Which football code will be affected most by soccer's rise.

[MarkT]

the fact we are in asia from 2006 and will have big games against big countries constantly hasnt sunk in yet. i assume you read it but it aint yet sank in or computed

The context of my posts were in relation to the thread title. There may well be some more and bigger games. How often Kewel comes to play them remains to be seen as does the impact they actually have on soccer let alone another sport that already has a form grip on our culture. What happens if we don't actually win these games is another issue again as is the longevity of the current form of the domestic competition here. The hills are largely yet to be climbed. Granted the climbing equipment is as good as it's ever been.

 

[mustapha]

I have been to probably 150 games of AFL/VFL football in my lifetime and I have never experienced an atmosphere like the one on Wednesday night. It was the best sporting event that I have ever been to. The tension that is experienced at the end of a few AFL games in a year was present throughout the whole game. A Uruguayan goal after 5 mins of the game probably would have killed us. My voice is still gone.

It was amazing seeing people of all nationalities joining to sign the Australian anthem. It wasn't just Dwayne, Sharon and Bazza. Stavros, Ping, Khalid, and Gianfranco were all in full voice helping the Aussies across the line.

The "Soccer is only poular every four years" line was probably right previously. Australia will now play regular big games against quality international teams. That line will disappear.

Aussie Rules is a great sport and so is soccer. This may sound crazy to some of the people complaining on this board, but it is possible to enjoy more than one sport.

 

[grayham]

hehe. poor cousin, good one mate. Good to see Gridiron and Baseball dominating the world.

Uruguay are ranked 17th in the world. Once again you never do your homework before you mouth off.

More evidence that its not as "world" as you'd hope. If a country of 3m aging residents is 17th in the world, god knows whats below them.

FWIW, RU also claims to be played in 160 countries in the world. I think even Aussierules claims 50 or so. "played" and "popular" are too very different things.

 

[Grunty]

Shouldn't make comments you know nothing about. Football largest player is China. The size of the game there is incomprehensible. Just look at the TV figures for the Asian cup final

Now that the Socceroos have qualified for the World Cup, there will be plenty more information about it in our media, so the average Aussie will slowly begin to realize the enormity of soccer.

Even John O'Neill had no idea of the sheer size of soccer until he attended the Asian Cup final, which was watched live in China by 250 million people
(ie 250 million customers).

O'Neill was so blown away by the whole thing that he came back to Australia and told Frank Lowy that Australia had to get into Asia.

Between now and June, there will be an education process, until most Aussies realize that Australia is now in the biggest single sporting event on the planet, with a worldwide TV audience twice that of the Olympics.

(PS. one third of the Olympics ticket sales and revenue come from soccer.)

 

[mustapha]

More evidence that its not as "world" as you'd hope. If a country of 3m aging residents is 17th in the world, god knows whats below them.

FWIW, RU also claims to be played in 160 countries in the world. I think even Aussierules claims 50 or so. "played" and "popular" are too very different things.

The world cup is the most watched sporting event on the planet. It is bigger than the olympics. Isn't every resident in the world getting older?

 

[xyakks]

Why is this argument between soccer (Football, if that name offends you so much) and AFL on big footy, and why do so many people think that they're much better at knowing what I like than me? Why should it matter to me that millions of people in china and america and whereever else love the game? I've seen and played AFL before and I've seen and played soccer before. The fact is I; that's "me" ... as in not you! I find soccer boring, and slightly disgusting (freekick wise). You obviously don't think this and like soccer (Good for you), then you go and watch soccer (I'm not telling you not too), but I do find it insulting when you call everyone who doesn't like soccer "insular" and "racist"; infact, it makes me feel that you are an insecure little boy who hates anybody who doesn't do and like exactly what you do. Go and grow up.

Oh and by the way, my fav sport is Cricket, because to me that is the only sport in Australia at the moment that really has a soul, all the rest (AFL/Rugby/Soccer) seem to be all about beating and making people hate the other codes.

Soccer may be the "world game", but it makes me sad to think the "world" chose soccer.

 

[Grunty]

More evidence that its not as "world" as you'd hope. If a country of 3m aging residents is 17th in the world, god knows whats below them.

