Interseting move by the AFL.

But will the Chinese take to the aerial version of their favourite game?

Melbourne has even dropped the 'Demons' nickname for its ventures into China and has rebranded itself as 'Melbourne FC'. I don't think that club has any idea who its fans are anymore.

Funny how desperate even the AFL is at getting a foothold in China. The V8 Supercars have tried it and that failed with officials apparently getting members of the Army to fill the stands. People are delusional if they think this is going to be treated as anything more than a novelty/exhibition by the Chinese. The staging of exhibition AFL games seems to be a key strategy for the City of Melbourne's international relations. Meanwhile, matches like the Lord Mayor's Cup between Melbourne Victory and Tianjin Teda are largely ignored by the media and state government.

Lol

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA :lol: :lol: :lol:

Oh wait they're serious?

:lol: Good luck.

Apparently they are gonna have a curtain raiser between 2 Chinese universitys

LOL

Good Luck to them. I also heard cricket is trying to get into China as well. I hope it all turns out well for them.

Cricket would just be fail, can you imagine some Chinese bloke trying to square-up against Brett Lee. :lol: I'll leave that for Funniest home videos.

What? Perhaps like an Indian or a Sri Lankan?:-k

:lol: or a pakistani?

Richard Chee Quee, who was the first player of Chinese origin to play first-class cricket in Australia, was a powerful top or middle-order batsman who dominated Sydney grade cricket for more than a decade (at Randwick) but despite showing great promise, never quite made his mark in the first-class game. He scored a hundred against the West Indies in 1995-96 and two years earlier smashed 131 in the Mercantile Cup final, but that form was spasmodic. Although he did not play for NSW after 1997-98, he continued to score heavily for Randwick, and when he retired at the end of the 2005-06 campaign, he had made almost 11,000 runs for them, and only six other batsmen had ever made more in Sydney grade cricket.

http://www.cricinfo.com/australia/content/player/4564.html

Indian-American announces plan to build 8 cricket stadiums in US

Cricket Stadium
Washington: An Indian-American cricket enthusiast has announced plans to build as many as eight cricket stadiums across the US at an estimated cost of USD 2.4 billion to professionalise the game in the country.
The eight proposed stadiums, each having a capacity of 26,000 people in New York, New Jersey, Washington DC, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Illinois and California, would create as many as 17,800 new jobs in the US, said Jignesh (Jay) Pandya, chairman of Global Sports Ventures.
Gujarat-born Pandya is a real estate developer in the US and had been travelling across the globe with his two sons to watch popular international cricket matches.
At most of these venues, me and my sons found the audience mostly from either India or the United States. "So there is a great market and readymade audience for cricket in the US," Pandya said.
Americans, he said are the biggest sports lovers in the world. Sports economy in the US itself is to the tune of USD 87 billion as compared to USD six billion in India.
All these cricket stadiums in the US, Pandya said would be part of what he described as lifestyle centers which would comprise of high-rise residential complex, shopping centers, entertainment centers and office complexes.
Pandya said the objective is to professionalize cricket in the United States by creating a league that allows athletes to compete at the highest level while providing fans and audiences the ability to enjoy the game at all these world-class facilities.
"This will be a strong foundation when the International Cricket Council (ICC) hosts any tournaments in line with its strategic framework for USA cricket, potentially hosting the ICC World Twenty20 in 2024," Pandya said.
From Lalit K Jha

http://www.thehansindia.com/posts/index/National/2017-02-02/Indian-American-announces-plan-to-build-8-cricket-stadiums-in-US/277792

Looks AFL might get a free opportunity in the US.

Did anyone else hear the Jason Akermanis chants last night? Universal appeal.

Not China but small steps

AFL Popular in Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands, Top Headlines
March 20, 2017
A+ A-
IMG_7058Australian Football, also known as AFL, is growing in popularity in the Solomon Islands and the Solomon Islands Australian Football League (SIAFL) has responded to the demand by running daily training sessions.

SIAFL believe, the newly created women-only training sessions have led to growth in participation within the sport.

As a result, the SIAFL Development Officers will continue to conduct two women-only training sessions on Monday and Wednesday nights.

A statement from SIAFL said it is getting closer to beginning pre-season trial matches for the senior men’s competition.

Meanwhile, the two main sessions of the week are held at Ports Field in Kukum on Tuesdays and SINU’s Kukum Campus on Thursdays.

Two former semi-professional AFL players, as well as locally-trained development officers that have also had experience playing in Australia and representing the Solomon Islands in international tournament are conducting the training sessions.
http://www.sibconline.com.sb/afl-popular-in-solomon-islands/

"By allowing other people in to train, we have seen more people participate in the sport."

Quality.

Can't believe 8 years ago the original article came out about China and all we can see is the glorious nation of Solomon Islands running training sessions.  

