Women's football licences to be announced today- who gets in???

[Ice-Wolf]

Maybe. The St. Kilda melts in here are entertaining though.

We all know Essendon would have gotten a team if the AFL hadn't been forced to punish them for doping.

 

[jenny61_99]

The AFL will be paying for most of this, considering the assistance they already give out for Brisbane and GWS.

Realistically though, how much is it going to cost?

 

[Engimal v2]

There will be plenty of new women viewers so I don't imagine that will be a problem, unless there are a high percentage of AFL fans stubborn enough not to watch because of such a petty reason.

Absolutely there are.

 

[Quivorir]

Don't argue with misogynistic idiots.

Are you calling me a misogynistic idiot? If so I was purely asking why Brisbane got a team, nothing to do with the women. I can't wait for the womens league.

 

[eth-dog]

We all know Essendon would have gotten a team if the AFL hadn't been forced to punish them for doping.

Heh. You're just proving my point...

 

[joop]

I'm glad we didn't get a license.
It's going to be very embarrassing when the Bulldogs women's team has more flags in a couple years than the male side.

We don't need that.

 

[Bostonian]

I do question the rationale of more women playing football will equate to more spectators and members for the mens comp.

Soccer has huge numbers of girls and women playing that doesn't translate into large amounts females at the actual A-League matches.

 

[sportsmaniac89]

I'm happy with this announcement.

If this means I have a chance of seeing a Fremantle team in Melbourne in February/March, I am all for it.

Gives me something to look forward to, that's for sure.

 

[Noobz0r]

They were always going to be aligned with AFL teams to help with branding.

 

[ManOfClay]

St kilda in the knows were preaching they didn't need a standalone side because their focus was the cash their women's team will bring through sponsors. I guess the cash will still be there provisionally in a few years.

 

[mrpez]

I should have also mentioned that I don't think that the clubs should have been aligned with current AFL teams. There's no better way to get people not to watch women's football than to align the clubs with teams that they hate.

I can only think the rationale here is to eventually have all clubs fielding teams. If new non-team aligned clubs were made, you would think any future franchise clubs starting from scratch would struggle to attract any support.

I agree its a bit much to ask supporters to barrack for another AFL aligned club. I hate all other 17 clubs with varying degrees of passion, particularly other Melbourne based clubs.

 

[quotemokc]

I do question the rationale of more women playing football will equate to more spectators and members for the mens comp.

Soccer has huge numbers of girls and women playing that doesn't translate into large amounts females at the actual A-League matches.

Its like saying a broadcasted mens netball league would get more men watching

 

[Substance]

St kilda in the knows were preaching they didn't need a standalone side because their focus was the cash their women's team will bring through sponsors. I guess the cash will still be there provisionally in a few years.

You love kicking teams when they are down don't you

 

[Engimal v2]

I can only think the rationale here is to eventually have all clubs fielding teams. If new non-team aligned clubs were made, you would think any future franchise clubs starting from scratch would struggle to attract any support.

I agree its a bit much to ask supporters to barrack for another AFL aligned club. I hate all other 17 clubs with varying degrees of passion, particularly other Melbourne based clubs.

There's already complaints of the male talent being spread too thin amongst the 18 AFL sides, with 150+ years of development. There's no way there can be a 18 team women's comp in our lifetimes.

 

[stanley]

Having a very short (preseason) competition is a smart move by the AFL. I really worry about the depth of the playing stocks. The standard of the Melb v WB was pretty good. However, that was the elite of elite. There will be some really ugly football for a number of years with 8 teams spreading the talent before the development comes through. Such a short competition allows for growth but only at a small risk.

 

[SterlingArcher]

First AFL club to appoint a female member of the coaching staff before a national women league was even flagged. Do they get a licence? nah, they clearly have no commitment to women in football.

If your clubs attitude was the same as yours, no wonder you didn't get a licence.

You shouldn't expect a 'reward' for breaking up the boys club. If she was your best option, she was your best option.