FWIW, RU also claims to be played in 160 countries in the world. I think even Aussierules claims 50 or so. "played" and "popular" are too very different things.

grayham. I am an Aussie Rules follower from way back, and have only recently started to take an interest in soccer ( I will still call it soccer, as that's what it has always been to me). But some of the posters are right, it IS possible to follow two or three different sports, footy in winter and soccer in summer.

I think you are digging a deeper and deeper hole for yourself, and are really making yourself look a little silly with your pronouncements.

If you really want to make some negative yet realistic criticisms of soccer, put a bit of effort into learning about the game and its history first.
( there is plenty to criticize, starting with the offside rule, and the fact that the linesmen cannot physically see two widely separated points in the same instant.)

But it looks as though you are just pulling your facts and statistics out of the air.

I can't for the life of me understand why you feel threatened by soccer. Ok there will be more games in Australia against more formidable opponents. But will this affect the crowds at footy games. Will it stop me from following the Eagles?
Like hell it will.

 

[MarkT]

Soccer may be the "world game", but it makes me sad to think the "world" chose soccer.

They didn’t have the choice we have.

 

[Tigger Please!]

Isn't every resident in the world getting older?

lol

 

[Sedat!]

Look at Gridiron. Hardly any kids play it in the states, but it still sucks in the best atheletes and is easily the No.1 football code over there.

Anyone who uses the USA as an example of how regional codes dominate their market and comparing it to Australia needs to remember a couple of salient points. There are 260 million people in the USA. As rabid consumers, they are probably the equivalent of 500 million normal people (ie: non-Americans). That makes it a massive market for corporate sponsorship and media rights. Americans have no need to seek international sporting glory because their market is so large.

In Australia, we have 20 million people. Half would follow the AFL, half would follow a combination of Rugby and League. That is a drop in the ocean compared to the market that Australian Soccer is about to be exposed to in Asia (not to mention the next 8 months in the lead up to the biggest sporting event in the world, Olympics included).

 

[harmesy 37]

Only a few months ago.

All differences aside...I can assure you, if you were with me there in Wednesday night, you would be made an instant soccer fan for life.
The atmosphere, the passion and the noise was indescribable for those who weren't there. I've never experienced anything like it in any sport ever. This includes a zillion AFL games (inc the swans grand final) and a rangers v celtic clash in Scotland.

There are countless journo's of all sports who have said the same.

Let the indocrination begin........


or can i just read 1984 instead?

"Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought?… Has it ever occurred to your, Winston, that by the year 2050, at the very latest, not a single human being will be alive who could understand such a conversation as we are having now?…The whole climate of thought will be different. In fact, there will be no thought, as we understand it now. Orthodoxy means not thinking—not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness." —Syme, pg 46-47

We don't need to think when we watch soccer....we can be just like everyone else.....bahh ... bahh.. bahh

 

[harmesy 37]

Anyone who uses the USA as an example of how regional codes dominate their market and comparing it to Australia needs to remember a couple of salient points. There are 260 million people in the USA. As rabid consumers, they are probably the equivalent of 500 million normal people (ie: non-Americans). That makes it a massive market for corporate sponsorship and media rights. Americans have no need to seek international sporting glory because their market is so large.

In Australia, we have 20 million people. Half would follow the AFL, half would follow a combination of Rugby and League. That is a drop in the ocean compared to the market that Australian Soccer is about to be exposed to in Asia (not to mention the next 8 months in the lead up to the biggest sporting event in the world, Olympics included).

So are you saying that because we are smaller - we don't value our culture as much as Americans?

I have already made my choice based on what i think is the better product. Most people are sheep who follow blindly what they are told on Newspeak.. oh sorry.. i mean the media.

 

[Hearts to hearts]

The "rise" of soccer based on Australia's World Cup campaign, and the effect on AFL and other leading football codes, will be somewhat similar to the dent made on them by running after Cathy Freeman's win in 2000, or swimming after Kieran Perkins in 1996.

Australians, especially Sydneysiders, love a winner. And we love being on the world stage at everything. But come back and check next March whether there's been any change for the worse in how ready we all are to watch the game that consumes our winters.