World champions folks. We can't lose 

FEATURE-Australian Rules-'Footy diplomacy' paves way for push into China

Fri, 24 Mar 2017-08:33am , ReutersGrabbing a slice of China's huge market has proved elusive for an array of foreign sports but the full-contact game of Australian Rules is planning to tackle the nation head-on with a soft-power offensive backed by business and diplomacy.The "footy diplomacy" kicks off this weekend when Chinese Premier Li Keqiang watches Port Adelaide Power's season-opener against the Sydney Swans at the Sydney Cricket Ground along with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.Then in May, after a year of meticulous planning, Port and the Gold Coast Suns clash at an athletics stadium in Shanghai, the first regular season Australian Football League (AFL) match to be contested in China.A bruising, fast-tempo game played on cricket ground-sized pitches, AFL is supported with religious fervour in Australia's southern states but is virtually unknown overseas and generally bewildering to the uninitiated.Taking AFL to China might appear to be a tough sell, given the country has no tradition of full-contact team sports and most locals are oblivious to the game's existence.Not so, according to Power chief executive Keith Thomas, who claims the match will be sold out and that his team's engagement with China has already netted A$6 million ($4.59 million) in new revenues."For Port Adelaide, (the China game) is already a success," Thomas told Reuters."We think it will be one of the great sporting moments for our code. We feel the game is just part of a significant, broader strategy for Port Adelaide."The Power will put in A$3 million of the estimated $4 million costs of putting on the game, with the AFL and Australia's national tourism authority also contributing.China's state TV will broadcast the match to an audience of millions, having televised a number of AFL games last year, including the Grand Final in September.Last year, Port signed Chen Shaoliang, their first Chinese-born recruit, and the former basketball player from Guangdong has been a prominent ambassador for the game in China despite a serious knee injury stalling his career.The 24-year-old forward wears the number 88 on his jersey -- eight being considered a lucky number in China -- and believes AFL can generate a following."Before, people only played sports like table tennis and badminton, but more and more young people are playing and watching team sports," he told Reuters.NATIONAL STRATEGYNeither Port nor the Gold Coast are AFL heavyweights and there is no serious suggestion that they could carve out a big following in China in the same way European soccer teams like Manchester United and Real Madrid have.Instead, the clubs see themselves as part of a greater national strategy of engagement with China, to build better relations and create more commercial opportunities with Australia's biggest trading partner.The lofty aspirations grew from much humbler beginnings for Port, the second team in the sleepy state capital of South Australia.With over 50,000 members in a city of 1.2 million, the club saw little room to grow in the domestic market."We targeted China because it's an important trading partner for South Australia and Australia," Thomas said."Our government was already very heavily invested in that direction."Our simple initial thought was that if we could position Port Adelaide as a vehicle for Chinese investors or businesses who are interested in trading with China ... we could become relevant to them."Having invested in grass-roots initiatives in China for a number of years, Port hired Andrew Hunter, an international engagement advisor from the state premier's office, to run its China strategy.Hunter's work helped land a multi-million dollar, three-year partnership with Chinese property developer Shanghai CRED, announced last April.The AFL's China foray has also won political backing, with Prime Minister Turnbull championing the sport when the match was announced in Shanghai last year.The symbolism of China's number two leader Li attending a game in Australia on Saturday will do little to hurt the game's profile in the Asian superpower, officials said.The Shanghai match promises similar political patronage from both countries, while also acting as a vehicle for a trade delegation and a window into China for Australian companies.It fits Australia's agenda of opening up new markets for goods and services in China aside from commodities, according to the Australia China Business Council."While the rocks and crops era will continue, the value-added goods and services (era) means you will need to understand the consumer better and be more sophisticated and nuanced in how you present your product," vice president Sean Keenihan said."AFL is unique ... And we want to brand ourselves as unique and of the highest quality. We're resilient and we're robust. These are the traits that are so obvious when you take in an AFL football match."(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report-feature-australian-rules-footy-diplomacy-paves-way-for-push-into-china-2366148

The AFL are masters of self-delusion. The Chinese are simply not interested in aussie rules. Their big sporting aim at the moment is to achieve something in the world cup finals of... soccer.

This China game will probably destroy Port Power's season anyway.. they usually lose every game after playing in Alice Springs or Darwin, so imagine what playing in China will do to them!! Serve them right...

Still waiting.

"Generally bewildering to the uninitiated"

Because it's the sporting equivalent of seagulls fighting over chips

I like how football is attracting genuine Chinese interest and investment in this country but ONE GAME of Aussie Rules being played in China because of government support gets mainstream media coverage. The amount of money and time wasted on Aussie Rules is laughable  

The Solomon Islands participated in the finals of the World Beach Football Cup in 2013. Do you think anyone there in their right mind would seriously take up aussie rules, when playing soccer would give them the opportunity to visit Brazil, Portugal, etc. Not to mention playing semi-professionally in Australia and New Zealand.

Criminal that even a cent of government money is pissed away on a doomed vanity project.

Port Adelaide tickets for China AFL game sell out in under three hours

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by Angus Grigg

The unlikely expansion of the Port Adelaide Football Club into China has passed its first major test, with tickets for its AFL game in Shanghai against the Gold Coast Suns selling out in just 2½ hours.

