Expansion Proposals for a Truly National AFL

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Yeah it doesn’t bother me if Australian football is popular with anyone else, I enjoy what I enjoy. Do feel sorry for people that can’t enjoy it like myself such as the people of Tasmania or any other region.

This is complete dribble.

Quite a number of the people of Tasmania enjoy watching and playing Australian Football.
Some even enjoy attending AFL games.
 
Quite a number of the people of Tasmania enjoy watching and playing Australian Football.
Some even enjoy attending AFL games.
They can’t enjoy it like I do
 

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Even though I and most of us on here won't be alive when the next century comes around unfortunately, it would still be cool to know what ideas or predictions have, in regards to what the Australian Football League will look like in the 2100s.

Given the presence of Australian Rules Football being placed as a national sport today increasing by the day and the decreasing value/worth of Rugby League as a result, shows that over time IMO, AFL will become Australia’s biggest national-wise professional sporting competition that represents the majority of cities/towns around the country by the next century, at the latest, for both the male & female counterparts.

For that long-term goal to be achieved however, a major revamp needs to be done to the structure of the overall landscape of the sport to help make it as fair and viable as possible, in regards to the competition, fixture, travel, etc.

Doing the maths, 26 clubs is the appropriate number of teams needed to make the competition as fair & ethical as possible while also keeping in mind the normal timeframe of how long a regular season usually is and is not interfering with summer-based sports such as cricket as well.

This includes the following areas of the country being covered/broken down as a result:

  • Victoria Metro (3x Division A | 3x Division B) (MCG-based)
  • Victoria Country/Tasmania (1x Division A | 1x Division B)
  • New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory (3x Division A | 2x Division B)
  • Queensland/Northern Territory (2x Division A | 3x Division B)
  • South Australia (2x Division A | 2x Division B)
  • Western Australia (2x Division A | 2x Division B)
For this to occur though, two changes need to take place & happen that might sound controversial in the current sporting landscape we are living in now:
  1. The small Victorian-based clubs (Kangaroos/Saints/Bulldogs) need to either relocate to other parts of the country OR relegate down to the VFL/VAFA as it is not financially viable IMO for 10 clubs to be located in Victoria and is also not ethical & fair for the overall competition in the future at the same time.
  2. Divisions will need to be created, similar to how the American professional sporting system works, regardless in the future to help provide an equal 26 week Home & Away season for all football clubs, with each club travelling to each state/area of Australia at least twice in their division, as mentioned above. However, clubs will only play 13 teams altogether for each season but teams will play different opposition every year when the divisions are changed up.
An example of how the divisional system model would work in Australian Rules Football, in regards to future structure, would turn out to be something like this as a result:

Australian Football League (AFL)
National Football League (NFL)
Adelaide CrowsBrisbane Lions
Collingwood MagpiesCanberra Gladiators
Darwin SaintsCarlton Blues
Essendon BombersGeelong Cats
Fremantle DockersHawthorn Hawks
Gold Coast SunsJoondalup Bulldogs
Melbourne DemonsNorwood-Sturt Scorpions
North Queensland CrocodilesPort Adelaide Power
North Sydney RazorbacksRichmond Tigers
Perth HuntersSouth Sydney Pioneers
South Adelaide PanthersSunshine Coast Kangaroos
Sydney SwansWest Coast Eagles
Tasmania DevilsWestern Sydney Giants

With the reduction of Victorian clubs and the creation of divisions in this proposal, 2 divisions of 13 clubs works out appropriately in a 26 week season as stated above, with each club playing the other 12 teams in their division twice (1x Home & 1x Away) and 2 byes in between the season for the players and coaches health & well-being as well. This would calculate to 12 matches being played every round of the regular season (6x matches each division) and would equate to 288 matches played throughout the Home & Away season alone, 90 more matches then we have now in the current landscape.

Below is the general format of a weekly round, which would lasts for 5 days between Thursday to Monday, each week of the season:

Match Time-Slot
Division Match-Up
Matches Played
Broadcasting Channel
Thursday Night​
Division A1Channel 9
Friday Twilight​
Division A1Fox Sports
Friday Night​
Division B1Channel 7
Saturday Afternoon​
Division B1Channel 10
Saturday Twilight​
Division A1Fox Sports
Saturday Night​
Division A & B2Channel 7 & 9
Sunday Early Afternoon​
Division A1Channel 10
Sunday Afternoon​
Division A & B2Channel 7 & 9
Sunday Twilight/Night​
Division B1Fox Sports
Monday Night​
Division B1Channel 7
Note: Divisions swap time-slots every round for equal T.V coverage of both divisions

Regardless of divisions or not in the future, as the competition has more teams and more matchups for each week of the season, it is inevitable that the AFL will need to create more broadcasting deals with other network stations such as Channel 9 & 10 to help provide live coverage of all matches throughout the week for audiences all around the country and to help further increase the financial revenue of the game as well.

