there’s been amazing growth in Vanuatu. They had four players travel to the Gold Coast for the under-19 talent camp. I would be leaning towards no, but their work has been amazing and I wouldn’t rule them out. Again, jarrod_island_doggies , are you able to share any insight?



Unlikely/no idea

India
I haven’t heard anything about a national women’s team, but the 2021 census had 518 females participating. I assume they’re mostly juniors, but not entirely ruling out an IC appearance.

Japan
I’d say unlikely, but the Japan Mirais are active on social media, so it could be a good sign for IC 2027. A recent post asked for men’s players for IC24, but not women’s, so that indicates that the women aren’t targeting 2024.

South Africa
I think South Africa may have been on track to field a women’s team pre-Covid. They had 52,000 participants across six provinces. Much of that activity has been contracted to once province. No way to know, but I’m guessing South Africa isn’t ready for the women’s IC just yet (once again, happy to be proven wrong).

Tonga
Tonga have been quite inactive on socials. They missed the last IC. I have my doubts about the men and even bigger doubts around the women.

 

[BigBrainUSA]

I can confirm the following from the USAFL perspective:

• The Revolution and Freedom are planning to attend IC24.
• One or possibly both may do a tour in Australia if the IC does not go ahead as planned.
• The Trans-Atlantic Cup will not be held. Instead the USA will host the 49th Parallel Cup in August. Details are being finalized (and the announcement should be made relatively soon), but the USAFL clubs have been informed.

 

[Canberra Pear]

I can confirm the following from the USAFL perspective:

• The Revolution and Freedom are planning to attend IC24.
• One or possibly both may do a tour in Australia if the IC does not go ahead as planned.
• The Trans-Atlantic Cup will not be held. Instead the USA will host the 49th Parallel Cup in August. Details are being finalized (and the announcement should be made relatively soon), but the USAFL clubs have been informed.

Thanks for the update! I'll edit the Trans-Atlantic Cup info to reflect that.

Is that both men's and women's for the 49PC?

 

[BigBrainUSA]

Thanks for the update! I'll edit the Trans-Atlantic Cup info to reflect that.

Is that both men's and women's for the 49PC?

Yup. Though at this point it looks like both sets of games (men's and women's) will be played two weeks apart, again based on the communication to the clubs. There were some scheduling issues that necessitated this.

 

[ike2112]

I wouldn't sleep on the Israel mens team... they were well improved at the 2022 Euro Cup, and a handful were naturalised Aussies. If they can get the squad size they could show up.

I also wonder if there may be a resurrection of the European Crusaders, as there is now footy in Hungary, the starting embers in Bulgaria, not to mention the question of whether players in St Petersburg are under sanction... It would make sense to me where you have Croatia perhaps lacking depth but with many good players, Poland growing amazingly well but lacking true experience, and a few players from other Eastern European sides to play together. Sweden are similar - some excellent players but significant drop-off in depth.

 

[Canberra Pear]

I wouldn't sleep on the Israel mens team... they were well improved at the 2022 Euro Cup, and a handful were naturalised Aussies. If they can get the squad size they could show up.

I also wonder if there may be a resurrection of the European Crusaders, as there is now footy in Hungary, the starting embers in Bulgaria, not to mention the question of whether players in St Petersburg are under sanction... It would make sense to me where you have Croatia perhaps lacking depth but with many good players, Poland growing amazingly well but lacking true experience, and a few players from other Eastern European sides to play together. Sweden are similar - some excellent players but significant drop-off in depth.

Good point about the men's Crusaders. Combining nationals from the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Finland, Switzerland, Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary and Russia, there'd easily be enough players for two Crusaders sides.

I was having a conversation on reddit with a guy from the Tel Aviv Cheetahs. He said he hadn't heard of any IC plans, but that was probably six months ago, so it's definitely still possible.

I feel like there are a lot of teams that are almost there. I think 2027 will have quite a big field (or require qualification tournaments).

 

[jarrod_island_doggies]

Thanks for the shoutout Canberra Pear

Funnily enough, it's probably still too early to say one way or another with Vanuatu.

Lots of the right boxes being ticked and we have some very talented players coming through alongside engaged staff and volunteers.

Mid-year will likely be telling for a few reasons; watch this space.

 

[RedV3x]

Good point about the men's Crusaders. Combining nationals from the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Finland, Switzerland, Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary and Russia, there'd easily be enough players for two Crusaders sides.

