I know there are many football fans who view the AFL as the benchmark for Australian sport, so I thought it would be worthwhile to have a thread where we can keep tabs on the AFL's various metrics.

What better place to start than last night's game between Sydney and Hawthorn at the SCG:

Attendance:  36,221  (pretty good considering the Swans' poor start to the season)

TV RAtings:
Mr TV ‏ @Television_AU  #AFLSwansHawks ratings •TOTAL: 1.216m •
FTA Nat: 891k - 5 city metro: 616k >(SYD:48k >MEL:325k >BRI:33k >ADE:117k >PER: 93k) - -Regional: 275k •
Fox: 325k

1.216m in national ratings is pretty much a monster figure, very good result considering both teams are currently sitting outside the 8.

Some recent sponsorship news:
Bombers: Fujitsu re-sign for another 5 years worth $2.5m a year:
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-ne...it-announces-new-sponsor-20170524-gwc3ik.html

Richmond:  Punt Road Oval naming rights go to Swinburne:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...i/news-story/ac638133fdabaa053d49da68aa76fc45

2016 Annual Reports:

Consolidated Profit/Loss

• West Coast - $7.773,779
  
• Hawthorn - $4,660,824
• Geelong - $2,255,116
• Western Bulldogs - $1,773,234
• St Kilda - $1,107,311
• Melbourne - $720,218
• Fremantle - $525,643
  
• North Melbourne - $83,039
• Sydney - $53,224
• Port Adelaide - $14,840
  
• Richmond - ($80,257)
• GWS - ($493,197)
  
• Carlton ($769,265)
• Adelaide ($1,346,077)
  
• Brisbane - ($1,783,506)
• Collingwood - ($2,622,623)
• Gold Coast - ($2,941,965)
  
• Essendon - ($9,825,37)

Revenue

• Collingwood - $71,475,457
• Hawthorn - $69,779,234
• West Coast - $61,723,404
  
• Geelong - $54,650,813
• Carlton - $ 54,390,069
• Essendon - $53,499, 545
• Port Adelaide - $52,768,461 - 7,281,065
  
• Fremantle - $50,152,735
• Sydney - $49,073,185
  
• Brisbane - $48,707,494
• Western Bulldogs - $48,417,018
• Adelaide - $48,327,897
  
• Melbourne - $47,552,639
• Richmond - $47,538,233
• St Kilda - $39,928,568
• North Melbourne - $38,548,700
• GWS - $37,602,505
• Gold Coast - $35,657,581

Football Department Spend

• Sydney - $25,023,140
  
• Fremantle - $23,670,746
• GWS - $23,612,985
• West Coast - $23,344,693
  
• Geelong - $23,172,565
• Essendon - $22,981,249
• Collingwood - $22,959,708
• Richmond - $22,794,109
• Western Bulldogs - $22,734,238
• Port Adelaide - $22,601,361
  
• North Melbourne - $22,337,950
• Brisbane - $22,236,384
• Melbourne - $21,927,456
• Carlton - $ 21,598,464
• St Kilda - $20,724,493

Sydney total audience was 127k (48k on 7 mate, 43k fox and 36k at the ground).
Total TV audience across Sydney and Brisbane was 147K.
While this isnt large in isolation, its figures the AFL would be more than happy with.

34,685 at Docklands for Western Bulldogs vs St Kilda

7 News Melbourne‏Verified account @7NewsMelbourne  2m2 minutes agoMoreA crowd of more than 85,000 expected for tonight's Dreamtime game between @Richmond_FC and @EssendonFC. @Stevo7AFL LIVE from the MCG. #7News

Last night's dreamtime game attendance:  85,656.

This is a record for any Saturday night home and away fixture.

42,415 at Adelaide Oval last night to see Adelaide vs Freo in teeming rain.

AFL passes 3 million attendees for the season: 3,013,793 - ave up 1.76% to 35,044 with 3 games to come and 86k to pass R10 2016 aggregate

Round 10 ended with some very strong attendances, and a very healthy round average of 36,841, which includes a 5k game in Alice Springs.  Other games:

Adelaide vs Freo:  42,415 (at AO)
Collingwood vs Brisbane:  32.750 (at MCG)
Carlton vs North:  32,802 (at Etihad)
West Coast vs GWS:  37,057

Average attendance to date is 35,016, up 1.67%  on last season.

