AFL =3rd biggest drawing football league in the world

[BuddyHawk]

It is all about the way you look at geography.

These are urban areas (comparative to the sprawl that we have here in our cities even if there is greater separation between towns). European counties are small compared to the area of Australia:

Greater Manchester area = 1,276 km²
Greater Melbourne area = 1,276 km²
Barcelona Province = 100 km²

Look it up if you don't believe me.

So Greater Manchester has 3 EPL clubs ?? Melbourne has 9 AFL clubs ... plus one in Geelong, which could be considered to be part of "Melbourne Province".

I am sure that a "Melbourne United" AFL club would easily be a greater supported club from a local perspective than Manchester United.

I understand what you're saying, and believe me as a Melburnian I love the fact that we can sustain nine professional football clubs.

My issue with your original post was that it implied that Manchester United and Barcelona are representative of Greater Manchester and Barcelona Provence respectively. Sure, they are the biggest clubs in their regions, but they are not only the teams competing at the top level. Do you really think a fan of a consistently competitive team like Bolton is going to travel to Old Trafford to watch United, just because he/she also lives in Greater Manchester? Ditto for supporters of Wigan, who have seen their side climb three divisions in the past five years? And what about Manchester City fans, who hate all things United with a passion?

As for a `Melbourne United' footy team being better supported from a local perspective than Manchester United, you're probably right, as it's United's global appeal that makes them such a powerful institution. A fair percentage of their season ticket holders don't live in Manchester.

 

[_Christoh_]

Can any one explain to me why Aussie rules became more popular in Australia in the first place?

We have had Europeans migrating to oz for the past 100 years yet AFL has continued to grow and soccer is only in its infancy as far as capturing the national intrest, true the media has a part to play but the fans will always follow the spectacle. There are definatly dicrepencies in comparing one competion from a different code from a different country but i think oz is the perfect example to overule all others.

We have a sporting psyche like no other country in the world, we have facilities that leave european countries for dead(concentrated in our main cities), we can even support an A-League as big as the AFL and that will be at crickets peril (i hope im wrong i like cricket).

But i dont think it will as AFL is constantly a better spectacle to the average non biased joe on the street. Thats where the true answer lies in this, with the people who like sport but arent as mad as we all are. They are the ones who grow a sport much to passionate supporters ire.

I was exposed to Rugby and Soccer as a small kid but once i could think for myself i played ten years of AFL and still attend as many AFL games as i can, why? cos it was better to watch and more fun to play.

But!!!!

The A-League has capture my imagination ive gone to a couple of Adelaide United games and they just dont keep me glued like AFL does for the whole contest. Why do so many soccer people sing at games cos there aint nothin else happening.

 

[bzparkes]

Maybe Murali could go there?

Lol, nice call.

 

[fishmonger]

Can any one explain to me why Aussie rules became more popular in Australia in the first place?

Because it is an exciting game to watch ?


Seriously though, if the VFL never expanded, we probably would not even be having this conversation. I mean the VFL's attendances would still be big even if the suburban grounds increased in size, but it is clubs like West Coast and Adelaide and more recently Brisbane and Sydney that really boost the average percentages. I'd like to see the growth figures for attendance for the Melbourne based clubs since 1982 compared with the growth figures for the expansion sides.

 

[_Christoh_]

Because it is an exciting game to watch ?


Seriously though, if the VFL never expanded, we probably would not even be having this conversation. I mean the VFL's attendances would still be big even if the suburban grounds increased in size, but it is clubs like West Coast and Adelaide and more recently Brisbane and Sydney that really boost the average percentages. I'd like to see the growth figures for attendance for the Melbourne based clubs since 1982 compared with the growth figures for the expansion sides.

If it hadn't we would still be getting 30-40,000 people a week to SANFL as we did prior to the crows which is roughly what the average weekly attendance the power/crows now have, so it really is the brisbane and sydney markets which have got the new bums on seats and it can only continue to grow albiet slowly

 

[cos789]

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but isn't WA entering a team in the QLD Wizard Cup from 2007 onwards??

