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Interesting article, but at odds with the headline, the article pretty much states that the AFL is not trying.
The AFL has never really tried outside of exhibition games. Minimal funding is provided, in the vicinity of around 40k a year from memory, and they briefly offered some funding for a kids program in 2002 which lasted 6 months. Whether a lack of AFL branding (ie. AFL USA like AFL Canada, AFL Britain etc etc) is responsible for that Im not sure.
Interesting article, but at odds with the headline, the article pretty much states that the AFL is not trying.
Thank you for reading the article. Er, I haven't but I'm still going to comment... to say AFL's expansion abroad is a story in itself. In the last dozen years I can think of Africa, China and New Zealand. Maybe there was a fling at PNG along the way.
It's no different from any other business. If it is solely domestically-focused it is going to struggle when it goes abroad because it requires a different mindset, different set of skills (ie, experts) and some sustained investment and strategy. All those things that our glorified suburban comp doesn't do.
What I find strange in discussion around footy and the USA is the inherent advantage that the club culture has in the states.
Athletes in the states lack that genuine friendly club environment, where they're funnelled through a competitive high school and college system and then their recreational sports has less organisational structure through member run, organised clubs.
If you follow the USAFL players a lot of them are ex-college athletes who grew up playing multiple sports and stick around with footy because of the new friends and communities they develop. They should be selling that angle as a point of difference against other US sports. But they don't.
What a strange strange article. No surprise for VICE. Their editors want their own opinions heard but are pretty average readers and writers in their own right.
This is an article about a bunch of random people, ex-pats or bored Americans, playing Aussie Rules in Brooklyn. What does that have to do with expansion? Or the AFL? The AFL isn't doing this themselves. It's privately organised. The title and vibe is like 'the AFL is pumping thousands into getting the game going over there, they want a presence, maybe a team, LA Crocs!' but the story is about a bunch of people who want some funding for their mickey-mouse s**t. Maybe don't like in New York City if you want to play social Aussie Rules and feel weird about how there's no one else to play, so you have to travel to do it. Entitled privileged flogs.
But then it's like, 'tried and failed.'So really it should be about Aussie Rules overseas and not the AFL overseas.