Kids will play round ball football as they always have. But when they grow up and spend their money, they will spend it watching the best players there are, playing the football they and their parents and grandparents and friends are all in love with - AFL or League. They won't be spending it to stand in small crowds watching a second/fifteenth/fiftyfourth tier soccer competition like the A League, except as an occasional novelty, or on merchandising.

As far as I can see, the only challenge the big codes need to see off is the challenge for sponsorship dollars given the Asian market coming more into play for soccer. There is no way a challenge is coming for Australians' hearts and minds, not in my lifetime, or my children's.

 

[Sedat!]

So are you saying that because we are smaller - we don't value our culture as much as Americans?

I have already made my choice based on what i think is the better product. Most people are sheep who follow blindly what they are told on Newspeak.. oh sorry.. i mean the media.

Not at all. I'm simply saying that pure mathematics will dictate where the big corporate dollar will be spent in the next few years. Qantas have set the precedent.

I have been born and bred an AFL fan for 34 years, but I've also loved soccer since I was a little kid as well. I fully expect AFL to survive and prosper in my neck of the woods, but I also understand the magnitude of what was achieved on Wednesday night, and I'm not talking about the game. In every major city in Australia, eyes were glued to the TV, the nation hung on every pasage of play. Muslims, Orthodox, Catholics, Buddhists, Jews, new Australians, Anglo-Saxons, original Australians, all together in unison. Soccer has been blighted by ethnic tension in the pst, but the exact opposite happened on Wednesday night. Probably the best ever advertisment for multi-culturalism, and achieved by soccer.

 

[Bleed Red Cheer]

Not at all. I'm simply saying that pure mathematics will dictate where the big corporate dollar will be spent in the next few years.

Who?!? These guys?!?!

 

[harmesy 37]

Not at all. I'm simply saying that pure mathematics will dictate where the big corporate dollar will be spent in the next few years. Qantas have set the precedent.

I have been born and bred an AFL fan for 34 years, but I've also loved soccer since I was a little kid as well. I fully expect AFL to survive and prosper in my neck of the woods, but I also understand the magnitude of what was achieved on Wednesday night, and I'm not talking about the game. In every major city in Australia, eyes were glued to the TV, the nation hung on every pasage of play. Muslims, Orthodox, Catholics, Buddhists, Jews, new Australians, Anglo-Saxons, original Australians, all together in unison. Soccer has been blighted by ethnic tension in the pst, but the exact opposite happened on Wednesday night. Probably the best ever advertisment for multi-culturalism, and achieved by soccer.

The big corporate dollar goes to where the interest is.

The biggest corporate dollar in america is bigger than the biggest corporate dollar in Australia... so what?

If an advertiser wants to reach an Australian market he will pitch to an Australian market. Do you think the ads you see on tv are also pitched in the philippines? the exact same ones... nup..



Bringing race issues into this argument is irrelevant and being used by everyone on this board as a smoke screen for what they really think - whether pro soccer or pro australian football.

Whipped up patriotism where people abuse the opposition and behave like animals is one step away from fascism. Should i feel more patriotic at a soccer match than a rugby match or a netball match or a tiddlywinks match because more people player soccer overseas? maybe i should give 10 doses of patriotism for soccer matches, 5 for rugby and 1 for tiddlywinks. thank god we now know how to properly direct our "patriotism".

Is that the aim of the game - to be noticed by people from overseas?

 

[Jimthegreat]

In the eyes of the average fan no code will be affected even though soccer may rise. Sports loving people will just assimulate it into their mindset and follow soccer as well. Corporate dollars will go where the popularity is so AFL will never be affected given record crowds and TV audiences. Support at club level indicates popularity. That doesn't mean soccer won't get an extra share. Might just again that soccer will just blend in with other other sports without any corporate effect on other sports. Depends how many dollars there are to go around too I suppose. Not sure any sports will actually suffer.

 

[harmesy 37]

Why is this argument between soccer (Football, if that name offends you so much) and AFL on big footy, and why do so many people think that they're much better at knowing what I like than me? Why should it matter to me that millions of people in china and america and whereever else love the game? I've seen and played AFL before and I've seen and played soccer before. The fact is I; that's "me" ... as in not you! I find soccer boring, and slightly disgusting (freekick wise). You obviously don't think this and like soccer (Good for you), then you go and watch soccer (I'm not telling you not too), but I do find it insulting when you call everyone who doesn't like soccer "insular" and "racist"; infact, it makes me feel that you are an insecure little boy who hates anybody who doesn't do and like exactly what you do. Go and grow up.