You could have a Scandinavian and a socialist side but combined sides lack emotion like the Allies in S.O.O football.

I feel like there are a lot of teams that are almost there.

IMO the for the long-term future of the i.C. there should be a qualifying competition in Europe.
That would allow a degree of confidence by qualifying teams and reduce I.C. costs.
It would also assist with divisions.
It might even allow for some AFL underwriting.

The AFL and competing countries need to do something drastic to raise the profile of the I.C.
otherwise it will continue to be unwatched.

 

[Canberra Pear]

Thanks for the shoutout Canberra Pear

Funnily enough, it's probably still too early to say one way or another with Vanuatu.

Lots of the right boxes being ticked and we have some very talented players coming through alongside engaged staff and volunteers.

Mid-year will likely be telling for a few reasons; watch this space.

Thanks jarrod_island_doggies . I'll definitely be watching this space!

 

[Canberra Pear]

You could have a Scandinavian and a socialist side but combined sides lack emotion like the Allies in S. football.

I think the combined sides can be good for development, but long-term, they should be phased out as more sides push for inclusion.

There's potential for players to come as part of a combined side, soak the whole tournament in, and go back and want to further grow the game. The Crusaders played in the most recent women's IC, and now there's potential for three European debutantes at this edition (by my guess).

As the tournament matures, it will become less about participation and more about competition. We could already be at that point with the men, but with a smaller field, I think they'd still make a good addition to the women's division.

IMO the for the long-term future of the i.C. there should be a qualifying competition in Europe.
That would allow a degree of confidence by qualifying teams and reduce I.C. costs.
It would also assist with divisions.
It might even allow for some AFL underwriting.

I would definitely like to see qualification for future ICs. I think the US, Canada and South Africa would have to be default qualifiers early on, but you could have regional tournaments in Europe, Asia and Oceania working as qualifying tournaments. Europe already has the triennial European Championships. You could add an all-national team division to the Asian Championships. I believe the Oceania Cup is only juniors, but a seniors' version would make a good qualifying tournament.

 

[Canberra Pear]

The AFL and competing countries need to do something drastic to raise the profile of the I.C.
otherwise it will continue to be unwatched.

Absolutely agree with the AFL's efforts. I think their promotion has been underwhelming.

I can't fault competing nations' promotion efforts. They've mostly all paid their own way, largely volunteer-based, and give up two-to-three weeks of their leave to be there. They're all doing as much promotion as they can. Some countries obviously promote it better than others, but I think the onus should be on the AFL.

There are a few things I'd like to see for this International Cup.

AFL media
The AFL has so much influence and power just in its own media. It has its own TV shows and podcasts - and more than three million social media followers. It wouldn't take any money for the AFL to majorly boost the IC's profile.

AFL club alignment
If we end up with 18 countries, it'd line up really well with the AFL teams and I'd like to see each AFL team adopt a national team(s) and help promote them. Collectively, the clubs have even more social media followers than the AFL. We've had some minor alignments before (I know Canada aligned with Carlton back in the day), but it would be great if they could make them official and with a concerted effort to promote it. There are some obvious connections, like Collingwood/USA, Essendon/Canada, Bulldogs/GB, Gold Coast/PNG.

Streaming
I think the streaming needs a big improvement. From memory, streaming for IC17 was low quality and sporadic. Pretty sure Canada just did its own. It's been a seven-year gap between tournaments, so technology has improved and I hope that will make things better. I'd like to see each game streamed, and also available on Kayo and WatchAFL. I'd also like to see them potentially attached to international broadcast deals (so play them on TSN in Canada, Fox Soccer Plus in the US, BT Sport in the UK, etc)

I think just those three things could help boost the IC immensely (and without the AFL really having to spend much).

 

[RedV3x]

Absolutely agree with the AFL's efforts. I think their promotion has been underwhelming.

I can't fault competing nations' promotion efforts. They've mostly all paid their own way, largely volunteer-based, and give up two-to-three weeks of their leave to be there. They're all doing as much promotion as they can. Some countries obviously promote it better than others, but I think the onus should be on the AFL.

There are a few things I'd like to see for this International Cup.

AFL media
The AFL has so much influence and power just in its own media. It has its own TV shows and podcasts - and more than three million social media followers. It wouldn't take any money for the AFL to majorly boost the IC's profile.