After the regular season has concluded, the top 6 teams from each division advance to their own Final 6 system, with the finals format being something like this:

Week 1: Divisional Elimination Finals
Match Time-Slot
Ranking Match-Up
Division Match-Up
Broadcasting Channel
Thursday Night3rd Place vs. 6th PlaceDivision AChannel 9
Friday Night3rd Place vs. 6th PlaceDivision BChannel 7
Saturday Night4th Place vs. 5th PlaceDivision AChannel 7
Sunday Night4th Place vs. 5th PlaceDivision BChannel 9
Week 2: Divisional Semi Finals
Thursday Night1st Place vs. Winner of Lowest Ranked (W1)Division AChannel 9
Friday Night1st Place vs. Winner of Lowest Ranked (W1)Division BChannel 7
Saturday Night2nd Place vs. Winner of Highest Ranked (W1)Division AChannel 7
Sunday Night2nd Place vs. Winner of Highest Ranked (W1)Division BChannel 9
Week 3: Divisional Grand Finals
Friday NightHighest Ranked Winner vs. Lowest Ranked Winner (W2)Division AChannel 9
Saturday NightHighest Ranked Winner vs. Lowest Ranked Winner (W2)Division BChannel 7
Week 4: National Championship Final
Sunday NightHighest Ranked Winner vs. Lowest Ranked Winner (W3)Division A vs. BChannel 7
National Championship Final Venue: Home team's state/territory biggest stadium (AFL) unless their club’s stadium can hold a minimum of 60,000 spectators.

Altogether, this equates to 299 matches being played in a 30 week season, with 92 more matches being played then the current AFL landscape has in place for the past 10 years of the competition. All finals matches would be played at night time and be broadcasted live & free on Channel 7 or 9 to increase broadcasting viewership & revenue of people across the country from all states & territories watching the sport.

In terms of trading, clubs can trade players to other teams across the competition, via the mid-season draft or the end of season draft, with the only change occurring to the trading rules is that if a player wants to move away from their club, they cannot nominate a “specific” club and can only nominate for a state so that all clubs involved can trade for the player and the club with the best trade deal to the other team gets the player, therefore creating an even battlefield for all clubs in that state/territory.

While in regards to drafting, the National Draft is the only way teams can draft underage/lower tier players to their club, in which the team with the worst win/loss record for the season altogether would receive pick 1 and continue in that order until the Championship Winners get pick 26 similar to how it works now, with 6 rounds in place throughout the process to select the best talent in the country, equating to 156 picks in total.

In conclusion, even with COVID-19 causing the majority of sporting competitions to be affected negatively, the AFL are growing more and more around the country, in terms of popularity and broadcasting revenue at the expense of the NRL/rugby league’s decline. However, if the AFL wants to become the truly Number 1 sporting code around Australia, a massive cultural shift & revamp of the competition format and Victorian teams needs to take place to allow that goal to be achieved.

Therefore, a divisional model, similar to how the American sports system works and also what I’ve suggested, should be implemented in the long-term future as the AFL expands to more teams in the professional competition because it will help increase the broadcasting, financial & club revenue massively for all of the clubs and overall sporting organisation massively to what it was pre-COVID but most importantly allow children/supporters, from all walks of life, to be able to support and aspire to one day represent their favourite club in the future, regardless of if they live in the city life of Melbourne & Sydney to the small rural township areas of North Queensland & Darwin.
 
The small Victorian-based clubs (Kangaroos/Saints/Bulldogs)

The Kangaroos,Saints and Bulldogs are NOT small.

it is not financially viable IMO for 10 clubs to be located in Victoria

Yes it is. Geelong is NOT in Melbourne.
With 9 teams in Melbourne, that's over 500,000 per AFL team.
The problem is NOT the number of teams, but rather the distribution of supporters.
Even with the uneven distribution, these teams are performers (mainly due to the number of "derbies")

Divisions will need to be created, similar to how the American professional sporting system works,

The NFL does NOT have divisions - it has Conferences, with much less travel than the AFL.
American college football does have divisions but they are strictly amateur (except for the coaches).
 
Even though I and most of us on here won't be alive when the next century comes around unfortunately, it would still be cool to know what ideas or predictions have, in regards to what the Australian Football League will look like in the 2100s.

Given the presence of Australian Rules Football being placed as a national sport today increasing by the day and the decreasing value/worth of Rugby League as a result, shows that over time IMO, AFL will become Australia’s biggest national-wise professional sporting competition that represents the majority of cities/towns around the country by the next century, at the latest, for both the male & female counterparts.

For that long-term goal to be achieved however, a major revamp needs to be done to the structure of the overall landscape of the sport to help make it as fair and viable as possible, in regards to the competition, fixture, travel, etc.

