- Banned
- #76
Actually the opposite is the truth. Very few laws .
Some consistancy lacking in interpretation but very few laws .
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AFLW 2024 - Round 8 - Chat, game threads, injury lists, team lineups and more.
Expansion India next in AFL expansion plans
- Thread starter Demonoid
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Actually the opposite is the truth. Very few laws .
Some consistancy lacking in interpretation but very few laws .
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Cassio del Monte
Debutant
Actually, AFL has tons of rules comparatively.
For starters the economy of the AFL is much bigger and more influential than hurling. Does hurling have a $780M TV rights deal?
Your simply not getting the opportunity. You have to try and see how it goes. There is no guarantee of success.
The world is changing, cultural lines are blurring, look at Australia with the amount of sport on offer (4 codes) with the advent of pay TV and the internet (both in the last ten years). It is possible to have an influence if handled in the right way.
I sense the AFL is getting the formula right. In the past the main the marketing apporach would have been " we have the best game in the world" surely they'll flock to it. That was wrong due to entrenched football cultures and lack of grass roots development.
Indians have their own culture sure, but kids adapt quickly especially to something new and exciting. Get the kids, get the market of the future,1% is not unobtainable and worth the effort.
The reverse is happening in traditional AFL states as they become more exposed to rugby and soccer. In NSW and QLD they are being exposed to AFL. Traditional lines are blurring. The existing codes will still be dominant but niches are being created on both sides.
The good news for us AFL fans is the AFL is ahead of the pack in OZ. It knows if we dont expand and just defend eventually the pie gets smaller.
International development is being nurtured slowly, tested for opportunity. It does not hurt to try and anyone who says dont even try does not have the best interests of the game at heart.
Redb
So how come NFL Europe failed? After all it was American culture, ritzy, desirable, hip?
Premier league's pay TV channel in China has 300,000 subsribers. That's not many in a country of 1.3 billion people. The most popular sport in China is table tennis.
Aussie Rules doesn't have to be the dominant "global brand" to have a successful expansion. Have you heard of a marketing concept called the long tail?
Its where obscure products with a limited saleability in any one market have become valuable product lines because of the internet. The reason for this is that because on a global scale enough people want them to make them viable. Hundreds of pay TV channels requiring content give the AFL the same opportunity, high speed broadband likewise.
Ahhh, they may want to try and crack open one or both of those markets.
I hear India has quite a few people there
except they don't operate there
Cassio del Monte
Debutant
There's a difference between a single game and a whole league.
Dude, China's POOR.
So is India but that didn't stop Sony paying $2b for IPL rights. It didn't prevent the Indian multitudes from watching either.
Poor is relative. Chinese pay TV providers are not going to try and charge subscriptions at Australian rates, they'll charge at Chinese market rates so that ordinary Chinese people can afford to subscribe.
Cassio del Monte
Debutant
The ordinary Chinese person lives in a one bedroom flat with this wife, mother-in-law and five kids and his life sucks. Think about how many Australians have cable; even in this relatively rich country, not many people have it.
So a similar life to the average IPL viewer then? How do they afford it?
Btw China has a 1 child policy and has had for years.
- Sep 19, 2007
- 19,264
- 17,824
- AFL Club
- St Kilda
- Other Teams
- Anaheim Ducks, PSV Eindhoven
One kid, they have laws against having more.
Makes you wonder where all those cute Chinese girls came from for the Olympics opening ceremony. Must be ALL of them available!
Checked on that Kabbadi link. Its played on half a basketball court, and involves some kind of raid and tag rule, bit more like British Bulldog than AR. I can't think what the similarity is to AFL. Is there any kicking of a ball? Any jumping to catch a ball? Ok its probably indoors to escape some of the heat, but this "too hot and hard" argument doesn't wash up north where the NTFL play from October to March- high humidity and torrential rain not withstanding, many in barefeet. Sounds very much like the conditions in India (its south anyway).