AFL club alignment
If we end up with 18 countries, it'd line up really well with the AFL teams and I'd like to see each AFL team adopt a national team(s) and help promote them. Collectively, the clubs have even more social media followers than the AFL. We've had some minor alignments before (I know Canada aligned with Carlton back in the day), but it would be great if they could make them official and with a concerted effort to promote it. There are some obvious connections, like Collingwood/USA, Essendon/Canada, Bulldogs/GB, Gold Coast/PNG.

Streaming
I think the streaming needs a big improvement. From memory, streaming for IC17 was low quality and sporadic. Pretty sure Canada just did its own. It's been a seven-year gap between tournaments, so technology has improved and I hope that will make things better. I'd like to see each game streamed, and also available on Kayo and WatchAFL. I'd also like to see them potentially attached to international broadcast deals (so play them on TSN in Canada, Fox Soccer Plus in the US, BT Sport in the UK, etc)

I think just those three things could help boost the IC immensely (and without the AFL really having to spend much).

The competing nations deserve better.

The AFL has to do better than just a welcoming ceremony for publicity.
AFL clubs would be good for promotion. I think there are some lower alignments that are much appreciated.
Streaming was ad hoc and needs to centralised.
The fact is that the I.C. is the perfect candidate for the SBS to cover and promote - it fulfills all criteria (unlike soccer).

 

[RedV3x]

I think the combined sides can be good for development, but long-term, they should be phased out as more sides push for inclusion.

Eactly. Combined sides just demonstrate insufficient development.
It's like 9-a-side football - it looks like football, it's good for devel[pment, but more proficient players turn it into a shoot out.

I would definitely like to see qualification for future ICs.

I see qualification as a cost saving exercise and a litmus test for undecided countries.
We have divisions for the proficient and the developing and new countries.
New countries primarily want the "experience" rather than the competition.
There are many intermediate countries that would come if finances weren't a problem.
The current ranking system works pretty good at the top or where there is competition.

 

[rollouthebarrel]

I'm in QLD and read that the AFL is putting this thing on the Sunshine Coast. If that is the case you wouldn't know it. There is zero awareness up here. Even if you google I get is a postponement annoucement from the AFL and a 9 a side tournament at Box Hill Rugby club in Melbourne!

This is pretty poor form for a code wanting to promote itself up here. AFL's promotion is absolutely pathetic in this state. At the moment all we're getting is Dolphins, Dolphins, Dolphins. Meanwhile local seniors struggle to put a side on the field, a lot of guys are dropping out and taking up league and union. An International Cup is just the thing we need for the code up here. We have plenty of pacific islanders who would get right behind their national sides and the rest of the sports fans up here will take notice.

I also feel sorry for all those people playing in the various countries who've just started the sport and haven't had a chance to represent their country in almost a decade. If I was a a chance I'd probably have switched codes years ago, not everyone has a 7 year window. I think if you're an amateur league elsewhere in the world you're going to need to start your crowdfunding to book your tickets well in advance and you'd be pretty keen for at least a couple of people to show in Maroochydore. Honestly I think they'd be better off at Brighton Homes Arena. They'd pack it out if properly promoted and you'd get whole pacific islander familes showing up in force. If they charged $10 like in the AFLW Grand Final they'd probably get at least 2-3,000 people a game in the stands. If they actually promoted it properly they could probably even fill the thing.

 

[RedV3x]

I'm in QLD and read that the AFL is putting this thing on the Sunshine Coast.

What thing ?

 

[rollouthebarrel]

Um ...this thing! I'm looking for tickets

Australian Football International Cup - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

International Cup - AFL.com.au

Australian Football League. All the latest AFL news, video, results and information

www.afl.com.au

 

[Canberra Pear]

I'm in QLD and read that the AFL is putting this thing on the Sunshine Coast. If that is the case you wouldn't know it. There is zero awareness up here. Even if you google I get is a postponement annoucement from the AFL and a 9 a side tournament at Box Hill Rugby club in Melbourne! This is pretty poor form for a code wanting to promote itself up here.

The fact that the AFL hasn't officially locked anything in (that I'm can tell) makes it even harder for competing teams/local teams/the AFL to promote it.

I believe it's still not even officially on in 2024, it's just an assumed "target". There are no dates officially set, a lot of my guesswork is based on what was meant to happen in 2020.

They need to lock it all in ASAP, announce it, then promote the heck out of it.