Doing the maths, 26 clubs is the appropriate number of teams needed to make the competition as fair & ethical as possible while also keeping in mind the normal timeframe of how long a regular season usually is and is not interfering with summer-based sports such as cricket as well.

This includes the following areas of the country being covered/broken down as a result:

  • Victoria Metro (3x Division A | 3x Division B) (MCG-based)
  • Victoria Country/Tasmania (1x Division A | 1x Division B)
  • New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory (3x Division A | 2x Division B)
  • Queensland/Northern Territory (2x Division A | 3x Division B)
  • South Australia (2x Division A | 2x Division B)
  • Western Australia (2x Division A | 2x Division B)
For this to occur though, two changes need to take place & happen that might sound controversial in the current sporting landscape we are living in now:
  1. The small Victorian-based clubs (Kangaroos/Saints/Bulldogs) need to either relocate to other parts of the country OR relegate down to the VFL/VAFA as it is not financially viable IMO for 10 clubs to be located in Victoria and is also not ethical & fair for the overall competition in the future at the same time.
  2. Divisions will need to be created, similar to how the American professional sporting system works, regardless in the future to help provide an equal 26 week Home & Away season for all football clubs, with each club travelling to each state/area of Australia at least twice in their division, as mentioned above. However, clubs will only play 13 teams altogether for each season but teams will play different opposition every year when the divisions are changed up.
An example of how the divisional system model would work in Australian Rules Football, in regards to future structure, would turn out to be something like this as a result:

Australian Football League (AFL)
National Football League (NFL)
Adelaide CrowsBrisbane Lions
Collingwood MagpiesCanberra Gladiators
Darwin SaintsCarlton Blues
Essendon BombersGeelong Cats
Fremantle DockersHawthorn Hawks
Gold Coast SunsJoondalup Bulldogs
Melbourne DemonsNorwood-Sturt Scorpions
North Queensland CrocodilesPort Adelaide Power
North Sydney RazorbacksRichmond Tigers
Perth HuntersSouth Sydney Pioneers
South Adelaide PanthersSunshine Coast Kangaroos
Sydney SwansWest Coast Eagles
Tasmania DevilsWestern Sydney Giants

With the reduction of Victorian clubs and the creation of divisions in this proposal, 2 divisions of 13 clubs works out appropriately in a 26 week season as stated above, with each club playing the other 12 teams in their division twice (1x Home & 1x Away) and 2 byes in between the season for the players and coaches health & well-being as well. This would calculate to 12 matches being played every round of the regular season (6x matches each division) and would equate to 288 matches played throughout the Home & Away season alone, 90 more matches then we have now in the current landscape.

Below is the general format of a weekly round, which would lasts for 5 days between Thursday to Monday, each week of the season:

Match Time-Slot
Division Match-Up
Matches Played
Broadcasting Channel
Thursday Night​
Division A1Channel 9
Friday Twilight​
Division A1Fox Sports
Friday Night​
Division B1Channel 7
Saturday Afternoon​
Division B1Channel 10
Saturday Twilight​
Division A1Fox Sports
Saturday Night​
Division A & B2Channel 7 & 9
Sunday Early Afternoon​
Division A1Channel 10
Sunday Afternoon​
Division A & B2Channel 7 & 9
Sunday Twilight/Night​
Division B1Fox Sports
Monday Night​
Division B1Channel 7
Note: Divisions swap time-slots every round for equal T.V coverage of both divisions

Regardless of divisions or not in the future, as the competition has more teams and more matchups for each week of the season, it is inevitable that the AFL will need to create more broadcasting deals with other network stations such as Channel 9 & 10 to help provide live coverage of all matches throughout the week for audiences all around the country and to help further increase the financial revenue of the game as well.

After the regular season has concluded, the top 6 teams from each division advance to their own Final 6 system, with the finals format being something like this:

Week 1: Divisional Elimination Finals
Match Time-Slot
Ranking Match-Up
Division Match-Up
Broadcasting Channel
Thursday Night3rd Place vs. 6th PlaceDivision AChannel 9
Friday Night3rd Place vs. 6th PlaceDivision BChannel 7
Saturday Night4th Place vs. 5th PlaceDivision AChannel 7
Sunday Night4th Place vs. 5th PlaceDivision BChannel 9
Week 2: Divisional Semi Finals
Thursday Night1st Place vs. Winner of Lowest Ranked (W1)Division AChannel 9
Friday Night1st Place vs. Winner of Lowest Ranked (W1)Division BChannel 7
Saturday Night2nd Place vs. Winner of Highest Ranked (W1)Division AChannel 7
Sunday Night2nd Place vs. Winner of Highest Ranked (W1)Division BChannel 9
Week 3: Divisional Grand Finals
Friday NightHighest Ranked Winner vs. Lowest Ranked Winner (W2)Division AChannel 9
Saturday NightHighest Ranked Winner vs. Lowest Ranked Winner (W2)Division BChannel 7
Week 4: National Championship Final
Sunday NightHighest Ranked Winner vs. Lowest Ranked Winner (W3)Division A vs. BChannel 7
National Championship Final Venue: Home team's state/territory biggest stadium (AFL) unless their club’s stadium can hold a minimum of 60,000 spectators.

