If sometime over the next 50/100 years the AFL was to expand internationally, which country do you think would be the most likely to have a team?

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GoGeta

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America. I really want their validation on everything. They are just so amazing as a people. Wish we were more like them in everything we do.
 
Nov 26, 2016
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New Zealand is the most logical overseas option.

St Kilda averaged 16k crowds in Wellington - a city of 400k.

Auckland has four times that population and will soon have an AFL-appropriate stadium (Western Springs Stadium - below).

St Kilda are keen (or at least were) to go back to New Zealand once the stadium is ready: https://www.triplem.com.au/story/st-kilda-want-to-head-back-to-new-zealand-30462


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South Africa would be a cool option further into the future. Cape Town, Joburg and Durban could all theoretically host teams and have the stadiums to do so. The Southern Hemisphere aspect means their cricket stadiums are pretty dormant through the season, too.

AFL South Africa had 50k participants in 2019, so there’s already a base of support.
 
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Due to the ongoing paranoia of a Covid-19 reoccurrence over the next 50-100 years, the game will eventually move to a completely online based simulation model.

Certain clubs will be forced to outsource their simulation teams to cut costs, therefore I think it’s likely we’ll see growth for the game in somewhere like Sri Lanka - the new home of football.
 

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Virus

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New Zealand is the most logical overseas option.

St Kilda averaged 16k crowds in Wellington - a city of 400k.

Auckland has four times that population and will soon have an AFL-appropriate stadium (Western Springs Stadium - below).

St Kilda are keen (or at least were) to go back to New Zealand once the stadium is ready: https://www.triplem.com.au/story/st-kilda-want-to-head-back-to-new-zealand-30462


View attachment 1022686


South Africa would be a cool option further into the future. Cape Town, Joburg and Durban could all theoretically host teams and have the stadiums to do so. The Southern Hemisphere aspect means their cricket stadiums are pretty dormant through the season, too.

AFL South Africa had 50k participants in 2019, so there’s already a base of support.
I thought the whole NZ thing was a failure because the Saints just stopped going there but those numbers suggest it’s anything but a failure.
 
Last edited:
Nov 26, 2016
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I thought the whole NZ thing was a failure because the Saints just stopped going there but those numbers suggest it’s nothing but a failure.

Apparently it was the Wellington City Council. They declined to extend its sponsorship for the game beyond the initial three-year period. I think after that St Kilda were then more interested in pursuing the bigger Auckland market with its new stadium (but the stadium has taken so long that it's lost momentum).

I wouldn't call 16k per game in a small city without football familiarity a failure. Hobart have only averaged 12k per game since 2012 and they're a footy heartland.
 

Virus

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Apparently it was the Wellington City Council. They declined to extend its sponsorship for the game beyond the initial three-year period. I think after that St Kilda were then more interested in pursuing the bigger Auckland market with its new stadium (but the stadium has taken so long that it's lost momentum).

I wouldn't call 16k per game in a small city without football familiarity a failure. Hobart have only averaged 12k per game since 2012 and they're a footy heartland.
I messed my words up bud. I meant it was anything but a failure
 

Tygrys

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They would have to be a cricket playing nation as they would have to have the infrastructure already in place (ie ovals).

If I was a betting man I'd say the USA. Through immigration cricket has a very large affluent supporter base. In my wife's home town of Grand Prairie Texas they are converting an old Baseball Ground into a Cricket stadium for a pro-league they hope to kick off in 2022. Plus Americans (and I know this through widespread family experience) love Australian football when introduced to it. The speed, the skill and the physicality/brutality. But of course the lack of suitable infrastructure has always been a major barrier. If I was the AFL I would be watching the progress and hopefully expansion of cricket in the USA with great interest.

 

Tygrys

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From memory Union was always more of a private (rich?) school thing in SA. For it to break out there it would likely have to come through the black South African communities. As a sport that requires limited equipment (aside from the grounds) its possible to start in poorer communities, its physical style of play could really fit some of those communities as well.

Yes whilst there is a private school thing in SA regarding rugby union (to be honest just like there is in Australia) I always understood it to be much more of a colour thing. In particular it's association with Apartheid and Afrikaan nationalism. Renaming the national team the Proteas hasn't really dented that.

That's the main reason why soccer has always been the football code of choice there among blacks. Australian football however has none of the stigma of rugby, but nevertheless has all the physicality and a broader skill set than either the two other codes, and the numbers that play it are very encouraging.

The one thing though I would have thought that is standing in it's way is it's less obvious how in those poorer communities that you can make a good living out of it unlike soccer and rugby. I guess that's where the AFL needs to step in.
 

jle101

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I believe the SA rugby team is still called the Springboks, it was the cricket team which took on the Protea moniker. Those participation numbers in South Africa are pretty encouraging, would be interested to see how the numbers stack up with other countries.
 

Tygrys

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I believe the SA rugby team is still called the Springboks, it was the cricket team which took on the Protea moniker. Those participation numbers in South Africa are pretty encouraging, would be interested to see how the numbers stack up with other countries.

Come to think of it I think you're right about the Springboks thing, which probably explains even more why rugby is behind the eight ball when it comes to the black population.
 

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Established1870

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New Zealand is the last frontier for Aussie Rules IMO but if there was enough of a push for it then South Africa isn't a bad shout down the track.

Ireland would be interesting to look into again now that Brexit has ****ed over Irish talent jumping to England/Celtic for soccer.
 
Obviously biased here, but the AFL game (well maybe a few years back) is IMO a far superior product to Gaelic Football and Rugby.

Its a shame that countries like Ireland and NZ in the AFL are not part of the AFL.

While it may happen one day 50-100 years, I cannot see it happen in the foreseeable future.
 
Apr 24, 2018
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New Zealand is the last frontier for Aussie Rules IMO but if there was enough of a push for it then South Africa isn't a bad shout down the track.

Ireland would be interesting to look into again now that Brexit has f’ed over Irish talent jumping to England/Celtic for soccer.
I think there would be good interest in Ireland from the public as they already have a understanding of the game and there would be local talent but I wouldn’t think that Gaelic football association would want us there they hate it now when we take there good young players imagine having a full time afl club there no kid would want to play Gaelic footy anymore they would all see the money in afl and not have to leave Ireland anymore
 
I think there would be good interest in Ireland from the public as they already have a understanding of the game and there would be local talent but I wouldn’t think that Gaelic football association would want us there they hate it now when we take there good young players imagine having a full time afl club there no kid would want to play Gaelic footy anymore they would all see the money in afl and not have to leave Ireland anymore

What it would take is for the AFL to try and buy out Gaelic Footy and try and convert from there.

Obviously would take $100s millions of dollars and in a post covid world is impossible.

But they and they NZ would be the most feasible markets.
 

Admiral Byng

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None. Until regular supersonic/hypersonic flights become a thing and you can get anywhere in the world in about 5-6 hours. Until then forget it. Perth - Brisbane or Gold Coast is about the longest flight practicable for regular home and away matches with only a 6 day recovery in between. Lots of people saying even that is stretching it. Can't see them going any further on a weekly basis.

Super rugby is split into conferences and teams spend half the season playing within their own country with just a handful of overseas trips. Plus I think theor season is only 16 (or 18?) games. not 22. There's no way the AFL can restructure into conferences like that without dropping the number of teams in Aus.

In other words, forget it.
 

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