The Saints bid obviously wasn't good enough.

 

[burningdwarf]

St kilda in the knows were preaching they didn't need a standalone side because their focus was the cash their women's team will bring through sponsors. I guess the cash will still be there provisionally in a few years.

Is there a thread on our board you haven't read?

 

[Mr Fonebone]

I think this whole thing is a waste of resources. Women's AFL league will be of a lower standard than boys under 17s.

I am all for the girls playing sport but if your going to sink heaps of shekels into something at least make sure it produces a product that's worth paying to see.

Yet another foray by the AFL into the loony world of social engineering.

 

[Starburns_]

More of a WTF? entrenches inequality and doesn't grow the game just a club that doesn't need any help.

And why should this have been about 'helping' anyone?

I don't think I agree with your economic outlook on that.

A women's team will be a black hole for money. No way we get even close to the financial return back for what we'll have to invest.

I can't say how many will buy a membership, I can say though that aligning a single club to ours won't see any members coming from other clubs fans who don't support Carlton. As if a St Kilda, Richmond or Essendon fan would buy any kind of membership that's associated with Carlton.

By aligning to a single AFL club you're limiting the appeal of a club right away.

^^This. Obviously the AFL wanted to pass much of the financial burden for this onto the clubs, but in doing so they've backed themselves into a corner long-term.

There's no way that an 18 team model with 10 in Victoria will ever be sustainable in the women's league, as it's barely sustainable in the men's. Clubs will miss out and it will prove a problem for the AFL both down the road,

It will even be a problem in the initial years as they try and gain the attention of 10 supporter bases that have no reason to currently care about the competition.

Franchise model was the right option, certainly in Melbourne. It's not like that model has been a failure in the BBL, A-League, or netball in recent years.

We all know Essendon would have gotten a team if the AFL hadn't been forced to punish them for doping.

And St Kilda might've been a chance if they didn't have a horrendous track record with women.

 

[Byron_Clanger]

Why are people complaining that their team didn't get a woman's license? I for one didn't even know there was a Woman's A-League until about a year ago

 

[burningdwarf]

And why should this have been about 'helping' anyone?



^^This. Obviously the AFL wanted to pass much of the financial burden for this onto the clubs, but in doing so they've backed themselves into a corner long-term.

There's no way that an 18 team model with 10 in Victoria will ever be sustainable in the women's league, as it's barely sustainable in the men's. Clubs will miss out and it will prove a problem for the AFL both down the road,

It will even be a problem in the initial years as they try and gain the attention of 10 supporter bases that have no reason to currently care about the competition.

Franchise model was the right option, certainly in Melbourne. It's not like that model has been a failure in the BBL, A-League, or netball in recent years.



And St Kilda might've been a chance if they didn't have a horrendous track record with women.

I don't remember a single scandal Saints have ever been involved in.

 

[JeffDunne]

I do question the rationale of more women playing football will equate to more spectators and members for the mens comp.

Soccer has huge numbers of girls and women playing that doesn't translate into large amounts females at the actual A-League matches.

In Queensland the experience has been many girls/women from non-AFL families take up the sport. Far higher % than with boys/men in the local leagues.

Yet to be seen if this translates into more fans in the long term but it is exposing the game to a lot of people that wouldn't give it a second look. Doesn't take long for these people to understand the rules when they're cheering on their kids.

 

[Starburns_]

I do question the rationale of more women playing football will equate to more spectators and members for the mens comp.

Soccer has huge numbers of girls and women playing that doesn't translate into large amounts females at the actual A-League matches.

That's true for soccer in general though.

 

[STP18]

Aligning these women's teams with existing AFL clubs makes it near impossible for supporters of clubs who don't have a team to really get involved at all. You can't expect supporters to get behind Collingwood, Carlton, Fremantle, GWS etc. just because they are the of the women variety. Doesn't feel right. Not that I really cared about it in the first place to be frank.

 

[Hollow Knight]

Tayla Harris ftw! Go Lions!