I'd like to see national teams to be aligned with local schools. The teams go in for an Auskick session, teach the students a bit about their country and culture, then a few classes go watch a game as a field trip. It'd elevate the comp with some crowd noise, and also give these Queensland kids some memorable Aussie Rules experiences.

I also feel sorry for all those people playing in the various countries who've just started the sport and haven't had a chance to represent their country in almost a decade. If I was a a chance I'd probably have switched codes years ago, not everyone has a 7 year window. I think if you're an amateur league elsewhere in the world you're going to need to start your crowdfunding to book your tickets well in advance and you'd be pretty keen for at least a couple of people to show in Maroochydore.

It is a pain. It's a bit trickier to crowdfund for an event that's not locked in yet. The Sunshine Coast is also much smaller than Melbourne - there's going to be a mad dash for accommodation when dates are finally announced.

In terms of representing their country, the IC is still the pinnacle, but most areas have at least been able to provide decent representation opportunities (European Champs, Asian Champs, 49PC etc). But we definitely had bad timing. If we'd happened to have had a 2019 IC, we barely even would've noticed the gap.

Honestly I think they'd be better off at Brighton Homes Arena. They'd pack it out if properly promoted and you'd get whole pacific islander familes showing up in force. If they charged $10 like in the AFLW Grand Final they'd probably get at least 2-3,000 people a game in the stands. If they actually promoted it properly they could probably even fill the thing.

Sunshine Coast was selected because the council bid on it. 2020 had bids from the Sunshine Coast and Ballarat.

I expect the Council will do a bit of promotion when things are finally locked in. From memory, a part of the deal with the Sunshine Coast was $200k to be spent by their tourism body. I hope that still applies to 2024. It's a bigger deal to the SC than it is to Melbourne, so I hope it's fully embraced by the town.

Previous ICs have had a "community round", where they went to grounds around Melbourne. Something similar could work around Brisbane, but I imagine if the Sunshine Coast is committing that much cash to it, that they want most of the games to stay on the SC.

 

[RedV3x]

The fact that the AFL hasn't officially locked anything in (that I'm can tell) makes it even harder for competing teams/local teams/the AFL to promote it.

I believe it's still not even officially on in 2024, it's just an assumed "target". There are no dates officially set, a lot of my guesswork is based on what was meant to happen in 2020.

The AFL hasn't even mentioned Maroochydore and the dates etc. The Sunshine Coast is a big place.
It's seems to be a lot more expensive for accommodation this time.

Sunshine Coast was selected because the council bid on it. 2020 had bids from the Sunshine Coast and Ballarat.

I expect the Council will do a bit of promotion when things are finally locked in. From memory, a part of the deal with the Sunshine Coast was $200k to be spent by their tourism body. I hope that still applies to 2024.

The USAFL nationals are supposed to bring in $US 3 million.

It's a bigger deal to the SC than it is to Melbourne,

With a population over 300,000 the Sunshine Coast could be covered. It would be good for area and possibly even AFL long term.
Unfortunately it's unnoticed in Melbourne as Melbourne is saturated with other football at that time.

Previous ICs have had a "community round", where they went to grounds around Melbourne. Something similar could work around Brisbane, but I imagine if the Sunshine Coast is committing that much cash to it, that they want most of the games to stay on the SC.

The Sunshine Coast is some distance from Brisbane. I think the go would be to have a parade and finals at a Lions game.

 

[Canberra Pear]

The AFL hasn't even mentioned Maroochydore and the dates etc. The Sunshine Coast is a big place.

The AFL hasn't mentioned Maroochydore explicitly for 2024, but it seems pretty obvious. The last postponement announcement said the AFL would "continue discussions with the Sunshine Coast Regional Council and Tourism and Events Queensland on hosting the event in 2024". They didn't specifically say Maroochydore, but 2020 was set to be played "on the newly refurbished first-class facility at Maroochydore Sporting Complex", so it makes sense that they'd just continue with that plan.

It's also the only place on the SC that I can find with three footy ovals in the one spot.

The USAFL nationals are supposed to bring in $US 3 million.

The IC2020 was expected to generate nearly AU$2 million for local businesses, but it's not like that gets pumped directly back into the Council's budget.

With a population over 300,000 the Sunshine Coast could be covered. It would be good for area and possibly even AFL long term.
Unfortunately it's unnoticed in Melbourne as Melbourne is saturated with other football at that time.