TV viewing figures courtesy of our good friend Wookie:
AFL - Round 10, 2017
Thursday and Friday night matches both topped the million audience mark when combining national FTA and STV. Friday's Sydney v Hawthorn clash at the SCG was the highest rating game of the round rating 616,000 metro viewers (Syd 48k, Mel 325k, Bris 33k, Adel 117k and Per 93k), 275,000 regional viewers, and 325,000 Foxtel viewers (Syd 43k, Melb 134k, Bris 23k, Adel 32k, Per 38k).

Top rating game in Sydney and Brisbane was the Friday night game on both Fox and FTA. Saturday nights Dreamtime feature between Essendon and Richmond was the highest rating game in FTA in Melbourne with 372k, but Fridays game was top rating in Melbourne on Fox. In Adelaide the top rating game on FTA was Saturday nights Fremantle clash with the Crows which drew 175,000 to channel 7, and a further 35,000 on Fox. In Perth, the honours went to Sunday afternoons West Coast v GWS match where 140,000 watched on 7, 50,000 watched in Regional WA, while a further 46,000 watched the game on Fox.

The Ballarat sub-market in regional VIC catchment, was the main regional contributor to the Friday night game with 40,000 viewers.
ASTRA rated Foxfooty the number 1 subscription tv channel for the 7th week in a row and 8/10 since the season began.

Total ratings for the round are estimated at 4.892 million.

That total round ratings figure of 4.9 mill compares to the better rounds this season as follows:
R1 - 5.19m
R2 - 5.229m
R4 - 4.893m
R5 - 5.915m

Just heard that the Giants have reached 20,000 members for the first time in their history:

It looks like the Giants have a sense of humour, in their detailed breakdown of members they show above that they have 44 pet memberships.

Hilarious

I thought it was very funny because on this very forum we often get people accusing the AFL clubs of pumping up their membership numbers by the inclusion of pet memberships.

AS it happens, we now get all the A-League clubs selling a range of different memberships, with which I have zero problem.

But... It's not accusing now, you just proved it.

AFL Memberships 2017
All taken from club websites on May 31 unless otherwise indicated

• Hawthorn – 72,552
• Richmond – 69,716
• Adelaide – 68,000 (The Advertiser, March 21st)
• Essendon – 65,665
• West Coast – 64,200
• Port Adelaide – 58,564
• Sydney – 57,775
• Geelong – 54,552
• Brisbane – 21,002
• Carlton – 47,134
• Fremantle – 46,028 (AFL, December 27th)
• Western Bulldogs – 45,500 (Heraldsun, May 28th)
• Melbourne – 40,811
• St Kilda – 40,609
• North Melbourne – 39,334
• Greater Western Sydney – 20,102 (Giants member breakdown here)
• Gold Coast – 10,729
• Collingwood – no figures released.

Last night's attendance for Port vs Hawthorn at AO:  37,910

ON the low side for  a Port game these days, but not bad for a Thurs night.

TV ratings for Thurs night's game  Port v Haw:
Foxtel:

Rank	Description	Channel\Market	(r) National STV
1	LIVE: AFL PORT ADELAIDE V HAWTHORN	FOX FOOTY	210,000
2	LIVE: AFL: THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTY ON FOX	FOX FOOTY	88,000
3	LIVE: AFL: THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTY ON FOX	FOX FOOTY	71,000

plus another 507k on FTA.

30,468 at Kardinia Park last night.

Ratings from last night:
Cats v Crows ratings •TOTAL: 1.266m • FTA Nattional: 961k -5 city metro: 721k >SYD:30k >MEL: 355k >BRI:30k >ADE: 210k >PER:96k -Reg: 240k •Fox:305k

Suns vs Eagles:  11,402 at Metricon

Giants v Bombers - 13,671 at Spotless Stadium

GWS' best home attendance this year at Spotless (they had one larger at Manuka)

TV Ratings for this game (on a Sat afternoon):

Sat STV #AFL #FoxFooty #AFLGiantsDons:  267k
Sat TV #AFL #AFLGiantsDons 7mate Syd 36k

Sun AFL - Dockers v Pies - 34,259 at Domain Stadium

AFL R11, 2017 - Overall crowds down -1.96% (4 less gms), ave 34,529 (+2.17%). R11 down 33% on aggregate (3 gms less), ave 27,302 (-0.2%)

Someone on Twitter suggested that the Queen's Birthday match between Melbourne and Collingwood might break the all-time record.