Haven't heard a wisper about it here .



.

 

[Smyth94]

Can any one explain to me why Aussie rules became more popular in Australia in the first place?

We have had Europeans migrating to oz for the past 100 years yet AFL has continued to grow and soccer is only in its infancy as far as capturing the national intrest, true the media has a part to play but the fans will always follow the spectacle. There are definatly dicrepencies in comparing one competion from a different code from a different country but i think oz is the perfect example to overule all others.

We have a sporting psyche like no other country in the world, we have facilities that leave european countries for dead(concentrated in our main cities), we can even support an A-League as big as the AFL and that will be at crickets peril (i hope im wrong i like cricket).

But i dont think it will as AFL is constantly a better spectacle to the average non biased joe on the street. Thats where the true answer lies in this, with the people who like sport but arent as mad as we all are. They are the ones who grow a sport much to passionate supporters ire.

I was exposed to Rugby and Soccer as a small kid but once i could think for myself i played ten years of AFL and still attend as many AFL games as i can, why? cos it was better to watch and more fun to play.

But!!!!

The A-League has capture my imagination ive gone to a couple of Adelaide United games and they just dont keep me glued like AFL does for the whole contest. Why do so many soccer people sing at games cos there aint nothin else happening.

Those Europeans came to Australia and fell in love with AFL simple as that. I know plenty.

 

[Roddy]

What were the end of year H&A figures this season? Did we break the all time record?

 

[cap304]

Biggest home and away season with an extra 200,000 fans through the gates.

 

[Roddy]

Biggest home and away season with an extra 200,000 fans through the gates.

Biggest ever? Awesome! Do you know what the final figure actually was?

 

[cap304]

22 Round season-6,475,521.
With a better stadium in the West,and the Scg finished,this should be easily beaten in future years.

 

[chrisjie]

+1 Div1 College Football.

 

[Roddy]

That's almost 37,000 per game. Does that put us 2nd, in the per game world list?

 

[FrediKanoute]

all it does is show u who has the biggest stadiums!

with germany just hosting the world cup it has just had a whole number of new large stadiums built to hold more fans!

Ha ha ha ha ha ha - spot on. In Oz we have stadiums which at a minimum have 40k seats and most have more than that. IN UK the stadiums are smaller - Sure Man U has a 60k seater and does, Arsenal and Newcastle, but the rest only have stadiums that are between 25 and 45k

 

[Killer eagle]

Does anyone know how much the MCG has ever held during an AFL match-back when there was standing room?

 

[Ted Ed Fred]

Ha ha ha ha ha ha - spot on. In Oz we have stadiums which at a minimum have 40k seats and most have more than that. IN UK the stadiums are smaller - Sure Man U has a 60k seater and does, Arsenal and Newcastle, but the rest only have stadiums that are between 25 and 45k

But some of those teams can barely fill those. Some of the small premier league clubs get less than 20k attendance on average

 

[Roddy]

Does anyone know how much the MCG has ever held during an AFL match-back when there was standing room?

The 1970 GF held 121,000.

 

[Killer eagle]

The 1970 GF held 121,000.

That is a LOT of people.

 

[arakaan]

But some of those teams can barely fill those. Some of the small premier league clubs get less than 20k attendance on average

wonder what the crowds would be like in H&A games in the AFL if the cheapest possible tickets were AU$50-$60 each and standard sideline tickets AU$80+(and forget this price for any decent team).

 

[thequarry]

The AFL Grand Final is the largest domestic title event in the world in terms of crowd size.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_attendance#Domestic_club_championship_events
Apologies if someone's posted that.

 

[Roddy]

The AFL Grand Final is the largest domestic title event in the world in terms of crowd size.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_attendance#Domestic_club_championship_events
Apologies if someone's posted that.

Wow, the world records keep coming for our 'little' code, in our 'massive' country of 21 million!

 

[WC6320]

Just goes to show how great this sport is and how much we love it

 

[shoe]

Best bloody sport in the world.

