Will Soccer ever take over AFL?

[thetouch11]

soccer is a bigger world market of course thats why the government is putting so much money into the sport and its more flexible at the moment than footy because its only just starting out so the FFA can take more risks then the AFL and they can experiment in areas where the AFL would not be able to.
And Australias success in the soccer is also helpings soccers cause

but i think it will be hard to take over AFL soccer is more of a local thing in victoria with the victorian premier league

 

[kaypee]

turn the mics up? Well if the crowd is making noise, isn't that normal?



David Carney, Jade North, Nick Carle, Archie Thompson, Joel Griffiths?



Not sure what you are trying to say in that last sentence, but Australia's highest paid footballer would be John Aloisi on $1.4m a year at Sydney FC.

1. no, it's boosterism, dishonest.
2. Apology I: these men are lions of world football. it was wrong of me to suggest the are anything less than superdooperstars who are battling for the universe's most sought after title
3. Apology II: Aloisi is the greatest draw-card in world sport, worth every penny of his $1.4 mil. if only others would agree.

 

[Pie eyed]

Actually Lowy has put very little of his own money into the sport.

He owned a part of Sydney FC, but has recently sold his share to Russion millionaire David Traktovenko.

FFA and the A-League are entirely self reliant.

Westfield does sponsor women's football (the W-League and the Matildas) but there is also a significant amount of federal government funding in those as well.

With people like Traktovenko and Queenslands richest man Clive Palmer (Gold Coast United FC) getting involved, I don't think people need to think that the sport is reliant solely on Lowy.

Now that is funny.......both struggle to keep the teams they have ...every single year.......since man crawled from the primordial slime.

 

[CooperCronk]

Rugby League is on its knees.
Soon it will be on its ass.
Then it will be either on its back, or back on its knees (and hands) taking it from Rugby Union in a merged rugby game.
Don't worry about RL, they are GAWN.

Load of Rubbish

 

[Guus_Hiddink]

But it won't happen, our code is far superior as far as a spectator sport.
It has been said many times , soccer wouldn't exist if our game had been invented at the same place and time as.....ugh....soccer.

Rubbish

The Irish could say the same about gaelic football/hurling, the Americans about gridiron, the Spanish about bull riding etc. - Its embarrassing when Australians try to tell the rest of the world they are superior without even taking into consideration what others have.

 

[Copernicus]

Rubbish

The Irish could say the same about gaelic football/hurling, the Americans about gridiron, the Spanish about bull riding etc. - Its embarrassing when Australians try to tell the rest of the world they are superior without even taking into consideration what others have.

Frankly, we don't care what they say. In our eyes, Aussie rules is the superior sport. Obviously it's completely unobjective but I would think it's a natural reaction from those who have been reared on the game.

I live in the US, and I have come to love American football, but it doesn't hold a candle to the esteem in which I hold our native game.

I love the off-season - this argument gets rehashed every time! I don't see it happening, personally - Australia is too small a market for soccer players when they could head overseas and make more money, and that will continue to be a drain on talent. I just don't see the A-League competing with that - ever. And that will always be the thing that will keep the A-League in more of a 'niche' position than a dominant one.

It will be interesting to see how demographics influences things down the years. I have to say, though, that over time Aussie rules has generally done well to convert immigrants into supporters. Just see how many Italians and Greeks there are that follow Carlton, especially, and other teams. The game is so engrained in the southern cities that immigrants can't help but take note of the game. Of what few games I've seen the Bulldogs play I always notice some very dark supporters - Sudanese and Somalian, I guess. These people don't exist in a vacuum. They will take note of Aussie rules after living in Melbourne for any period of time.

 

[medusala]

what i mean is the AFL needs to actively seek asians, arabs, africans(the larger ethnic minorities) and probably to a lesser extent europeans to participate in junior ranks for the long term viability of the game....

AFL survived a huge influx of immigrants from Europe with a strong soccer background I cant see how it will be threatened by immigration from countries with far less allegiance if any to soccer.

 

[tigertiger]

Soccer in Australia could never be more then a feeder competition to more lucrative competitions in Europe. One of the great things about AFL is that we get to see the best playing in the highest quality Aussie Rules league in the world.

AFL gets more money and bigger crowds then the next 4 biggest competitions combined League, Union, Soccer and Basketball id say that soccer has a long way to go in this country. There average crowds this season are about 10k.

Internal soccer competitions world wide seem to be dominated by one or two sides those sides then play off in bigger competitions FA cup, champions league etc this is were the big money is. Would Australians be happy with at best 2 big soccer teams while the others are purely there to make up the numbers only to see the best players pinched by the massive clubs in Europe? I dont think so.

It definetly has its place in Australia and can co exist but it will never be anything more then a feeder competition to the more lucrative markets overseas.

 

[VikingSven]

Though very much in its infancy, Australian Football can now be found in over 30 countries in Europe with over 10000 participants in 2008 (up from 200 in 2002) and approximately 2 out or 3 are local nationals who have embraced this sport, made it their own and are now driving it forward.