MCG quickly corrected said poster:
Melb Cricket Ground‏Verified account @MCG  15m15 minutes agoMoreMelb Cricket Ground Retweeted tony jonesAll-time VFL/AFL home and away crowd of 99,256 was Melbourne v Collingwood on Queen's Birthday in 1958. Next week will be big, though.

Foxtel ratings from Sunday:

1	LIVE: AFL FREMANTLE V COLLINGWOOD	FOX FOOTY	278,000
2	LIVE: NRL BULLDOGS V PANTHERS	FOX LEAGUE	207,000
3	LIVE: NRL SEA EAGLES V RAIDERS	FOX LEAGUE	201,000
4	LIVE: AFL: BOUNCE	FOX FOOTY	146,000
5	LIVE: AFL: BEFORE THE BOUNCE	FOX FOOTY	92,000

Last night's ratings, Swans vs Bulldogs:

Thu AFL FTA - Swans v Bulldogs - 464,000 (Syd 36,000, Mel 261,000, Bris 20,000, Adel 91,0000, Per 55,000)

Plus 187k on Foxtel.

Attendance:  20,692.

Official crowd: 46,082 fans here at #AdelaideOval for #AFLCrowsSaints

23,194 at Docklands for Carlton vs GWS.

Official crowd: 34,022 at Etihad Stadium for Essendon vs Port.

Sun STV #AFL #FoxFooty #AFLBluesGiants Metro 188k (Syd 23k Mel 108k Bri 14k Ade 23k Per 20k)
Sun TV #AFL #AFLBluesGiants 7mate Syd 33k

70,926 at the G today for Melbourne vs Collingwood.

Wookie's summary of TV ratings for rd 12 and for the season to date:

The AFL rated 4.17 million for Round 12, with 2.767 million on Free to air (4 games nationally) and 1.410 million on Foxfooty (7 games).   All 7 games for the round were broadcast in at least one free to air market.

The highest rating AFL game on free to air television this round was the Queens Birthday clash between Collingwood and Melbourne which rated 704,000 - 557,000 in Metro markets and 147,000 in the regions. Thursday, Friday and Saturday night coverage all rated over 600,000.

Over on Fox, Foxfooty was rated the number 2 channel by ASTRA, falling behind Foxleague for the first time in 9 weeks and for the third time this season. The highest rating AFL game on Foxfooty was also the Queens Birthday clash with 264,000 viewers nationally, closely followed by the Blues v GWS match at 254,000.

For the season, the AFL ratings have topped 54 million (33 million FTA) with increases in all metro markets except Sydney and Perth. Sydney is perhaps reflecting the inconsistent performance of the Swans where the average is down -13% to 28,000 per match. Melbourne is up 6% to 297,000 per match, being a beneficiary of dropping low rating Saturday afternoon coverage. Brisbane is in something of a renaissance, up 26% to 27,000 per game. Adelaides ratings are up with their teams, increasing 20% to 117,000 per game, while in Perth the trials of Fremantle are proving detrimental to audiences, down -4% to 94,000 per match. Overall the metro audiences are up 14% to 294,000 per game on the same time in 2016.

Regional audiences are harder to quantify due to inconsistent data reporting prior to this year, however we believe that AFL regional ratings are up around 8% based on estimates used for 2016.

Over on Pay TV, the average audience is up 1% to 196,000. Sydney audiences rating an average of 16,000, Melbourne 86,000, Brisbane 13,000, Adelaide 21,000 and Perth 28,000. Metro Audiences rate an average of 164,000, while regionals average 43,000.

