Very well put zimbos.
No matter what others say it’s the product period especially talking AL as the Pro league.
For the numbers I know between 2 football passionate sons and many of their team mates they don’t bother with the AL but for the odd occasion derby for a night out after their games.
They don’t rate it much and at times go watch a NPL1 game for they have connections instead.
These mid twenty and 30’s large group are the target they are struggling to draw to apl games let alone connect with a club of it.
There is buckets loads of these kids who do not care about AL.

That formating .... oooofff lol.

My 2 cents on the correlation between participation and attendance is purely an observation from the sidelines.

I have yet to meet and AFL fan or a fan of football from anywhere in the world apart from Australia that identifies as a fan of "the AFL" or the "EPL" or "Serie A".

Some may have a EPL club and a local club they support, or even have multiple clubs in different leagues they support  but it is ALWAYS support fopr the sport THROUGH the club ... 

Every single person in Melbourne ( a huge portion of them because of cultural conditioning I guess) will tell you they are a Collingwood fan or a Tigers fan or a Hawks member or whatever... nobody syas "I just like AFL in general but dont follow a team" I dont know much about NRL but I would assume this is similar in the two states that care about it?

Its NOT just an Australia sports fan thing, it seems to just be an Australian Aleague thing.... 

The only time it has ever come up in conversation where a "fan" is just happy to watch any team is with the US sports lovers in overseas markets.... People I know watch NFL and are not tied to one particular franchsie or NBA where they may want Golden State, Celtic and Lakers to all do well for example.... 

Are you saying that there are football fans in Australia who "follow" the A League without following a particular club (sorry franchise ;)? I'm not sure that would be the case, I would think that almost everyone in Australia who follows the A league also follows a particular club.

Sorry if I have misinterpreted what you wrote, just trying to clarify.

Hey mate, yeah thats what Im saying... A couple of poster on here already admit as much as do pretty much everyone posting on the Aussies Abroad thread.... Im not having a go at it btw (who the hell am I to tell people how to watch sport?) Its just something you rarely see anywhere else in the world is the point I was trying to make...