Can AFL make a footprint in NZ?

[Rich]

So we have the second game (of three locked in so far) for competition points in Wellington this week. By all reports 15,000 tickets are already sold, a crowd of 18-19,000 looks likely. Last year attracted 22,500 in pretty poor weather, will be interesting to see the crowd on the night.

A quick look at the Dominion Post (Wellington paper) website has the Saints already front and centre in the news:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/sport/9970525/St-Kilda-arrives-ahead-of-AFL-match


And here's an interesting little one from earlier in the week:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/porirua/9954289/Lost-AFL-tickets-found

Let's hope this week is a success and the game can build from the experiment over the ditch.

 

[tangolikelama]

pls no

 

[Riccardo11]

I don't see why it couldn't, and shouldn't be a success. The NBL, NRL and A League have sides on the other side of the ditch and it dosen't hurt them one little bit.

An AFL side based in NZ would be a great step forward for the code.

 

[Rob Ford 420]

Has branding issues. Most kiwis would be repulsed by something called aussie rules/Australian football/AFL

 

[Barry_Badrinath]

I hope not.

 

[i am a logo]

Some may call having a team in NZ gimmicky but in the end it would grow the game much more than having a team in Western Sydney or the Gold Coast since it's a much larger market.

 

[joop]

Has branding issues. Most kiwis would be repulsed by something called aussie rules/Australian football/AFL

Actually I'll think you'll find most of them aren't so narrow minded and are pretty curious to a foreign game.

 

[jim boy]

Some may call having a team in NZ gimmicky but in the end it would grow the game much more than having a team in Western Sydney or the Gold Coast since it's a much larger market.

But it's not a market that is going to add value to a televison rights agreement unlike developing GWS or GC

 

[Riccardo11]

Has branding issues. Most kiwis would be repulsed by something called aussie rules/Australian football/AFL

Auckland Warriors joined the NRL when it was called the ARL. Yes, they kicked up a stink about wearing a green and gold NRL badge, but that's just window dressing.
The Pheonix happily line up in the A-League, too.

 

[Rich]

Has branding issues. Most kiwis would be repulsed by something called aussie rules/Australian football/AFL

Sure there is going to be a lot of local sceptics (like NSW and Qld) but I feel there is a niche for footy in NZ. Not sure to what extent, but at least the toe is in the water.

A lot of Kiwi's in their 30's and 40's have lived in Aus or travelled overseas and opened their minds past a rugby dominated NZ. Rugby (World Cups aside) is entirely on pay TV in NZ and netball and basketball have made a push over there with good FTA coverage.

 

[jiphoc]

No Kiwi would ever and mean EVER follow a sport or code with the Word Australian in the title. For this to happen the AFL will likely have to re badge itself. Maybe ANZFL?

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Unlikely, it just isn't a big enough sport over there. Union is their national sport, closely followed by netball for the women. Cricket does okay (esp. limited overs). AFL won't go anywhere, your best chance is to venture into China/Asia rather than NZ. I get the reason why they do it, I just fail to see it working rather apart from a positive PR thing for the AFL!

 

[Dont be a lemon]

I doubt it. The sport barely exists there.

These Wellington games only happen because some level of the NZ Government is paying for it.

 

[GarnerSmash]

Nope.

It will be a novelty, that's all.

 

[HBF]

Very unlikely.
It's Rugby Union all the way over there.
League runs a distant second and cricket is a very distant 3rd.
Best we can hope for is the ex-pats who live in Wellington to get behind the games over there.

 

[wally funk]

It's too early to make any serious calls on the issue, but I don't imagine this experiment lasting forever. The current contract is for until next season, yes? I think there'll be enough interest for an extension if the Saints want, but I don't know if it'll go any further than that. Back to the occasional pre-season game and that's it, 2018ish.

 

[Crawb]

Has branding issues. Most kiwis would be repulsed by something called aussie rules/Australian football/AFL

The key is branding the game as 'Rules Football' or 'Rules Footy' to NZ.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Very unlikely.
It's Rugby Union all the way over there.
League runs a distant second and cricket is a very distant 3rd.
Best we can hope for is the ex-pats who live in Wellington to get behind the games over there.

Netball is 2nd by an absolute mile too. Forgot about league/cricket, who are about the same.

 

[caveman72]

No Kiwi would ever and mean EVER follow a sport or code with the Word Australian in the title. For this to happen the AFL will likely have to re badge itself. Maybe ANZFL?

Wrong im a kiwi and love aussie rules

 

[Crawb]

Just looking through the responses, the calls of 'unlikely', 'novelty', 'nope', 'will never happen' sound exactly like the responses when the question about having a Sydney based team was first raised, or having a Brisbane team, or having a national competition, or having a 2nd Sydney team...

The OP isn't saying NZ should have a team in a couple seasons. However I think the AFL should be at least open to the possibility in a decade or two, but for now like the OP said, we should focus on growing game the game and sizing up the market. At the very least it has the potential to be what Launceston is for Hawthorn or what Canberra is for GWS.

 

[Righteo]

It's possible, would need to start sending over higher quality games than STK vs Brisbane though.

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

Do they have an AFL league there? If they do what's the participation rate like? Kiwi's are mad about Union, so I don't see an AFL based team there in my lifetime. You'd have to think Tassies next to get a team.

 

[Richard Pryor]

New Zealand Demons.

Jokes aside, if we had a NZ team in the AFL then realistically they would have to play on ANZAC day wouldn't they?

 

[Crawb]

New Zealand Demons.

Or the New Zealand Kangaroos...wait hang on..

 

[Aucklander]

Wrong im a kiwi and love aussie rules

Same here.