over the years, there are more and more who hate AFL

Kaspersky was shirt sponsor for Manly Sea Eagles.

AFL’s China farce exposed

Port Adelaide ran away with a thumping 22.7 (139) to 9.15 (69) win over St Kilda in China but all the talk was of the lack of interest in the game as the stands were left empty.

That was despite the fact that as early as this morning AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan trumpeted the China match between St Kilda and Port Adelaide as a sell out.

Well, either half the crowd got stuck in one hell of a traffic jam or somebody’s lying.

The stands for the third edition of the AFL’s China game, this time involving the Saints instead of Gold Coast, were quite empty, not that Saints players would notice much difference from a regular home game — surely leaving the AFL to wonder if the expansion into China is worth it.

The empty stands led plenty of fans and analysts on Twitter to make fun of the fail and McLachlan’s statement.

This match was clearly not “sold out” and the boss was being hammered.

Greg Jericho✔@GrogsGamutLulz commentators trying to say there will be some spare seats due to restricted views ...err like the ones straight across the ground in the prime spot? #AFLSaintsPower

Vince Rugari✔@VinceRugariThe crowd is small because all the Chinese became attached to the Gold Coast Suns because they wore the colours of their flag and they’re too loyal to jump ship 

Titus O'Reily✔@TitusOReilyAFL says empty seats in China reflective of the rabbit terrine served before the game, not a lack of interest. #AFLSaintsPower pic.twitter.com/slGDdpeVcm

close minded AFL fans genuinely believe AFL is the best and most skillful sport in the world and will take off around the world if done correctly. delusions of grandeur is an understatement. sometimes you just need to accept your position in the sporting landscape and focus on consolidating your strengths, which would be solidifying your traditional fan base and grassroots regions. Instead I read an article yesterday about how suburban and country AFL teams are dying because there is no money. Yet they spend hundreds of millions on expansion teams in areas where the locals don't give a fuck. 

that's what the afl fans say about the a league 

The narrative from senior port and afl people is mind boggling...i suppose thats the PR training at its best

the media portrays is about growing the game , exposing AFL overseas to new fans
then its about commercial opportunites , sponsorship etc

then you get these tweets
"Hey @paulwkennedy love your work but don’t go bagging the @AFL’s China ventures. It’s got nothing to do with the number of people in the stands. It’s about sports diplomacy and commercial revenue opportunities for @PAFC and @stkildafc2:58 PM - 2 Jun 2019 "

and yet the crowd numbers were a joke. the commentators stated that " apparently major sponsor shanghai cred gave the wrong address to its fan base " is laughable...
and yet kochie and gil said its a sellout..
which story is it ?

then you have this guy https://twitter.com/AndrewHunter__ .... who gets paid to promote this tripe....

https://10daily.com.au/news/sport/a190602tlhnu/afl-fails-in-china-again-as-buses-take-fans-to-wrong-stadium-20190602

Lol. Bus sent people to the wrong address? Really? Is that the best excuse they got?

wow that is a headline i would never expect to see in melbourne 

The Chinese navy has rolled into Sydney.  The VFL better get a picture with the Admiral holding a Sherrin.   

Is it any wonder the buses went to the wrong stadium; all the street signs were in Chinese!  If they’d only been in ‘Strayan everything would have been fine.  

I'm lol'ing at the tweets and excuses most die hard afl fans are coming up with.

Apparently it’s a mistake and they’re in the wrong location .... that’s the last time they’ll ask directions from a bus company !! 

i heard they want to get the chinese people to bet on the afl matches 

Planned it for 9 months then sent the paid for fans to the wrong stadium. This is hilarious!

In all seriousness, did they even bother to consult Sydney FC or MVFC?

If you made it up no-one would believe it.  

Whats even more hilarious is they used this act of Keystone Cops stupidity to try and justify the tiny crowd.  Just priceless! 

A lot of afl writers are trying to fix things but making it worse.  Rohan Connolly is one of the few who are calling it out.

this poster on the herald sun nails it

" Bus driver error!!!!
Oh come on, PLEASE!!!!! What depths will Prof Hawking/AFL stoop to to defend their ridiculous decision to play a game in China. 
As an expat living in China, with a very keen interest in AFL, I can assure you there is ABSOLUTELY no interest in this game from ANYBODY in China. NONE. 
I have mentioned this before, I had an American mate who lives close to the stadium and was offered free tickets AND DRINKS if he would come to the game... he actually rang me to ask what it is all about. lol.
Haven't heard what the TV ratings were yet... bound to be millions according to CCTV, that way at least the AFL will retain interest in continuing this farce and the Chinese will continue to rake in the tourist $$$$ for virtually no out-lay. Sounds like good business to me.
There is a sucker born every day. 
Titus O'Riely absolutely nailed this. 
Embarrassment. "

From my perspective, I hate it!

Not enough in Tasmania!

Meanwhile the attendance at A-League club ACL games in China totals about 700k.

The Federal Labor Party offered the AFL around $28 Mill before the election to help them relocate a team to Tassie. Thankfully they lost the election. Football gets a once off $2 Mill to start a team in the Sydney Western Suburbs and we think all Christmas' have come at once.

to be fair, I've seen a lot of the AFL media ridicule this. Rohan Connolly is one of the rare decent AFL media commentators

Paul Murray called it out as well. They're onto it but the AFL diehards will believe anything about their great game.

The facts are the AFL is popular to only half a country with a total 25 million people and will never progress beyond that.

Rohan is actually a football fan as well iirc? Some of the afl media are calling the afl and the hun particularly  for their biased reporting

THE Paul Murray from Sky? Thought he hated the game(or at least the domestic scene) on the back of some sneering BS towards the HAL Grand Final last year.


Very much so - he's virtually the only person in the entire AFL industry whom I'd implicitly trust w/any position of influence in Oz football.

Vic Gov i paying as well. Port have a few commercial partners covering most of the costs.

Does anyone tell AFL fans that A-League clubs get crowds of 40k and millions of viewers in china? 

FFS, there was 13 million watching the Tevez Roar game....if only they knew. 

AFL boss Gillon McLachlan admits the crowd at the China clash was “a bit” disappointing, but says the league won’t be abandoning its venture into Asia any time soon.

The clash between St Kilda and Port Adelaide had been billed as a “sell-out” in the lead-up but there were plenty of empty seats on gameday.

McLachlan told Neil Mitchell it was unfortunate, but said there were contributing factors that made it look worse than it actually was.

“There’s a challenge with the way the catering and service works that you need to be in a marquee,” he explained.

“There are a lot of people in tents and they need to be allocated a seat.”

He said the league would continue playing games in China.

“There’s this narrative that there’s a ‘cost’ – it’s not costing anything – that game breaks even for the AFL and the clubs are making money,” McLachlan said.

“A clear part of why we are there is because China is a very important market for Australia – our biggest trading partner – and we think we can make money in the end.

“Why are we doing that? So we can invest in community programs, in women’s football and all the places we do.

“It’s a huge commercial opportunity.”

Yes from Sky. He never used to have kind words towards football as neither did many in Sky. However over the last 2 or 3 years they’ve changed. No longer is footballer sneered on “ The Back Page “ for example and Bozza is constantly on Paul Murray’s show.