End of R12 of AFL 2017, Average crowds up 3.47% to 35,143. Aggregate down -4.19% to 3.514m (8 games less than 2016)

Attendances over the weekend:

West Coast v Geelong:  35,759
North v St Kilda:  26,107
Richmond v Sydney:  58,721
Port v Brisbane:  31,772
Gold Coast v Carlton:  11,936
Bulldogs v Melbourne:  33,887

With 13 rounds complete in AFL 2017, crowds are up 2.49% on average to 34,393. Crowds are down 2.91% on aggregate to 3.714m (6 games short)

#AFLNorthSaints ratings•TOTAL: 924k•Nat: 669k-5 city: 489k>SYD:31k>MEL: 268k>BRI:23k>ADE: 91k>PER: 76k-Reg: 180k•Fox: 255k

#AFLSunsBlues ratings•TOTAL: 767k•Nat: 548k-5 city: 418k>SYD: 25k>MEL: 232k>BRI: 28k>ADE: 71k>PER: 63k-Reg: 130k•Fox: 219k

1. R11 - Geelong v Adelaide (Fri N) - 1.247 million
2. R9 - Geelong v Western Bulldogs (Fri N) - 1.233 million
3. R3 - Sydney v Collingwood (Fri N) - 1.226 million
4. R10 - Sydney v Hawthorn (Fri N) - 1.222 million
5. R6 - G. Western Sydney v Western Bulldogs (Fri N) - 1.203 million
6. R2 - Western Bulldogs v Sydney (Fri N) - 1.176 million
7. R1 - Collingwood v Wester Bulldogs (Fri N) - 1.126 million
8. R13 - West Coast v Geelong (Thu N) 1.087 million
9. R1 - Carlton v Richmond (Thu N) - 1.067 million
10. R10 - Geelong v Port Adelaide (Thu N) - 1.047 million
11. R2 - Richmond v Collingwood (Thu N) - 1.032 million
12. R8 - St Kilda v G.Western Sydney (Fri N) 1.023 million
13. R7 - West Coast v Western Bulldogs (Fri N) - 1.022 million

Mr TV  🇦🇺‏ @MrTVAus  7m7 minutes agoMoreAnalysis Can Nine win their first ratings week? After last night, they now lead by 4.5%Will fall back with Seven's 3 nights of AFL.

Thurs night
Round 14: Hawthorn defeated Adelaide by 14 points
Seven: 731k Fox Footy: 258k
Crowd: 45,312 at Adelaide Oval

Fri night
34,575 at SCG for Syd v Ess

Fri TV #AFL #AFLSwanDons Seven 449k (Mel 360k Ade 89k) 7mate 192k (Syd 63k Bri 32k Per 97k)

Total FTA 5 City Metro:  641k

The addition of regionals and Fox should push the total ratings past 1 million.

Mr TV 🇦🇺 @MrTVAus183,575 total people in NSW alone, watched #AFLSwansDons 
[ Syd FTA: 63k + regional NSW FTA: 40k + Syd STV: 46k +  34,575 SCG].6:20 PM - 24 Jun 2017

 
•  22 Retweets
 
•  33 likes

Attendance stats to Rd 14 courtesy of Wookie:
At the end of AFL Round 14, Average crowds are up 4% to 34,340. Aggregate up 1.41% to 4.017m. (and 3 games behind)

• AFl season average of 34,000 is the highest for Round 14, since the Suns debut year in 2011 (36,000)
• AFL season aggregate passes 4 million in R14 for the first time since Northern Expansion teams debuted (Suns/Giants). Last time was in 2010.
• Average AFL Crowds at Kardinia Park up 23% on same time 2016, MCG up 10%, Carrara up 6%, Subiaco up 4%.
• Average AFL Crowds down 38% at Bellerive, 14% at Spotless, 13% at the Gabba, 3% at Manuka and SCG. Docklands down 0.35%, Adelaide down -1%

What's going on in Brisbane?
I know the AFL has some off season reshuffling in the board to try and assist the club and turn the wheel so to speak.
Isn't the club bleeding $5m+ per season?
I don't know what their average crowd is this season but if it's down 13% it must be a huge concern. I was shocked at how poor their attendances were last year.
Getting 11,500 on Saturday must be a real concern for those at AFLHQ.

Lions attendances in recent years:

	Home			Away			Home & Away
Year	Attendance	GM	Ave.	Attendance	GM	Ave.	Attendance	GM	Ave.
2017	94055	6	15675	168323	7	24046	262378	13	20182
2016	187816	11	17074	314093	11	28553	501909	22	22814
2015	206911	11	18810	260449	11	23677	467360	22	21243
2014	217178	11	19743	253265	11	23024	470443	22	21383
2013	231909	11	21082	272084	11	24734	503993	22	22908
2012	223781	11	20343	290599	11	26418	514380	22	23380

Current home attendance the lowest average in history of the Lions.