The May 14 match will be the first time a regular season game has been played in China and is being promoted as a festival of all things Australia.

More than 5000 Port Adelaide fans are expected to make the trip to Shanghai, ensuring the 11,600 seat stadium is a sell-out.

Chinese and Australian companies have also embraced the event as an opportunity to promote business ties and have bought about 3000 hospitality tickets. The remaining tickets have been sold to expatriates living around Greater China and locals interested in Australia's indigenous game.

The match is being billed as an opportunity to build better business and political ties between Australia and China, similar to the "ping-pong diplomacy" pursued by the Nixon Administration in the 1970s.

"Sport is a great way to break down barriers and a powerful vehicle for diplomacy," said Keith Thomas, Port Adelaide's chief executive.

"It creates a different tone [between leaders] when they are talking about sport."

Premier Li Keqiang mentioned the match on a number of occasions during his recent visit to Australia and then watched Port play the Sydney Swans in their opening match of the season.

The Premier pointedly joked he couldn't take sides, but would support both teams so as not to be seen interfering in Australia's "domestic politics".

Mr Thomas said there would be a week of activities around the game in Shanghai for supporters and business partners, including a conference, gala dinner and an Australia fair on game day.

And the club is already preparing for next year.

Mr Thomas said there were plans to reconfigure the Jiangwan stadium to more than double capacity to around 30,000 seats and have the game as a central part of the Australia Week event in China.

Australia Week, which was modelled on the G'Day USA events, is run ever two years in Shanghai and usually includes large trade delegations and a visit by the Prime Minister.

Like many organisation Port Adelaide has looked to China in recent years in an effort to broaden its revenue base away from the already saturated Australian sporting market.

Its "China strategy" was to provide a conduit for Chinese companies looking to improve their community standing in Australia and a vehicle for Australian companies wanting to go the other way.

The major backer of the China game is Shanghai CRED and its billionaire founder Gui Guojie, who joined forces last year with Gina Rinehart to buy the Kidman cattle properties for $365 million.

http://www.afr.com/business/sport/port-adelaide-tickets-for-china-afl-game-sell-out-in-under-three-hours-20170331-gvasty

So 11600 tickets, of which 5000 are port fans coming from Australia, 3000 Australian companies and 3600 mostly Australian ex pats. 

I hope the 17 Chinese that buys tickets to it enjoy it too. 

That's hilarious... hope the authorities can deal with the huge number of disappointed Chinese fans who will be locked out of the game...!

why?

also.

kicking display....

lol,  

Port Adelaide’s $4 million China trial in doubt from North Korea

THE AFL has put Gold Coast’s Metricon Stadium on standby if the decision is made not to play an historic match in China.

Rising international tensions have raised some doubts about playing the May 14 Port Adelaide-Gold Coast game in Shanghai.

It comes as Melbourne Demons legend David Schwarz declared he wouldn’t want to travel for the game if he was a Power or Suns player because of the rising international tensions in the region.

The match at Jiangwan Sports Stadium would be the first AFL clash for premiership points outside Australia or New Zealand.

But Power chief executive Keith Thomas says they will rely on Australian government advice, given the worsening relations between the United States and North Korea.

“Clearly you can’t ignore the circumstances that prevail in the world today and they’re in a region that’s sensitive to China and where we will be,” Thomas told reporters on Tuesday.

“Right now, we have had no advice to suggest that the game is at risk or we shouldn’t be going.

“We’ll just keep bowling along until we’re told otherwise.


Fresh fears.
“The AFL have said if the game doesn’t happen in Shanghai, they said this 12 months ago, it will happen at Metricon,” Thomas said.

An AFL spokesman has told media agencies the AFL sees no reason to comment on the development because it believes the match will proceed as planned.

It is just another serious issue Port Adelaide has had to face after having to already work through a number of embarrassing public problems to do with the historic match, including the Suns’ decision to play a home-game red and yellow playing strip — the national colours of China.

Port has paid Gold Coast $500,000 to move the game to the 25,000-capacity Jiangwan Sports Centre.

Koch is scheduled to host a business forum the day before the game as part of a corporate component of the game which will involve Australian producers holding a convention outside the stadium before the game in a bid to boost Aussie food produce in China.

Port Adelaide’s budget to host the game with assistance from government and the AFL is over $4 million, including a $250,000 investment from the South Australian State Government.

Now it may all amount to nothing.

Schwarz said players will be reluctant to travel to China because of how unstable the political climate is in the region right now with the United States and North Korea continuing to edge towards a military conflict.

“I’m not going,” Schwarz said on SEN’s The Run Home with Ox and Marko.

“Not if it keeps continuing down the path that it’s going down.”

Originally published as Kochie’s $4 million venture in danger

http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/afl/port-adelaides-4-million-china-trial-in-doubt-from-north-korea/news-story/e229ee67741be13544eeb122c719d3fa

Koch will have a nervous breakdown if his precious china game isn't played in China...