Agree. I think it's easier to have it in Melbourne, and it's probably preferable for the players, but there's so many people and so much footy that it rarely rates a blip in Melbourne (especially with the AFL's promotion).

The Sunshine Coast only has one national league team (netball), which will be finished by August. They'll host one or two Dolphins games a year. So if it's timed right, the tournament should be pretty much the only spectator sports event in town.

The Sunshine Coast is some distance from Brisbane. I think the go would be to have a parade and finals at a Lions game.

The Gabba was the plan for the grand final (in 2020). It would be great if it were to actually happen.

 

[BigBrainUSA]

AFL media
The AFL has so much influence and power just in its own media. It has its own TV shows and podcasts - and more than three million social media followers. It wouldn't take any money for the AFL to majorly boost the IC's profile.

I think those of us who have followed the IC can all agree that the AFL has done a pretty awful job at promoting the IC across its channels or otherwise advertising that its happening. Case in point -- The US played a doubleheader at Wesley College, and I borrowed a pen from the school store. When I returned it, I found out that neither of the women working there had any idea that it was on, nor that their school would be hosting. In fact, most of the people I had encountered during my two weeks there were aware of it. That's a problem. I know that Melbourne is inundated with footy, but if the AFL is going to take on the mantle of being the de facto world authority for the sport, you'd think they'd promote the tournament better.

And a lot of it - boosting social media posts, using the odd social media space to promote the teams and the games - isn't really cost prohibitive. In fact, the only time I remember the IC being mentioned on the main AFL account at all was them mentioning the finals on Facebook. But the media attached had nothing to do with the teams or the tournament itself. It was the five-minute rules explainer that it had created for international audiences, and the comments below it devolved into how awful the umpiring was.

AFL club alignment
If we end up with 18 countries, it'd line up really well with the AFL teams and I'd like to see each AFL team adopt a national team(s) and help promote them. Collectively, the clubs have even more social media followers than the AFL. We've had some minor alignments before (I know Canada aligned with Carlton back in the day), but it would be great if they could make them official and with a concerted effort to promote it. There are some obvious connections, like Collingwood/USA, Essendon/Canada, Bulldogs/GB, Gold Coast/PNG.

Would be cool to see this. My fear is that there would be pressure on some of these teams to take on the identity of the "host" teams, such as we've seen with India (Bombers) and New Zealand (Hawks). I don't mind the logo being on the jumper, but hijacking of a team's nickname and colors shouldn't be a consideration.

Streaming
I think the streaming needs a big improvement. From memory, streaming for IC17 was low quality and sporadic. Pretty sure Canada just did its own. It's been a seven-year gap between tournaments, so technology has improved and I hope that will make things better. I'd like to see each game streamed, and also available on Kayo and WatchAFL. I'd also like to see them potentially attached to international broadcast deals (so play them on TSN in Canada, Fox Soccer Plus in the US, BT Sport in the UK, etc).

So I commentated on 13 IC games in 2017. The AFL broadcast all of the games at Royal Park and the two Grand Finals, which made sense because all of the games on all three days (Rounds 1, 4, 5, and the GFs) were either near AFL Vic headquarters or at the two grounds where they host AFL men's matches. The teams were left to decide if they would wanted to do the other two rounds. Only Canada and the USA did the other four games involving their teams -- Canada self produced Rounds 2 and 3, I self produced Round 2 and the women's Round 3 with the EDFL broadcasting the USA/PNG game on their webcast and radio.

My biggest issue was the lateness of the announcement to the clubs and potential volunteers as to what the plan was going to be. I hadn't heard from the AFL until a month before the tournament what was going to do. I was preparing to self produce all ten games, either by video or webstream, until the AFL and AFL Vic got back to me about their plans. In the end, considering that it was very much suburban ground quality, I felt that the purpose had been met. The games were broadcast back home, friends, family, and fans got to see the matches. Every one of the volunteer commentators was great to work with and the coordination of the commentary was handled excellently.

I ended up self producing seven matches -- three IC matches and four Liberty tour matches. Peter Holden from what is now WARF Radio did the other one, and helped me self produce the others. I was literally pulling people from off the bench to be camera people since I had underestimated the lack of availability from the USA contingent, but we got the job done. I also called a lot of that on my own/ If we were to need to do more of that in 2024, I at least have a base of people who could assist in putting together a better broadcast.