Foxtel ratings from Sunday night:

Rank	Description	Channel\Market	(r) National STV
1	LIVE: AFL GEELONG V FREMANTLE	FOX FOOTY	187,000
2	LIVE: NRL SHARKS V SEA EAGLES	FOX LEAGUE	185,000
3	LIVE: AFL RICHMOND V CARLTON	FOX SPORTS 503	176,000
4	LIVE: NRL DRAGONS V KNIGHTS	FOX LEAGUE	156,000
5	LIVE: AFL ST KILDA V GOLD COAST	FOX FOOTY	122,000
6	LIVE: F1: BAKU RACE	FOX SPORTS 506	87,000
7	LIVE: AFL: BOUNCE	FOX FOOTY	87,000
8	SULLY	Foxtel Movies Premiere	61,000
9	LIVE: NRL SUNDAY TICKET	FOX LEAGUE	61,000
10	LIVE: AFL: BEFORE THE BOUNCE	FOX FOOTY	55,000

Foxtel ratings from Monday night:

Rank	Description	Channel\Market	(r) National STV
1	LIVE: AFL 360	FOX FOOTY	109,000
2	LIVE: MONDAY NIGHT WITH MATTY JOHNS	FOX LEAGUE	85,000
3	LIVE: AFL: ON THE COUCH	FOX FOOTY	78,000

[

Footyindustry @footyindustryAUFoxfooty #1 STV Channel again according to ASTRA http://astra.org.au/pdf/news/STV_Ratings_Report_Week_25.pdf …26 Jun

 

From the Footy Industry site:
AFL THURSDAY night football has proven a ratings winner for Channel Seven, with an average of 731,000 free-to-air viewers switching on to its seven games in the timeslot this season. 

47,464 at the G tonight. 2nd biggest crowd for Melbourne v Sydney.

Fri STV #AFL #FoxFooty #AFLDeesSwans National 306k: Metro 246k (Syd 50k Mel 113k Bri 17kAde 36k Per 30k)
Fri TV (5 city metro) #AFL #AFLDeesSwans Seven 419k (Mel 311k Ade 108k) 7mate 187k (Syd 76k Bri 25k Per 85k)

Total (excl FTA regional):  912k

Total Sydney ratings of 126k.

AFL Memberships
All figures from club websites unless specified (as at 30 June).

• Adelaide - 72,930 (afc.com.au, June 14) - new record!
  
• Hawthorn - 72,552
• Richmond - 70,263
• Essendon - 66,664 - new record!
  
• West Coast - 64,742
  
• Port Adelaide - 58,564
• Sydney - 58,130 - new record!
  
• Geelong - 55,111 - new record!
  
• Carlton - 49,301
  
• Fremantle - 46,028 (afl.com.au, December 27th)
• Western Bulldogs – 45,500 (Heraldsun, May 28th) - new record
  
• Melbourne - 41,431 - new record!
  
• St Kilda - 40,928 - new record!
  
• North Melbourne - 39,819
• Brisbane - 21,203
• Greater Western Sydney - 20,404- new record
  
• Gold Coast - 11,324
• Collingwood - No figures at this time.

Tasmania & the ACT

• Hawthorn (Tasmania) - 9,370 (Sunday Tasmanian, May 13)
• Greater Western Sydney (ACT) - 4,268 (The Telegraph May 29)
  
• North Melbourne (Tasmania) - No figures at this time.

Total AFL Members - 774,594

33,433 for Carl v Adel at G.

29,671 for Dogs v WCE at Etihad.
3rd biggest Bulldogs home game against the Eagles.

15,007 at Spotless for GWS v Geelong
The highest non-derby crowd ever for a Giants home game.

191,000 total people in NSW alone watched #AFLDeesSwans
Syd FTA: 76k + regional NSW FTA: 45k + NSW STV: 70k]

41,246 at Etihad for Ess v Lions

30,541 in Subi for Freo v St Kilda

after 15 rounds of the 2017 AFL season crowds are up 3.81% to 4.324m and an average of 34,322

An epic top-four defining clash proved how Australian football is losing its battle to entertain the masses

IT was a good night for the AFL. And a bad night.