My point is that the locals will play AR in whatever conditions, because thats what they're used to, even in India. And AR has much more to offer than Kabbadi. Will more Indians get richer and be able to afford PayTV? You can bet your papadum!
Checked on that Kabbadi link. Its played on half a basketball court, and involves some kind of raid and tag rule, bit more like British Bulldog than AR. I can't think what the similarity is to AFL. Is there any kicking of a ball? Any jumping to catch a ball? Ok its probably indoors to escape some of the heat, but this "too hot and hard" argument doesn't wash up north where the NTFL play from October to March- high humidity and torrential rain not withstanding, many in barefeet. Sounds very much like the conditions in India (its south anyway).
My point is that the locals will play AR in whatever conditions, because thats what they're used to, even in India. And AR has much more to offer than Kabbadi. Will more Indians get richer and be able to afford PayTV? You can bet your papadum!
eldorado
Thought Ninja
- Moderator
- #87
As the other guy said, an NFL or NBA game as a one off would attract those who were already fans. Those who want to be part of the 'glamour'...if Kobe is playing every week, they'll go...if some local nobody isplaying, they don't give a fat rats.
Your argument that NFL Europe failed should be supporting my argument, not yours! If all the marketing nous, and prior knowledge through television, an established (small, but niche) audience couldn't get NFL Europe up, what hope AFL?
Beckham came to Sydney with LA Galaxy. 80,000 packed it out for a meaningless friendly. When their own Sydney FC play competitively, they get 15,000...on a good day
Bottom line, the theatre goers will go to see 'names', but only the real followers and supporters will make a genuine emotional attachment to a team, and follow it passionately week-in, week-out. And I don't think there is any sports fan in any country who doesn't already have their emotional attachments long spoken for.
I know we think our game is inherently superior to all others, but not from their point of view it isn't; it's just another quirk of global sport, played in some nice little frontier country, of interest only when some big bald bloke knocks another one unconscious with one punch for a thirty second ESPN vid-bite
The AFL isn't seeking to set up professional leagues anywhere else. Its playing one-off games with costs covered by sponsors in order to raise the profile of the sport.
Its also seeking to nurture amateurs in other countries by offering limited support and through things such as the International Cup.
I realise what your saying but frankly its a defeatist attitude. The AFL can do plenty to grow the sport provided it has a well thought strategy and is patient.
The ultimate aim is sell bits of AFL highlights and a game each week onto Indian sports PayTV. If any actual players come out of India then that's a bonus. if it becomes possible (with local interest and push) to create a League over there, then thats a bonus.
We have to compare it with Gridiron here- lots of clubs and four games on Fox per week from three different American broadcasters. Thats what AFL will be building towards in India. Just gaining a foothold without messing up the mix. Gridiron hasn't threatened our 4 footie codes, as it is a niche only.
We have to compare it with Gridiron here- lots of clubs and four games on Fox per week from three different American broadcasters. Thats what AFL will be building towards in India. Just gaining a foothold without messing up the mix. Gridiron hasn't threatened our 4 footie codes, as it is a niche only.
Cassio del Monte
Debutant
eldorado
Thought Ninja
- Moderator
- #91
You're more than reasonable, but you mistake my position.
It's not defeatist, because I don't see it as a battle that needs to be won.
It's a Quixotic battle. The aims, and KPIs of whether it has achieved its aims, have not been spelt out. I still don't know exactly what they are hoping to achieve with this push. Sponsorship? New markets? New leagues? A source of players?
It seems ill-conceived and slap-dash.
I'm a bit with you there. It seems as though this India push has just come out of nowhere, and there are no reasons spelled out as to why. If they are just going to play a couple of pre-season exhibition matches, what's the point of that? You'll attract the expats and maybe a few curious locals. It's hardly going to gain a toehold in the general sporting landscape.
Reminds of the international games they used to play a while back. An expo game in Canada drew something like 30,000 people, but there's still bugger all Aussie rules presence there except for the Ontario Football League (which I think is actually quite large and of a reasonable standard).