 

[MVFC_NMFC]

Where do I begin? Ill start at the NFL. Well, what a league. Its so well run, that its a marvel reading what Tagliube has done for the league in just his tenure. With an average attendance of 68,000, its by far the best attended league in sports. Last year for example, the first 11 rounds of the NFL were sold out. Thats 16 games x 11 rounds of pure sellouts, whether it was the 90k Redskins stadium, or the 60k RCA dome Indi plays in. And after that, it didnt get much lower.

The problem here is that you have to take into account the fact that these teams are home to different cities. Its unfair to compare Richmonds crowds, in a market of 4 million people where there are 9 teams vying for fans, as opposed to a team having 2.5million fans to themselves. The only city in which there are two teams is New York city, and its not lacking in population - a cool 8 million people. So with that in mind, you have to understand that its not hard to find fans to fill these stadiums up. Granted, the tickets are fairly expensive. There are 16 rounds in the entire season. So each team will get to see their side play 8 times at home. Away travel is very rare in the NFL, sure it happens, but you wont be bringing them in droves - who the hell wants to go from New York to Oakland anyway? For a seat in the third tier of Giants stadium, you'd be looking at around $50-60 US dollars. The point is though, that despite the steep tickets (some sections cost an arm and a leg), if you are going to see 8 games for the entire season (playoffs not included), its not that bad really. Seriously. Not to mention, unlike the AFL, its not very hard to get the TV contracts right. Baltimore is going to want to watch the Ravens play...simple as that. So you know that when 1pm Sunday comes...you are going to get to see Baltimore play if you live in Baltimore. No one is left angry, unless ofcourse you barrack for another team in a sea of Baltimore fans, in which case, tough luck. And what do the NFL do to entice people going to the stadiums...rather than watching it on TV? They say that if the stadium is not filled out to a certain capacity...that the game wont go live on TV, but it will be delayed. This tactic has worked brilliantly, however, its hard to see it not selling out with or without this blackout.

But what the NFL has going for it is that NO game is useless. Seriously, the demand is so much higher than the supply. The season is 4 months long, meaning the offseason is 8 months long! Imagine that...damn. But when it does come around, every game is so meaningful in the make up of the league, that there is a real integrity about it all. I dare say that sometimes the AFL season (FOR SOME CLUBS) seems a bit drawn out. Like for example, Blues supporters this year.

Season tickets also have long waiting lists at some clubs. NY Jets for example have one sitting at close to 10,000 I believe. So theres no shortage of demand.

Another thing I wanted to talk about is how some AFL clubs can get ahead of the pack through other ventures/assets - look at Collingwoods plan of become a 100 million dollar revenue, per year club. Interstate clubs have also had the spotlight on them, as we argued whether the rotational system of dominance really worked. No problems in the NFL. Its completely shared. Everything is shared. Revenue sharing has enabled the teams to stay equal off field, as drafts do their job onfield. You have a REALLY equal system here. With the AFL as I mentioned, while the drafting system attempts to level the playing field, some clubs have taken advantage of their financial off field status to be ahead of the pack. I think this also resonates with fans, who may lose touch with their club. Its clear that attendance is up when you're winning.

AFL on the other has 5 real key markets it can garner fans from. This is considerably less than the United States. It doesnt help, in my personal opinion, that the sport originated in one state, and it hasnt spread to the other biggest market in Sydney quite yet. Theres no problem with this in the US. Its more or less become the national pastime in just the last few decades, surpassing baseball. Lets imagine we had 16 markets for a second, Melbourne would have a 100k stadium that would be filled out every home game - simple as that. And if it was the national past time like the NFL has become, it would be much similar across all other teams.

Its 5:20 in the morning, and Im watching England vs Russia, Michael Owen just scored. I have so much more I want to say on this subject, but I just cant do it right now.

 

[finders]

That is a LOT of people.

Thats the "official figure" but another few thousand got in when the fence behind the members was broken down so it could well have been 130,000.