smasha
It's Time!
Radio programmed to not bag the concept,North Korea style.
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There's a big difference in opening up the game when it's played at Box Hill in the mud, v removing the contests on a pristine summers night...How can one realistically predict now (& after the -initially ridiculed- BBL juggernaut) that there will not be an ongoing, strong interest in AFLX in Aust. -particularly if it is played in a free flowing, limited stoppages, high scoring style (which appears to be the rationale behind its Rules)?
One should not forget that one of the greatest appeals of the VFA (which is not disputed) is that they played 16-a-side (no wings). The VFA wisely understood that it needed a Point Of Difference to the more skilled VFL; & that AF fans preferred a generally more free flowing game, more action, & less stoppages.
IMO, AFLX will be a success due to its Point Of Difference:-
. Rules
. action packed & more one-on-one contests
. played in the offseason
. played on rectangular, smaller soccer/rugby grounds -this will add to its curiosity factor & charm.
(The AFL also knows AFLX will assist in growing AF in NSW & Qld.'s rectangular grounds -delicious irony!)
Fans cant get enough of "footy" in the off season. This has been clearly demonstrated by the huge success of the AFLW (& even FoxFooty channel broadcasts 365 days pa). It will be the AFL's aperitif.
The AFL has cleverly positioned AFLX to also be played overseas, where large oval grounds generally don't exist. If the AFL can attract the interest of 0.25 - 1% of the market in China, India, USA, Europe etc, it will be a significant triumph -potentially, in 20 years+, opening up more broadcast rights for the proper AFL season/more players etc.
I generally enjoyed it, but each to their own. No one is suggesting AFLX will challenge AF.There's a big difference in opening up the game when it's played at Box Hill in the mud, v removing the contests on a pristine summers night...[Its designed to minimise stoppages]They're constantly making basketball references. Rebounding non-contact training drills...sterile as f###...[There was some tackling; & plenty of contests for the ball!]Yeah, it does fit onto northern hemisphere square fields quite nicely, and I've got the footy equivalent of blueball [?]around this time each year so of course it's on tv, but once the debut novelty wears off, this will be like cricket Sixes or the rugby sevens[Rugby 7's is growing rugby in non-traditional areas]...a contender to the BBL it isn't...unless the international players start rolling in and the Hawks can recruit the footy equivalent of Chris Gayle...
Im with you torps this will have the Soccer and rugby mob worried
Let the knockers have their usual whinge but this will take off and esp where only rectangle stadiums are available which is most of the rest of the world.This is an ideal game for countries like India and China,
The small number of players is also a big bonus plus the lack of tackling will make it a popular sport into the future.The AFL is on a winner.
Im with you torps this will have the Soccer and rugby mob worried
Let the knockers have their usual whinge but this will take off and esp where only rectangle stadiums are available which is most of the rest of the world.This is an ideal game for countries like India and China,
The small number of players is also a big bonus plus the lack of tackling will make it a popular sport into the future.The AFL is on a winner.
Watch out world. This non-physical, basketball lite, XTREME, training run will soon conquer the world.
I was going to call you Gil, but not even he is smoking what you are.
Right on queue!
AFLX is a nothing of a game. One that combines neither the best aspects of Australian Rules, nor those of any other sport, but rather dilutes them so greatly that even the leather-lunged commentary box spruikers struggled to maintain their well-paid enthusiasm.
so, let me get this right. whenever someone comments negatively on a sport, who is a part of a "mob"(whatever), it is because they are "worried".
Holy moly, you and ourgame must be petrified about the soccer.
If AFLX can't win a domestic audience, what makes you think it will do well overseas. It is flawed or as Richard Hinds says
Silver ball
Rohan Connolly is a muppet if he truly said that
If i wanted to watch a rolling maul I'd watch rugby
AFL needs to fix the bs congestion of modern football
Im with this expert 100% and interestinlgy most of the Media are on board
AFLX might be a 'Mickey Mouse' tournament, but it still makes sense
There are more than a few who think this weekend’s flurry of AFLX tournaments across the country is a complete waste of time.
AFL great and radio broadcaster Kevin Bartlett reckons it has no hope of succeeding. He described AFLX as a “Mickey Mouse game ... [that] would have no interest for fans” last year.
And he, like many others, doesn't think Australian football, in any form, will ever capture the world's attention.
So, why bother?
The answer, of course is simple. The AFL has to. It is not so big, so grand or so untouchable that it can afford to sit back and watch the world go by.
Make no mistake, there's a lot to get your head around when it comes to AFLX.
It's the express version of Australian football. It’s quick, flashy and high scoring. There are only 10 players on each team, it's played with a silver ball and has only two 10-minute halves. Blink and you might miss it.
It appears to be the product of market research into the tastes and trends of young consumers. It's manufactured and gimmicky. It's commercialised, perhaps crassly so. A team gets a 10-point ''Zooper goal'' for kicking a goal from beyond 40 metres. Why a ''Zooper'' goal? You guessed it, the AFL has struck a sponsorship deal with icy pole maker ''Zooper Dooper''.Geelong player Harry Taylor speaking to media at Deakin University’s oval in Waurn Ponds says the new AFL X game is exciting and fast paced. Taylor along with the rest of the Cats trialled the new code which scales down the traditional game for
Yet for all of that, the most significant aspect of AFLX is that it’s played on a rectangular field, the size of a soccer pitch.