Aussie Rules Europe

And in the 2008 EU Cup in Prague, the English Dragonslayers defeated the Croatian Knights in the final. Germany came third. None of these teams had one single Australian player in their squads.

2008 EU Cup in Prague, Czech Republic

Watch this space over the next decade or two.

 

[The Fireman]

Rubbish

The Irish could say the same about gaelic football/hurling, the Americans about gridiron, the Spanish about bull riding etc. - Its embarrassing when Australians try to tell the rest of the world they are superior without even taking into consideration what others have.

Those people can say what they like about their sports but we all know that AFL football is a better spectacle as it combines nearly all of the attributes of the above and some.
Am I biased? I have witnessed all those sports over a very long period of time (a lot of the people you mentioned haven't) and count myself lucky to have access to Aus rules Football.
if you think Soccer or those sports are better spectator sports than AFL then we need not bother to precede with the debate.
So Soccer fan...ugh...Rubbish right back at ya.

 

[mustapha]

It started off slowly but this thread has been great.

I love the argument that soccer is boring when it is the most watched sport in the world. "They only like sokkah because they haven't seen the man's sport of Aussie Rules yet".

Keep up the good work guys.

 

[clobba]

Unless the AFL pretty much implodes (not something I view as impossible) I personally cant see soccer overtaking football in this country....why would it? its freaking boring as batshit

 

[The Fireman]

It started off slowly but this thread has been great.

I love the argument that soccer is boring when it is the most watched sport in the world. "They only like sokkah because they haven't seen the man's sport of Aussie Rules yet".

Keep up the good work guys.

It has been said many times , soccer wouldn't exist if our game had been invented at the same place and time as.....ugh....sokkah.
will keep up the good work...Sokkah fan..
The most watched sport?....the poor buggers don't know what they are missing, hopefully for them they catch onto the greatest spectacle sport "Oz Rules Football."

PS do you think sokkah is a better spectacle?

 

[Bomberlicious]

It started off slowly but this thread has been great.

I love the argument that soccer is boring when it is the most watched sport in the world. "They only like sokkah because they haven't seen the man's sport of Aussie Rules yet".

Keep up the good work guys.

The OP was "will soccer ever take over AFL?" - I'm pretty sure it's just referring to Australia.

And a nil all game is boring, no two ways about it. 90+ minutes and not one team scores? I really like watching soccer, but 0-0 scorelines bore me shitless.

On a side note, I agree with the fact soccer can be called "football", same as my east coast mates call league, "footy". Unfortunately, when the national team and face of the sport in this country is called the Socceroos, I don't think it's going to change somehow...

 

[iGNITER]

Never.

 

[mustapha]

It has been said many times , soccer wouldn't exist if our game had been invented at the same place and time as.....ugh....sokkah.
will keep up the good work...Sokkah fan..
The most watched sport?....the poor buggers don't know what they are missing, hopefully for them they catch onto the greatest spectacle sport "Oz Rules Football."

PS do you think sokkah is a better spectacle?

The first comment is a ripper. If Australia was in Europe, Aussie Rules wouldn't exist. Australia is not in Europe. If Germany won WW2 we would all be speaking German. It didn't happen. Hypothetical scenarios based on events that happened 50-100 years ago can't really be justified.

The poor buggers do know what they are missing. Exhibition games have been played overseas now for over twenty years. The internet and pay TV allows people to watrch sport from around the globe. This may be a suprise but to foreigners, Aussie Rules often looks like an chaotic mess. Try explaining the rules of the sport to someone who doesn't know them. Not possible.

On your last question, some soccer games are a better spectacle, some are worse. You get poor games in both sports. It all depends on how you judge a good spectacle.

 

[mustapha]

The OP was "will soccer ever take over AFL?" - I'm pretty sure it's just referring to Australia.

And a nil all game is boring, no two ways about it. 90+ minutes and not one team scores? I really like watching soccer, but 0-0 scorelines bore me shitless.

On a side note, I agree with the fact soccer can be called "football", same as my east coast mates call league, "footy". Unfortunately, when the national team and face of the sport in this country is called the Socceroos, I don't think it's going to change somehow...

The first post may have been related to Australia but I was commenting on posts that state that soccer is boring etc.

On the soccer/football thing, I think that it depends on who you are talking with. On Bigfooty I use "soccer" so people understand what I am talking about but on soccer websites I use "football"

Disagree on the 0-0 game being boring. It really depends on the context of the match. That 0-0 result might be the result that gets you in to a world cup. IMO an AFL game with a scoreline of 189-56 is more boring than a 0-0 draw in soccer.

 

[Hoops]

It started off slowly but this thread has been great.

I love the argument that soccer is boring when it is the most watched sport in the world. "They only like sokkah because they haven't seen the man's sport of Aussie Rules yet".

Keep up the good work guys.

I love the argument that soccer is great because it's the most popular game in the world.

 

[mustapha]

I love the argument that soccer is great because it's the most popular game in the world.

The argument that soccer is great because it's the most popular game in the world is more logical than the argument that it is boring given that it is the most popular game in the world.

The popularity argument is also used by people putting soccer in Australia down. i.e. Soccer is crap, just look at the A League crowds.