Just seems like pie in the sky to think this will lead anywhere.
I just gave you a number i.e. $2billion paid by Sony for the TV rights. Are you telling me Sony are fools? How about you do some googling. I also provided you with the number of subscribers to the Pay TV channel with EPL rights in China.
On the other hand, you claimed that the average Chinese family has 5 kids and that lots of people ignore the one child policy. I'm sure some do ignore it but there are financial penalties for doing so and I'd venture that they are greater than a pay TV subscription.
My sister has lived in India for 18 years, I've visited there twice.
They have a substantial and exponentially increasing middle class, a significant percentage of which would have cable television, exposure to a lot of European and American sports. This is the market we are selling to, not the vast majority of Indians who would be below an Australian standard of poverty. The middle-class Indians are very diverse and open-minded people, there is undoubtedly the potential to establish solid niche market, largely television based, at least to start with.
Indians are sports mad. Cricket is played on every street, every day of the year. As for Indians picking up Aussie Rules and playing it themselves, it is possible. For ordinary Indians, cricket works for everyone because you can adapt the rules to any space you are in. Football less so, but everyone know hwo to play markers-up. But that's not the issue, we don't need every kid kicking a football, we just need a good portion of the population watching it on TV. However, if we are looking very long-term to developing a talent pool from India, these would have be derived from the elite private school system which would have access to plenty of cricket fields - which most Indian athletes come from. During the winter (which as mentioned earlier, would be the only time to play the sport for most parts of the country, but also remember that India has quite a diverse climate - tropical, desert, mountainous etc) there would be plenty of cricket fields available. So its possible, but lets not expect the Demons to relocate to Delhi or anything like that.
Really, I just see this an opportunity to try to open up a bit of a niche cable TV market with a very long term view.
They have a substantial and exponentially increasing middle class, a significant percentage of which would have cable television, exposure to a lot of European and American sports. This is the market we are selling to, not the vast majority of Indians who would be below an Australian standard of poverty. The middle-class Indians are very diverse and open-minded people, there is undoubtedly the potential to establish solid niche market, largely television based, at least to start with.
Indians are sports mad. Cricket is played on every street, every day of the year. As for Indians picking up Aussie Rules and playing it themselves, it is possible. For ordinary Indians, cricket works for everyone because you can adapt the rules to any space you are in. Football less so, but everyone know hwo to play markers-up. But that's not the issue, we don't need every kid kicking a football, we just need a good portion of the population watching it on TV. However, if we are looking very long-term to developing a talent pool from India, these would have be derived from the elite private school system which would have access to plenty of cricket fields - which most Indian athletes come from. During the winter (which as mentioned earlier, would be the only time to play the sport for most parts of the country, but also remember that India has quite a diverse climate - tropical, desert, mountainous etc) there would be plenty of cricket fields available. So its possible, but lets not expect the Demons to relocate to Delhi or anything like that.
Really, I just see this an opportunity to try to open up a bit of a niche cable TV market with a very long term view.
Cassio del Monte
Debutant
Actually, I'd like to know how many people have pay TV subscriptions in India. But thanks for providing two numbers that have absolutely no relevance whatsoever.
http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/166697/promising-outlook-for-indian-pay-television-market
The Indian pay-television industry is projected to generate revenues of $11.2 billion by 2012, according to a report by Media Partners Asia.
By 2017, this is expected to grow to $18.5 billion, with revenues from subscriptions and advertising accounting $12.3 billion and $6.2 billion respectively. Subscriber base is also expected to expand by 137 million by 2012, and 163.8 million by 2017, with an annual growth of 10.9 per cent for the first five years and 7.2 per cent for the remaining five.
In 2007, total pay-television revenues in India amounted to $5.25 billion, of which subscription revenue was $3.77 billion and advertising accounted for $1.48 billion, with a subscriber base of 81.67 million.
Cassio del Monte
Debutant
Alright, and now I've forgotten what the point of that was.
- Banned
- #99
Maybe this .