Altogether, this equates to 299 matches being played in a 30 week season, with 92 more matches being played then the current AFL landscape has in place for the past 10 years of the competition. All finals matches would be played at night time and be broadcasted live & free on Channel 7 or 9 to increase broadcasting viewership & revenue of people across the country from all states & territories watching the sport.

In terms of trading, clubs can trade players to other teams across the competition, via the mid-season draft or the end of season draft, with the only change occurring to the trading rules is that if a player wants to move away from their club, they cannot nominate a “specific” club and can only nominate for a state so that all clubs involved can trade for the player and the club with the best trade deal to the other team gets the player, therefore creating an even battlefield for all clubs in that state/territory.

While in regards to drafting, the National Draft is the only way teams can draft underage/lower tier players to their club, in which the team with the worst win/loss record for the season altogether would receive pick 1 and continue in that order until the Championship Winners get pick 26 similar to how it works now, with 6 rounds in place throughout the process to select the best talent in the country, equating to 156 picks in total.

In conclusion, even with COVID-19 causing the majority of sporting competitions to be affected negatively, the AFL are growing more and more around the country, in terms of popularity and broadcasting revenue at the expense of the NRL/rugby league’s decline. However, if the AFL wants to become the truly Number 1 sporting code around Australia, a massive cultural shift & revamp of the competition format and Victorian teams needs to take place to allow that goal to be achieved.

Therefore, a divisional model, similar to how the American sports system works and also what I’ve suggested, should be implemented in the long-term future as the AFL expands to more teams in the professional competition because it will help increase the broadcasting, financial & club revenue massively for all of the clubs and overall sporting organisation massively to what it was pre-COVID but most importantly allow children/supporters, from all walks of life, to be able to support and aspire to one day represent their favourite club in the future, regardless of if they live in the city life of Melbourne & Sydney to the small rural township areas of North Queensland & Darwin.

Why would you think its in the best interests of our game to eliminate clubs like StKilda, Bulldogs and Nth Melbourne?

Also, why do you think a conference system is more effective and fair than a divisional system?
 
Also, why do you think a conference system is more effective and fair than a divisional system?

There are two benefits of a conference system.
1. Teams are group geographically reducing travel. NFL clubs travel a lot less than the AFL clubs.
2. Fixtures can be more logical .i.e. twice against in-conference and once against other conference.
A divisional sytem
1. Without conferences travel would be extremely expensive and basically unaffordable for anything other than the top professional division.
2. Fixtures are always dynamic and changing divisions would change costs.
 

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aaah why not just forget about divisions, conferences or even a League????

Lets’s go WWE style.

Championship games for the title.

Champions have to defend their Premiership least once a week.

Big galas as AFLmania, Royal AFL, SummerSAFL etc,

Woooooooooooo

I think each games broadcast rights can be sold on the free market, just like boxing.
It is something worth exploring.
 
There won't a lot of take up for games involving GWS and the Suns if that was the case
Unless there was strong local viewership.
But again, the AFL seems hell bent on avoiding reality, in favour of a fabricated and engineered system.

If each games broadcast rights were auctioned on the free market, including braodcasts into pubs, radio, TV, digital access, and maybe ownership of NFT for highlights, I'd assume that the revenue generated for the most popular clubs would be a lot more than they are now.


(wait for all the bubble heads to comment. it cant, it wont, they'll never allow it, blah blah blah. Bunch of morons. Just take your jab)
 
Last edited:
If each games broadcast rights were auctioned on the free market, including braodcasts into pubs, radio, TV, digital access, and maybe ownership of NFT for highlights, I'd assume that the revenue generated for the most popular clubs would be a lot more than they are now.

How does that differ from the current system ?
 
How does that differ from the current system ?
Because apparently the clubs aren't free to make their own individual choices, even though each club freely chose to eschew elements of individuality organise themselves in a a unified way in 1877, 1897, 1985, 1993, and every time a new club was introduced, which is for some reason irrelavent to the point here.
 
Because apparently the clubs aren't free to make their own individual choices, even though each club freely chose to eschew elements of individuality organise themselves in a a unified way in 1877, 1897, 1985, 1993, and every time a new club was introduced, which is for some reason irrelavent to the point here.
the AFL has served its purpose to transition our game to a national format. Now its time for the game to take over in its own right, with power given back to the clubs, and more importantly, the members of the those clubs.
 

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