Expansion Is the AFL still to Vic-centric?

[SgtSchulz]

Read before starting flame wars.

For Australian football to survive it will need to grow. Association Football (soccer) will continue to make inroads, and in my opinion become the dominant code, unless Australian football can become the first code in all Australian states and territories.

Firstly, Victoria is the largest heartland state for the code so it will for the foreseeable future be the cornerstone of the competition.

However is the mindset that the league is merely the expanded VFL with a few sides actually holding it back. I say this as there are some current non-negotiable which I suggest would help grow the games interest interstate. They include...

1. Having the Grand Final in Victoria every year.
   • Having Grand Finals in states like Brisbane and Sydney would stimulate huge interest in those states and make the code appear less parochially Victorian, something which harms the growth of the game.
   • Since 1990 if the Grand Final was hosted in the highest ranked teams home state then the game would have been stage outside Victoria six times in 1991 (WA), 1994 (WA), 1996 (NSW), 2004 (SA), 2006 (WA), 2014 (NSW). The games in New South Wales would have immeasurably helped the code grow in that state.
2. Having a required number of finals games at the MCG over time.
   • Removing finals from non-victorian teams, especially developing markets, has harmed the growth of the game in my opinion.
3. Having less teams outside Victoria than inside Victoria.
   • There must be more teams outside of Victoria for the code to survive.
   • Canberra and Tasmania should already have teams to prevent those areas becoming dominated by Soccer and Rugby. These areas would be more financially viable than the weaker Victorian teams.
4. Having an even fixture.
   • Currently the fixture allows Victorian teams to travel significantly less than those interstate. Although this will never be solved with a full quota of 10 victorian teams having more teams outside Victoria would allow for an even fixture where every club plays each other once.
5. Diplomatic reasons
   • Simply having more teams outside Victoria would make the voting process less Vic-centric with decisions being made in the best interest of the code and league, not Victorian interests.

If you can think of any arguments for or against add them below.

 

[The Blue Baggers]

1.your argument not wrong but the MCG has commmitted to major investments in stands. GF will remain there in our life time.

2.aside from the GF all finals are now played in higher teams home state

3. There are too many teams already depleting the standard. Half the country plays rugby. 12 or 14 max. Then the argument would be how many per state.

4. The fixture is a disgrace. For 30 years we have been adding teams without questioning the 22 h&a season.

5. Aside from the GF give an example of a Vic centric decision ??

 

[telsor]

OK, those are the problems you want addressed, but how would you address them, and how would you deal with the associated costs of doing so?

It's all well and good to say 'X is a problem' but if you don't have a solution (or the solution is worse) it doesn't do much good, does it.

It would also help avoid flame wars if you acknowledged that not all the favorable aspects go one way.

Vic clubs would love to have a home ground advantage similar to the non Vic clubs, as well as the commercial advantages of not having to compete with the AFL for members, pay off grounds for the league and having every game on FTA TV back into their home market.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

I'd just prefer to go back to a 12 VFL comp and pillage the **** out of the other states. I think interstate teams should be thankful they're allowed to be part of an expanded VFL. Let's face it WA and SA can barely support 2 clubs each.

AFL's grip in NSW and QLD will always be small fry, even more so with the growing popularity of soccer.
As for Canberra and Tasmania ...who gives a s**t, they certainly don't. Why fill the comp with small markets with no history?

 

[Upgrayedd]

In other news the sky is blue

be part of an expanded VFL. Let's face it WA and SA can barely support 2 clubs each.

West coast is the third richest club in the AFL. Owning 50m+ in assets, churning over 4m+ in profit and having one of the highest expenditures on the reg. Fremantle are also one of the top 10 clubs. Churning a profit even when it's investing in a new training base

Only 5 clubs spend more on football then WCE/Freo/port adelaide in melbourne. most other melbourne clubs spend about 10m less per year. While 6 VFL teams don't even have assets totaling more then 40 million

Could you please take it back and thank us for saving your precious VFL? i find it a bit disrespectful that you would gladly accept our money without kissing our feet?

 

[The_Wookie]

Could you please take it back and thank us for saving your precious VFL? i find it a bit disrespectful that you would gladly accept our money without kissing our feet?

I see what you want, and its not happening here.
Closing before the flames begin.