Filing through the gates at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night were football fans with no interest in either Port Adelaide or Richmond. They were not drawn by the appeal of the Oval nor the buzz of the Power’s scarf-waving, pre-game routine.

They wanted to see the grand test promised by the match-up of two top-four contending AFL teams. For neutrals to attend is a triumph to the marketing power from AFL House.

Filing through the gates at Adelaide Oval at halftime were football fans annoyed at being short changed. This is the alarm bell for the AFL.

More than a century after colonial farmers took their sheep to Adelaide Oval to graze, 36 AFL footballers turned the 167m x 127m playing field on Montefiore Hill into a postage stamp. New Hall of Fame legend Malcolm Blight’s concern for the state of the game, the style of football being played, is being echoed by more and more fans.

Space — the key to Australian football being an attractive game emphasising the sport’s classic skills in long kicking and marking — is being eaten up by congestion.

Statistic sheets are loaded with junk numbers from 2m, reactive and defensive handpasses — not the creative handball Jack Oatey introduced in the 1960s to open up Australian football to run and speed.

And the question lingers: Who will save the game from itself?

The notion the game will evolve — as it did to counter “flooding” — is far from reassuring when congestion has become a different strand of the same disease to Australian football’s canvas of big playing fields.

As foreign as it is for Australian football, the concept of “zones” — and holding four or six players within each of the 50m arcs — is now beyond being dismissed. It may be the only way to stop Australian football, as Blight and West Coast premiership coach John Worsfold fear, becoming a new version of rugby.

The Power-Tigers game was, as they say, a “pressure cooker” — and the pressure rose as the match was condensed in less and less space. It is indeed understandable — and concerning — why so many fans who arrived at the Oval with no emotional attachment to the competing teams left at halftime feeling short changed.

The AFL in the next month can counter with media releases on record membership sales, record attendances for four clubs, record revenue and television ratings and record tight finishes in an amazing contest to the flag in September.

But there is no meter to measure the record frustration with the look of the game.

So who will save all that is good in Australian football today becoming bad?

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/afl/expert-opinion/michelangelo-rucci/an-epic-topfour-defining-clash-proved-how-australian-football-is-losing-its-battle-to-entertain-the-masses/news-story/2fe03ff752f3a55b23cdcb91cdcf22c7

I watched some AFL finals last year for the first time in over 10 years.

Players skill level now are shit. So many miskicks and dropped marks both under no pressure. I couldn't believe Bulldogs won they weren't much chop.

Like the article says, metrics fine but the game is turning into rubbish.

Can't kick a goal from directly in front. It's as if they are so focused on copying football in terms of tactics they can't get the fundamentals right. No wonder the Chinese never showed up.

The Arc‏ @TheArcFooty  2m2 minutes agoMoreNEW AT ESPN: Is the AFL the world's most even sports league? http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/19845122/footy-forensics-afl-world-most-even-sports-league …0 replies0 retweets0 likesReply  Retweet  Like  Direct message

Is that meant to be a good thing?

Mediaweek‏Verified account @MediaweekAUS  22m22 minutes agoMore#TVRatings July 6: Andy, Sam, Mick kick a goal: #TheFrontBar widens the gap over #FootyShow http://bit.ly/2tXBqqO 0 replies1 retweet2 likesReply  Retweet 1 Like 2 Direct message

Australian football starting to resemble rugby league: Matthews

• The Australian
• 12:00AM July 8, 2017
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• ANDREW FAULKNER

  

  Reporter

  @andrewfaulkner9

  

Yes, horror of horrors, Leigh Matthews says Australian football is starting to resemble rugby league.

Worse than that, the Player of the 20th Century has taken to watching the NRL on TV. Although Matthews is struggling to discern the difference between his indigenous game and league.

Australian football’s chronic congestion problem — and the turnovers and clangers created by the heavy traffic — might soon warrant AFL intervention.

Because not only is Matthews a powerful voice in the game, he’s also on the Laws of the Game Committee. And the way he’s talking, the AFL will act if the sport doesn’t find its own way out of the congestion maze.