Oh and by the way, my fav sport is Cricket, because to me that is the only sport in Australia at the moment that really has a soul, all the rest (AFL/Rugby/Soccer) seem to be all about beating and making people hate the other codes.

Soccer may be the "world game", but it makes me sad to think the "world" chose soccer.

Fair point.

 

[David Votoupal]

but I do find it insulting when you call everyone who doesn't like soccer "insular" and "racist"; infact, it makes me feel that you are an insecure little boy who hates anybody who doesn't do and like exactly what you do. Go and grow up.

We aren't forcing anybody to like anything. What this is all about, above all, is RESPECT and a fair go. If you don't like soccer that's fine, there are many people in this country don't like/don't get Aussie Rules either. But the fact of the matter is, those in this country who made their choice to love soccer- including a big % of AFL fans- have had to put up with a lot of crap. And yes, that IS insular and racist. I hate the race card being played all the time as much as anybody, but if it sounds, smells and feels like one than it is one.

This is 2005. We're supposed to treat each other with respect and dignity, and not denigrate and discriminate. It's just sad some people haven't got that message through.

 

[Bleed Red Cheer]

So which race is it that likes soccer again?

 

[JohnWorsfold]

In the eyes of the average fan no code will be affected even though soccer may rise. Sports loving people will just assimulate it into their mindset and follow soccer as well. Corporate dollars will go where the popularity is so AFL will never be affected given record crowds and TV audiences. Support at club level indicates popularity. That doesn't mean soccer won't get an extra share. Might just again that soccer will just blend in with other other sports without any corporate effect on other sports. Depends how many dollars there are to go around too I suppose. Not sure any sports will actually suffer.

the fact remains that as football is international, international sponsers are more prepared to back and international team who will expose their business to a wider market. AFL will always have the backing of local sponsers but as for the quantas's extra well I dont think so

 

[aj1981]

I did actually mean to type "first time in a while". But out of interest when was the final qualifier last played in Sydney?

The last time a final World Cup qualifier was played in Sydney was in fact 1993, when Australia played Argentina at the Sydney Football Stadium (now Aussie Stadium) for a place in the 1994 World Cup. There have been World Cup qualifiers played in Sydney since then, but only involving Oceania Championship matches, not actual final World Cup qualifiers.

 

[doppleganger]

soccer is a great game, AFL is better

i like watching both

was absolutely over the moon when collingwood were winning its finals in 02&03, atmosphere at the g was fantastic

support liverpool & watching them win the champions league was just as exciting

seeing australia qualify to get thru to the world cup was also very exciting

the only special thing about the soccer is that it is an international sport, AFL will never be able to compete with soccer internationally

but fact remains that week in week out i will go to watch collingwood play win lose or draw every time i can, will also watch the odd premier leauge game on the tele & especially if its a liverpool game

its about having a team, it is rare that u can get excited by watching an AFL gamt that doesn't involve ur own team, same thing with soccer....but the soccerroos were OUR team

cant see people who are already AFL supporters turning their backs on the AFL, this would be almost all users on bigfooty......but kids who dont really have a favourite sport may now choose soccer when in the past they would have always chose to play AFL in melbourne and a rugby code in Sydney....this is similar to the AFL trying to establish itself in Sydney, it will never convert the die hard NRL fan but its trying to get the people who dont follow a sport or haven't decided yet

 

[Rex]

I agree.


I'm much more interested in the Champions League and watching my club Arsenal in the Premiership. Has this ever effect my love for AFL....NO!

Your team Arsenhole.

Why do so many Aussies feel the need to support some Pommy soccer team? A team they have no real connection with. Ever been to Arsenhole?

 

[Rex]

I have been to probably 150 games of AFL/VFL football in my lifetime and I have never experienced an atmosphere like the one on Wednesday night.

Gee I'm sick of hearing that crap. It's really Australia's incompetence in the past that has made this such a big deal when really it's just another step.

Wow!! We qualified for a friggin tournament by beating a country with a population of 3 million people. Who were some of the other countries we beat to qualify?

I rest my case.