 

[tugga]

The OP was "will soccer ever take over AFL?" - I'm pretty sure it's just referring to Australia.

And a nil all game is boring, no two ways about it. 90+ minutes and not one team scores? I really like watching soccer, but 0-0 scorelines bore me shitless.

On a side note, I agree with the fact soccer can be called "football", same as my east coast mates call league, "footy". Unfortunately, when the national team and face of the sport in this country is called the Socceroos, I don't think it's going to change somehow...

It depends what sort of nil-all draw it is though.
I have an Irish mate who has relocated to Brisbane with his Aussie wife. He finds Aussie Rules boring, because there are too many goals. He says it 'dilutes the excitement level because you know a goal is coming in a few minutes time' and he thinks it's too predictable. I find it ironic that he compares it to baskteball in that the ball is basically allowed to travel to the other end of the field and that's where the real defending starts. It's an observation that has been observed countless times on this website. He finds it complicated because there are far too many rules. He tried to like it, but gave up because it was all too hard.
I guess it's what you've grown up with and what you're used to. I'm an avid follower of three codes of football (rugby league included) and I see no reason whatsover why I can't continue to follow all three.

 

[Bomberlicious]

The first post may have been related to Australia but I was commenting on posts that state that soccer is boring etc.

On the soccer/football thing, I think that it depends on who you are talking with. On Bigfooty I use "soccer" so people understand what I am talking about but on soccer websites I use "football"

Disagree on the 0-0 game being boring. It really depends on the context of the match. That 0-0 result might be the result that gets you in to a world cup. IMO an AFL game with a scoreline of 189-56 is more boring than a 0-0 draw in soccer.

Not if it's the Dons who score the 189 points!!!

The point I tried to make is that if you're trying to attract fans, technical skill & the ability to hold out for a draw to get an overall result doesn't match up against a high scoring match, even if it is a flogging.

The first A-League game I went to was Adelaide's 4-1 thumping of the Victory in 2007, and it left me wanting more. I'll concede your point about the context in which a 0-0 draw occurs in though, but then again that 0-0 draw you mentioned will only happen once every 4 years. Repeated 0-0 draws in the A-League probably won't aid expansion.

 

[daics cousin]

I love my footy and really its our game.AFL should always prevail here in Australia.
However it is important to note that Soccer is a world game and most countries in the world play it including ours.
What is even more interesting is that at grass roots level more kids play soccer than footy,this is not a good sign,because the future of our AFL game rests solely on the kids playing it and its future relies on more young kids following it and playing our great game.
However the norm is that most mothers see AFL and Rugby as very physical sports and tend to encourage kids to play soccer more than football.This is why the AFL must encourage more footy clinics with kids,because over the past few years the AFL have taken their eye off our future when it comes to grassroots AFL ,they must encourage our kids to play more AFL footy,becuase if they don't Soccer could take over in say 20 years.

 

[vinnie]

Unless the AFL pretty much implodes (not something I view as impossible) I personally cant see soccer overtaking football in this country....why would it? its freaking boring as batshit

If you're so sure about this please tell this forum what criteria you want to measure 'overtaking' and being 'number 1' sport.

If its participants - soccer is number 1.

If its regional/geographical spread of premier teams across Australia - soccer is number 1.

If its participation across different ethnic groups and boys, girls, womens leagues, soccer is number 1.

If its number of elite competitions, like world cup, Asians Champions, Under 17, 20 world cups, FIFA World cups - soccer is number 1

If its largest single sponsor - Soccer is number 1 with Qantas

Player salaries - soccer is number 1. Look at the figures released yesterday about sports salaries. AFL salaries didn't even rate in top 20 Aussie sports stars. how pathetic for a 'number 1' sport.

In fact, the only places AFL is number 1 over soccer is (Current) TV rights, at $780 mn versus $120 mln. You may also want to crow about crowd numbers, but this is a rubbery, dodgy comparison to make b/c if you want to measure soccer crowds, you need to include socceroos games (here and overseas), Champions League Games, those ridiculous Beckman-spin games etc. But you can claim crowd numbers if you like.

I'd argue that A-league alone has more global viewers than AFL, and its only 4 years old - this will surely affect TV rights next round.

The sad truth is the only way for AFL to stay number 1 in TV rights is to grow the sport - and growing it in places like gold coast and west sydney ain't really enough. It needs to grow bigger but it can't grow beyong these shores. That's AFL's big future problem but if you're convinced AFL has nothing to worry about then go ahead..

 

[Hoops]

The argument that soccer is great because it's the most popular game in the world is more logical than the argument that it is boring given that it is the most popular game in the world.

The popularity argument is also used by people putting soccer in Australia down. i.e. Soccer is crap, just look at the A League crowds.

What about this argument. Soccer is inferior because it only ranks 3rd or 4th in terms of following for football codes in a country that has large exposure to 4 codes of football. Is more logical than the argument that soccer is great because it's the most popular game in the world where it's the only sport that the mainstream have been exposed to.

 

[kelep]

to some delusional people, AFL is barely followed outside of victoria, i can't see how it can be followed by those in other countries.