Canada, if memory served, had a deal with CBC to broadcast their own games. They self produced the first three games, but I believe the just used the AFL feed for the last two rounds. (They even reached out to me to help commentate, which I would've done had there not had been a schedule conflict). I don't recall the USAFL trying to get a national TV deal or anything of that ilk, but we might be able to work something out with our current partner for 2024, since I know they're looking for programming.

 

[RedV3x]

I think those of us who have followed the IC can all agree that the AFL has done a pretty awful job at promoting the IC across its channels or otherwise advertising that its happening.

But when someone tries to do something like approach the SBS for coverage the stakeholders refuse to get on board.

 

[Canberra Pear]

I think those of us who have followed the IC can all agree that the AFL has done a pretty awful job at promoting the IC across its channels or otherwise advertising that its happening. Case in point -- The US played a doubleheader at Wesley College, and I borrowed a pen from the school store. When I returned it, I found out that neither of the women working there had any idea that it was on, nor that their school would be hosting. In fact, most of the people I had encountered during my two weeks there were aware of it. That's a problem. I know that Melbourne is inundated with footy, but if the AFL is going to take on the mantle of being the de facto world authority for the sport, you'd think they'd promote the tournament better.

And a lot of it - boosting social media posts, using the odd social media space to promote the teams and the games - isn't really cost prohibitive. In fact, the only time I remember the IC being mentioned on the main AFL account at all was them mentioning the finals on Facebook. But the media attached had nothing to do with the teams or the tournament itself. It was the five-minute rules explainer that it had created for international audiences, and the comments below it devolved into how awful the umpiring was.

That's exactly it. The AFL is such a behemoth media organisation of its own that it really doesn't have to spend much money to make an enormous difference. I think a lot of the teams would even be willing to do a lot of the content creation if necessary. At the very least, just give us the platform and amplify it.

Would be cool to see this. My fear is that there would be pressure on some of these teams to take on the identity of the "host" teams, such as we've seen with India (Bombers) and New Zealand (Hawks). I don't mind the logo being on the jumper, but hijacking of a team's nickname and colors shouldn't be a consideration.

Absolutely agree. I just meant in terms of promotion. Seeing the USA Magpies and PNG Suns would be ridiculous and ruin the integrity. I'm glad to see NZ switched back to the Falcons. Just having a relationship with a nation can create dividends down the road. I know the Central Blues were mostly named so because of the founder's experience with Carlton (I think at IC05).

My biggest issue was the lateness of the announcement to the clubs and potential volunteers as to what the plan was going to be. I hadn't heard from the AFL until a month before the tournament what was going to do. I was preparing to self produce all ten games, either by video or webstream, until the AFL and AFL Vic got back to me about their plans. In the end, considering that it was very much suburban ground quality, I felt that the purpose had been met. The games were broadcast back home, friends, family, and fans got to see the matches. Every one of the volunteer commentators was great to work with and the coordination of the commentary was handled excellently.

I ended up self producing seven matches -- three IC matches and four Liberty tour matches. Peter Holden from what is now WARF Radio did the other one, and helped me self produce the others. I was literally pulling people from off the bench to be camera people since I had underestimated the lack of availability from the USA contingent, but we got the job done. I also called a lot of that on my own/ If we were to need to do more of that in 2024, I at least have a base of people who could assist in putting together a better broadcast.

That's it again. Late notice makes things so difficult when you're reliant on bringing equipment and support from the other side of the world. I think there will be less community support we can rely upon in 2024 (smaller footy community, fewer expats for each team in the smaller city), so as much notice as possible for these things would be appreciated this time around.

Canada, if memory served, had a deal with CBC to broadcast their own games. They self produced the first three games, but I believe the just used the AFL feed for the last two rounds. (They even reached out to me to help commentate, which I would've done had there not had been a schedule conflict). I don't recall the USAFL trying to get a national TV deal or anything of that ilk, but we might be able to work something out with our current partner for 2024, since I know they're looking for programming.

Canada's deal with CBC was never broadcast on TV, it was only a part of its streaming app, which had quite a few other amateur and semi-pro sports on there. It was a good first step, but I don't imagine too many watched that didn't already know to look for it.

I know in the next few years AFL Canada is looking to break the broadcast rights away from the current group deal. Maybe they'll be able to work International matches into that.

 

[BigBrainUSA]

But when someone tries to do something like approach the SBS for coverage the stakeholders refuse to get on board.

Yeah that's a head scratcher.