Yes, there have been some terrific close games this season, Matthews says. And the evenness of the competition has created a “growing middle class” of clubs.

“(But) I’m not sure whether we’re seeing a fantastic spectacle,” he says.

Matthews had a lightbulb moment while switching between the Swans-Demons and Storm-Broncos matches on TV last week.

“It just hit me — how similar the two looks were,” he told Adelaide’s FiveAA this week. “(In league) you pass the ball sideways and after two or three passes that bloke gets tackled and you start again.

“(In Australian rules) it’s one handball, two handballs, three handballs, fourth bloke gets tackled … It just hit me how similar the look that AFL has to rugby now, just the congestion around the footy.”

Setting aside Matthews confusing the name of the game and the league — if anyone can be forgiven for this travesty, it’s Matthews — it is clear Australian football has a serious problem.

And the worst offenders are the Swans, he says.

“They might be the form team of the competition, the Swans, but they do play a ‘smother you’ brand of footy,” Matthews says. “And if it wasn’t for (Lance) Franklin giving you a few highlights up their forward end, I’m not sure whether I’m keen on it, watching the Swans play, to be honest.”

As The Weekend Australian examined in detail last week, football appears to be stuck in an evolutionary cul de sac.

Where in the past the game mutated its way out of impasses (remember the chip, chip, chip style of the mid noughties, an environment in which Nathan Bassett once took 22 marks — one contested — in a game?), it appears to be choking under the weight of the phalanxes of players around the ball.

That feeds into a rising toll of turnovers, clangers and ‘intercept’ marks as sides try to find their way through the defensive zones.

Still they strive for the perfect play. But playing perfect football is next to impossible in the heavy traffic. Too often they instead serve up the opposite — horrible, grating turnovers — because they’re trying to play perfect football.

Confounded by the defence in depth, clubs are trying to ape the handball deployed to such telling effect by the Bulldogs and Swans last year. So handballs are up. The Crows, Cats and Giants are all handballing much more than they were last year.

But all too often it’s handball as a last resort; handball to flat-footed players with their backs to the goal, players who are sitting ducks for the gaggles of opponents flocking to the ball.

Forebodingly, Matthews says we might be stuck with the clutter. After all, the rolling mauls have dominated the game for at least five years now.

We might never again see a free-flowing, open style of football.

“It’s a modern-generation phenomenon that I just can’t see evolving by itself back to a bit of space.”

Think about that for a moment. The Player of the 20th Century says the game is incapable of fixing itself. And if it can’t fix itself, outside intervention might be required.

Which brings us to the vexed topic of netball-like zones. Mandating, for example, that two players must remain inside the 50m arc. There is a precedent here. The centre diamond was introduced in 1973 to create space at centre bounces. Two years later it became the centre square.

Now Matthews, who is on the rules committee, remember, says any change won’t be made this season and probably not even next year. But if the congestion remains, then the authorities are likely to act.

“That’s the only intervention that’s going to alter the current look,” Matthews said of the zones concept. “If the evolution of the game isn’t spreading it out at all, then the only way to spread it out is what we did at the centre bounces.”

He agrees with the principle of zones but says whether they will work in practice is another matter entirely.
Australian football starting to resemble rugby league: Matthews

they need netball bibs

FP FF FP 
HFF CHF HFF 
etc

What are you talking about?  As opposed to all those other sports like soccer, that have no designated positions?  Would love to see Messi in a bib.

Friday night:
Just 41,948 at Adelaide Oval, the 4th lowest Crows crowd there, affected by the weather.

Coll v Ess at G:  63,537, pretty good for 15th v 11th in Round 15.

Hawthorn v GWS: 12,156 at Launceston

32,987 at the SCG for Swans/Suns

47,514 at Etihad for Saints v Rich

18,769 at the Gabba for Lions v Geelong

19,267 at Etihad Stadium for North v Freo

47,266 at the G for Carl v Melb

36,766 @ Subi  for WCE v Port

After 16 Rounds of the 2017 AFL Season, crowds are up 5.5% to 4.64 million and a 34,405 average.

Mr TV  🇦🇺‏ @MrTVAus  22h22 hours agoMoreAnother big AFL audience on 7mate in Syd, yesterday at twilight.64k for #AFLSwansSuns (Fox simulcast).3rd week in a row above 60k.