This means the game can be played anywhere - any state in Australia and any country in the world. As AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan stated, AFLX provides “an opportunity that means we can get onto different ovals in NSW and internationally in different spots, and it's just a different format for a different audience".
This is its purpose. A new shiny AFL product means a lot of things. It means the AFL can create a new tournament, attracting more fans, ticket sales, merchandise sales, sponsorships and eyeballs on screens.
Furthermore, it gives the AFL another discussion point to dominate the Australian sporting agenda. It invades the territory of other sports and makes the AFL brand relevant for almost 12 months of the year. There was once just the AFL. Now there's the AFL, AFLW and AFLX.
Melbourne
Turbo-charged footy: Will AFLX hit the spot?
Yet, perhaps even more significant than that is the fact it's a product the AFL plans to take overseas. McLachlan has already flagged a mini-tournament in Hong Kong late next year for the modified game: "To take our game and showcase all the best bits of it, and actually not have to build infrastructure like we did in Shanghai, for example, that presents a huge opportunity."
If it works, it's a huge opportunity. In the long term the AFL hopes to see the game being played across the globe, but in the short and medium term, it’s a tool to attract money.
You see the fact the game can be played on any soccer pitch, anywhere in the world, means the AFL can now get into any country and introduce its brand to businesses that just might be interested in reaching Australian consumers.
And if they do want to do business in Australia, what better way to introduce themselves to the Australian public than through a sponsorship with the AFL or one of its clubs? After all, the AFL is Australia's biggest football code, with significant brand recognition and customer loyalty.
It’s a tough, crowded market out there and the AFL wants to find new ways of attracting sponsors and other revenue. As big and as successful as it is, the AFL still needs to help prop up many of its clubs. In 2017, not all clubs made a profit, despite the AFL handing each club grants between $10 million and $15 million. The Gold Coast Suns were granted almost $25 million just to help them break even. And then there’s the grassroots, who are crying out for more money.
But just where will it come from?
The AFL relies on its TV broadcasting rights deal for a large percentage of its revenue. Should these deals not grow at the rate it wants, or needs, the struggle for some clubs to stay afloat will only intensify.
So, like it or not, perhaps the simple reality is that the AFL has to try. Like all sports, it can't stand still. If it does, it will go backwards, and if that happens, in today's competitive market, it may never catch up.
Sam Duncan is a lecturer in sports media and a Fairfax columnist.
My quote from Connolly was accurate -check the SEN tape if you have any doubts. He wants to have more contests in AFLX (ie in contrast to the AFL).Torps doesn't always accurately reflect people he quotes, I've found
Rohan Connolly's constantly bangs on about the game being to congested and not reflecting the free flowing game of his hey day in the 80s. I'd be shocked if he was criticisng the game on that basis
Melbourne Victory played South Korea a few nights ago and a massive 5000 turned up22,300 not too shabby for the first time in Melbourne and a good way for players to get fit.
16,000 at the RL International at AAMI and 10,000 at the soccer at Spotless in Sydney
AFL great and radio broadcaster Kevin Bartlett reckons it has no hope of succeeding. He described AFLX as a “Mickey Mouse game ... [that] would have no interest for fans” last year.
It's manufactured and gimmicky. It's commercialised, perhaps crassly so.
He got it half right, it is fast paced.Geelong player Harry Taylor speaking to media at Deakin University’s oval in Waurn Ponds says the new AFL X game is exciting and fast paced.
I'm not so sure about this. The feedback so far hasn't been great. The fact there were 22,000 in Melbourne to watch 6 Melbourne based teams play off doesn't bode well. 6 clubs managed to only attract less that 4000 fans each. And that was before anyone had really seen it (tickets sold in advance).A new shiny AFL product means a lot of things. It means the AFL can create a new tournament, attracting more fans, ticket sales, merchandise sales, sponsorships and eyeballs on screens.
"To take our game and showcase all the best bits of it, and actually not have to build infrastructure like we did in Shanghai, for example, that presents a huge opportunity."
If it works, it's a huge opportunity. In the long term the AFL hopes to see the game being played across the globe, but in the short and medium term, it’s a tool to attract money.
Spot on!I reckon to make it more watchable as a "contest", that a 10 point goal should be given a moment to celebrate and not just straight play on with opposition kicking ball out. At present if feels Too much like basketball to enjoy a 10 point goal even feel like a goal. Take the ball back to centre after each 10 point goal I think would improve it to watch. That gives a moment for players to enjoy the moment and also set back up for next centre throw up. Probably outline a centre square in middle where the 3 followers for each team *contest* the next throw up to win control of the ball again. For me, as someone watching that would make it more football like, than basketball and get me feeling like a real contest is being had. Going up and down field just scoring from each end to the other just feels like too much of a training drill to me.