An AFL game in London during the 2028 Ashes series

[Tackle Bag]

Think the NRL made a massive massive profit from their trip..?

Made a loss.

Vegas vision paying dividends as NRL readies for return

Next weekend's quadruple header is the first time the game has returned to the US after dipping a toe in the water and the second year of the NRL’s Vegas venture is on the cusp of breaking even.

www.nrl.com

 

[jwikked]

I don't get the obsession with trying to expand overseas. This sport is Australian, and that's ok. We don't need American interest in our sport to make it better.

 

[Cyclops]

Stupid idea Dillon could give himself a fat bonus for botching, so seems likely.

 

[Fire]

Think the NRL made a massive massive profit from their trip..?

Its a massive flop on any metric but Australian sports media is a quid pro quo gentlemans club. No one is going to badmouth a free junket, let alone risk accreditation. You can only find an objective analysis from broader journalists; IIRC media watch did a section on it.

The NRLs stated reason for it doesnt even make sense. They say they want a slice of the US betting market, but even if that took off, there is no mechanism for them to get any royalties from it.

Its all a PR stunt to drum up interest for the sport back home, which people like you seem to have bought into.

IMO I hate round zero, but its the perfect response to it for the AFL.

 

[kid_a]

Wasn't there a pre season game played in the UAE about 15 years ago?

2006

It was Collingwood v Adelaide, I suspect it came about because the pies had Emirates airline as sponsor at the time.

From memory about 6.5k turned up for it

 

[FlowersByIrene]

An exhibition game in London could really help cultural exchange, local London thugs could have their knives upgraded to machetes to make the travelling Melbourne fans feel more at home.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Its a massive flop on any metric but Australian sports media is a quid pro quo gentlemans club. No one is going to badmouth a free junket, let alone risk accreditation. You can only find an objective analysis from broader journalists; IIRC media watch did a section on it.

The NRLs stated reason for it doesnt even make sense. They say they want a slice of the US betting market, but even if that took off, there is no mechanism for them to get any royalties from it.

Its all a PR stunt to drum up interest for the sport back home, which people like you seem to have bought into.

IMO I hate round zero, but its the perfect response to it for the AFL.

Correct.

Vlandys keeps the media on a very, very tight leash.

 

[Carn The Berries]

I found it interesting hearing Hutchie suggest that the AFL needs to be bolder and focus on growing the game, which I agree with (goodluck with Dillon and Drummond in charge). He floated a few ideas, including the notion of staging a game in London during the 2028 Ashes series. The parts that make some sense - there will already be thousands of Aussies travelling over, it falls during the typically dull middle part of the season, and it could give the competition a shot in the arm.

It wouldn’t necessarily attract new international fans, but like the Vegas experiment, it would generate huge hype and media back home. The Oval seems the only realistic venue for size and potential accessibility. Lord’s won’t allow any pitch damage at any time of year and with the time difference, an 11am start would be the best option for a 9pm broadcast on the east coast.

It’s definitely a bold idea, probably too bold for the AFL, but it is good to see people with the courage to throw something different out there, even if most people will call it a shit idea.

21 min 54:

Sure... Let's play a game in the middle of an English summer on a ground that will almost certainly have rock hard cricket pitches in the middle of it.

It's just Hutchy looking for a junket to grift off...

 

[theprospector]

I found it interesting hearing Hutchie suggest that the AFL needs to be bolder and focus on growing the game, which I agree with (goodluck with Dillon and Drummond in charge). He floated a few ideas, including the notion of staging a game in London during the 2028 Ashes series. The parts that make some sense - there will already be thousands of Aussies travelling over, it falls during the typically dull middle part of the season, and it could give the competition a shot in the arm.

It wouldn’t necessarily attract new international fans, but like the Vegas experiment, it would generate huge hype and media back home. The Oval seems the only realistic venue for size and potential accessibility. Lord’s won’t allow any pitch damage at any time of year and with the time difference, an 11am start would be the best option for a 9pm broadcast on the east coast.

It’s definitely a bold idea, probably too bold for the AFL, but it is good to see people with the courage to throw something different out there, even if most people will call it a shit idea.

21 min 54:

Just listened from the time stamp onwards. Wow. I used to listen to this back in the day and didn't mind it, which is embarrassing now. Might be the worst ten minutes of football media I've consumed this year.

 

[PowerfulPies2023]

What ground would they use?

Traditionally its been the Oval but not sure they would want a aussie rules game across their wicket when they have test match to host which is usually the 5th test.

Old Trafford

 

[blueboy25]

Old Trafford

105m long and 68 wide, no chance

 

[HairyO]

why?

More ratings, more gambling money. Its what they truly care about.