Amazing how many people watch half naked men incoherently fumble a ball. 

AFL boss Gillon McLachlan rates China game a success, says he is not worried about crowds

MON 15 MAY 2017, 7:44 AM AESTEmail Facebook Twitter WhatsApp

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan has hailed the historic Shanghai match as a resounding success, saying the only negative was the one-sided result.Blocks of empty seats on the outer wing at Jiangwan Stadium were obvious on the TV coverage and they sparked social media commentary.The warm conditions were hazy, without being oppressive, and overall it could not have gone better.An allegedly sold-out crowd of 10,118 — fans from Australia, expats and a small but enthusiastic local contingent — watched Port Adelaide maul Gold Coast by 72 points.

PHOTO Port was clearly on top in the race for the Shanghai Cup.

AAP: TRACEY NEARMY

Port coach Ken Hinkley and Suns counterpart Rodney Eade said post-match they would be happy to return."It was obviously a really pleasing day for football, for Port Adelaide, for our game — a good crowd, the venue looked amazing and it came up well on broadcast," McLachlan said.The key now is what Chinese authorities make of the experiment.

McLachlan touting possibilities in Chinese market

Above anything else, the first AFL game for premiership points outside of Australia and New Zealand spearheaded Port's bid to secure sponsorship dollars in the country."We think we've invested for the long-term here — we'll continue to work with the local authority and the layers of government in this country," McLachlan said."But today's been a big success, I'm sure they would have enjoyed today."There was plenty of pre-game criticism, with concerns about air quality and logistics, and questions over why the AFL was going ahead with a game in China."Everyone sees the opportunity in China and they certainly see it clearer today," McLachlan said."Like all progress, people see obstacles when things are harder. People [now] see a clearer path and maybe an easier path."

PHOTO There were more than a few chunks of the grandstand that looked empty.

AAP: TRACEY NEARMY

McLachlan said the empty sections in the grandstand were due to fans in those sections having access to nearby corporate marquees.He noted all the public seating areas were full and, if anything, the AFL would look to increase the ground capacity given tickets sold out in two hours."There are challenges here — all the tickets were sold and then you have down that end, left of screen, some corporate marquees," McLachlan said.

"So a lot of people would have been in there, eating and drinking."

Eade said he would want to return so Gold Coast could redeem themselves, but the Suns are yet to decide whether they will commit again."There's a first-mover advantage, clearly, and I think it's a question for Gold Coast," McLachlan said."If they do [want to return], I think they're in a good position, without any guarantees."There was widespread praise for the ground surface and McLachlan said the league would make sure it was maintained."They'll have the best frisbee turf in the world," he said.

Failure and a half. Just like New Zealand. Just like South Africa. Just like ALF revolution. 

SponsorshipNews‏ @SponsorshipNews  2h2 hours agoMore.@AFL tops ratings as five sports are represented across @Nielsen_Ent's weekend free-to-air and social ratings. #sportsbiz 0 replies1 retweet0 likesReply  Retweet 1 Like  Direct message

Footyindustry‏ @footyindustryAU  3h3 hours agoMoreFoxfooty back to #1 at the top of the STV channels, Fox League #2 according to ASTRA http://astra.org.au/pdf/news/STV_Ratings_Report_Week_27.pdf …0 replies0 retweets0 likesReply  

Is AFL in trouble? It appears it needs help off the back of arsenal in town. There metrics must be down. 

Where can I find the metrics for the AFL Revolution leagues vote? I know that FIFA has one going on FIFPlay but there is nothing on the AFL. Surely we want to grow this game and add WRFL or something.

Incidently, the FIFPlay poll is well up there with 2,069,000 votes. German 3rd div, followed by Chinese Super League and then the Indian Super League.

China could be added to ALF Revolution one day. Maybe. :)

Great metrics for soccer. Bad for handfumball. The bloke had to go to a real football match to show fumball. Let's ignore the racist excuse making from the FFL.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-12/afl-faces-an-uphill-battle-with-uninterested-china/8519266

With nearly 120k watching the U23 football team I wonder how many will watch the ALF team...

The u23s got a quarter of a million views. Need to know from pip and miss handball how many the aussie afl u23s did against singapore.