 

[PowerfulPies2023]

105m long and 68 wide, no chance

What about Trafford Old? And they can play wearing paper boots?

 

[Clark G]

Which club would be willing to sell a home game to the UK?

 

[rdhopkins2]

Footy, Texas bbq & beer.
What’s not to love about that?
Get around it and share the love USA & Straya!

 

[threenewpadlocks]

Not that this is the main reason that this shouldn't happen, but English cricket grounds actually aren't big enough. The Oval for instance would be about 135m by 115m and just be a vastly different game.

When they last played there - a Dogs and Port game - they played 16-a-side, the "50m" arcs were more like 40m and touching the centre square and you can see how quickly and comically the pockets arc in from the goals here:

 

[Bjo187]

Not that this is the main reason that this shouldn't happen, but English cricket grounds actually aren't big enough. The Oval for instance would be about 135m by 115m and just be a vastly different game.

When they last played there - a Dogs and Port game - they played 16-a-side, the "50m" arcs were more like 40m and touching the centre square and you can see how quickly and comically the pockets arc in from the goals here:
View attachment 2472798

They're worried about the length of the ground, yet put the goals about 10m in front the fence which is stupid.

I got different measurements to that, but in fairness it was a.i so may be incorrect.

 

[Canberra Pear]

It's a shame it's a two-hour drive from London, because the Rose Bowl at Hampshire is perfect.

152 metres long. Nice oval shape.

 

[Billy ray]

Here we are talking about giving a game overseas and all I want is 11 home games at Carrara

 

[Aussie in exile]

I found it interesting hearing Hutchie suggest that the AFL needs to be bolder and focus on growing the game, which I agree with (goodluck with Dillon and Drummond in charge). He floated a few ideas, including the notion of staging a game in London during the 2028 Ashes series. The parts that make some sense - there will already be thousands of Aussies travelling over, it falls during the typically dull middle part of the season, and it could give the competition a shot in the arm.

It wouldn’t necessarily attract new international fans, but like the Vegas experiment, it would generate huge hype and media back home. The Oval seems the only realistic venue for size and potential accessibility. Lord’s won’t allow any pitch damage at any time of year and with the time difference, an 11am start would be the best option for a 9pm broadcast on the east coast.

It’s definitely a bold idea, probably too bold for the AFL, but it is good to see people with the courage to throw something different out there, even if most people will call it a shit idea.

21 min 54:

A very expensive stunt, which they AFL quite rightly wouldn't pay for, and what traction would it get in London apart from expats living there and a few curious Londoners?

 

[Keays2myBeamas]

The ashes are in 2027. Maybe try 2031.

I think the American market has always seemed more realistic on this front. The Brits have always had a nose-in-the-air attitude to this silly little colonial game.

 

[Gough]

Rematch against the Lions?

When the Lions first came to Australia, over half their games were Aussie Rules

This year's British and Irish Lions will play nine matches on Australian soil. Their first forebears though played 35 matches in Australia, 19 of which were under Australian Rules. And they even beat one of the leading sides of the day.

www.abc.net.au

 

[glengowan]

Which club would be willing to sell a home game to the UK?

North Melbourne...

 

[glengowan]

Maybe the AFL could help finance the plans for a Cricket Oval in Dublin, which could also be used for AFL. A drop-in pitch.

An Irish team based in Melbourne as the 20th team - The Celtics. First two games of the season played in Ireland and another mid-season...

 

[threenewpadlocks]

They're worried about the length of the ground, yet put the goals about 10m in front the fence which is stupid.

I got different measurements to that, but in fairness it was a.i so may be incorrect.

I measured the distances on google maps, point to point as the crow flies - it's almost a perfect circle 145m fence to fence. But it's not shaped like a perfect circle - the southern boundary juts in to make it not perfectly round, so you'd have to lop off 2-3 metres unless you want an asymmetrical ground. Throw in the 5m required between boundary and fence. So that's about 15m short of a 145m ground, so you have a 130m circle. We want an oval, not a circle to play on, so it's a 130m by 120m oval. AFL rules currently dictate that a minimum ground length needs to be 135m. You wouldn't be able to fit it in while still having a safe 5m boundary. (You wouldn't even want to play on a 135m length ground anyway, it's over 20m shorter than the current shortest AFL game. It's still 10m short of the 145m pre-development SCG, so the 50m arc would peak 5m further in the centre square than those games. And again the Oval would be 130m. Not even 135m.)

There is a reason the 2012 exhibition game was played 16-a-side. The ground was too small. They pretended the 50m arcs were 50m when they were more like 40m. The highlights you can see players comfortably kicking goals that sail through goals at above head high some 15m behind the "50m" arc.

You can't pretend otherwise.