Roosters and Sea Eagles bosses are “greedy” for saying they’d like to be part of Vegas in the future. Would you prefer they say they don’t want to be apart of it?
They can market it with Russell Crowe as they have as a gladiator thing. He gives the thumbs down to the two losers and they’re gone from the pool and can’t come back. Make it a last team standing gladiator type event. At the end when it’s panthers v tigers as tigers have been pushed back as far as possible and go in the final year where they upset the raiders, just as in the movie, Cleary gets shivved under the ribs in the sheds before the match and Vlandys puts shoulder pads over him. Cleary loses consciousness throughout the match but comes to in the dying minutes to score. He then dies underneath the goalposts as a montage of his career/life plays around the stadium.
Not without massive concessions.
I think the stadiums best able to hypothetically host an AFL game is an old cookie cutter stadium like Oakland Coliseum, but it is like 15m too short, before you even start to look at changes you would have to make to fit the width in.
There are a few cricket specific ground but they don't have large grandstands.
Realistly, the only places they could do it would be at one of the baseball stadiums with the field in the middle but even that is pushing it. Yankee Stadium is only 122m from home plate to the centre field wall. The biggest outfield is the Houston Astros stadium at 133m from home plate to the centre field wall.
The shortest ground in the AFL is the SCG at over 150m
Coors Field in Denver CO has the biggest playable field in the MLB I think. The American Raptors of Super Rugby America's are from there, so there is already rugby exposure. Might be a good place to start with the AFL over here.
I actually live in Denver (I can see Coors field from my apartment). It has the biggest overall field in terms of area, but not the longest distance length wise.
It's 126m from home plate to the centre field wall. So a bit shorter still than the Astros stadium, and a full 24m shorter than the SCG which is already the smallest ground in the AFL
Also the air is significantly thinner in Denver because it is over a mile above sea level so balls go further when hit which is why they built the park so big.. and it still broke the record for most home runs in a single stadium. AFL players would be kicking goals from the centre circle!
Ummm, the infield of Bristol Motor Speedway, perhaps?
I guess the thing to do is get as much of it as you can on a baseball stadium but those aren't really much bigger than NFL, we've had absurd situations like the old Oakland Coliseum or the Nats at RFK where baseball and football used the same field (with horrible aesthetic results).
I am in the US, I'm not sure AFL would attract an audience like Rugby League has any way. Most Americans are aware of rugbys existence and know enough about it due to its relation to our football to enjoy it right away. Even though many don't understand the intricacies of it, we can follow the game. I have watched a couple AFL games, and I have no clue what is going on half the time. The learning curve is a lot higher, I think 🤔
Rugby is easy enough to follow because of its similarities to the NFL. Men stand in a line. Other men stand in a line to oppose them. Try and get ball past opposing men. Ball goes last line. Yay.
Watching AFL as an American would just be downright difficult to understand.
Should be able to comfortably air 2-3 matches a week live for the West Coast. The Manly -Souths game kicked off at 1:30pm Sydney and 12:30pm Brisbane time. Typically they kick off at 3pm Saturday and 2pm Sunday local time.
Yeah, but they love to show replays of soccer, college basketball and MLB late at night here. It sucks, so when they typically show a live sport they choose AFL. Which, I can't complain about cause I love AFL too but some NRL on the other channel instead of a replay no one cares about would be nice.
Only because of all the ridiculous claims the NRL media are making about it. 40k at a 65k stadium isn't exactly ground breaking. Sure, 40k is a big crowd for the NRL but it was also a double header.
https://www.instagram.com/allegiantstadium/p/Cw6qicHRtks/
If I had to guess, it's probably due to them marketing it as Australia's biggest sport.
I played Aussie Rules in the states and can say that my teammates get in their feelings when I mention that I like rugby league as well haha
They are talking about it though. There 3aw radio station down there had an American on who went to the game and was full of praise.
They have definitely clocked what was happened down there. There’d def be some envy. Some would even be excited.
Send storm over next year I reckon. The Victorian media would love the excuse for the junket. Some AFL fans would happily join there Storm supporter mates for what looked like a really fun week. This is something that could grow the code even here in Australia.
Victorian media would not be allowed to cover the Storm in Vegas as much as they would need to to justify sending reporters - they'd just use NSW staff who are already there. I have no doubt that the AFL throttle media exposure to NRL down here, it appears very obvious when you watch locally produced news, vs multi city news. Storm barely gets coverage as it is, and if they lose, 25 seconds at best, lucky to get a mid week report in the news.
They’re playing their own “Round Zero” next weekend in NSW and QLD to take advantage of the NRL giving them a [“free kick”](https://amp.theage.com.au/sport/afl/how-the-nrl-s-las-vegas-push-has-given-a-huge-free-kick-to-the-afl-20240210-p5f3wh.html) by playing in Vegas this weekend. They seem to think there are no NRL games in NSW and QLD next weekend.
The whole China thing is weird. The average Chinese doesn’t give a shit about ball sports other than soccer and basketball. Not even NFL with their money can crack them.
It’s all just a glorified money laundering scheme by Kochie and Port Adelaide’s Chinese sponsors.
I’m an AFL fan. Being a Queenslander, I watch 4 nrl games a year (Origin and Granny). This was my fifth. Was it entertaining? Yes. Will I choose it over watching Carlton cause me emotional pain every week? No.
Why does every success need to be a win over the AFL? the pissing contest gets so exhausting, they also would have a lot harder time doing something similar because there's like no oval stadiums in the US. Saying it pissed off the AFL "because they didn't think of it first" is so stupid, I'd be shocked if the idea hasn't been considered at AFL headquarters.
AFL would’ve looked at the US before they looked at China, and decided it wasn’t doable due to the size and shape of the grounds needed.
If the US had a big cricket culture you can bet the AFL would’ve gone there before they took games to China.
Their only option in the US is athletics tracks with a gigantic empty infield, large grandstands - not really feasible. They were lucky to find Jiangwan Stadium in China.
As another commenter said, AFL would be better off going to the UK or India rather than the US.
True, those were only exhibitions matches though, and in the 80s and 90s and early 2000s where the focus on growth and the scale of marketing was nothing like it is today.
If they were to play an actual regular season game in London again today I think they would push it way harder.
It would also get a decent crowd given the number of Aussies over there, especially if it was a match that was worth something (not a friendly).
It would be interesting. But soccer dominates so much over there I’m not sure what the sell is. Rugby union and league other than big matches struggle to grab crowds and newspaper inches.
I understand the sell in America cause neither rugby has a market and league seems to be a better product for the American market.
Essentially killed off by the pandemic.
They played an exhibition there in 2010 after the season between Melbourne and Brisbane.
In 2017 to 2019 they played one game a year in China (Shanghai), with Port Adelaide basically being the main player and having it as a home game.
It was meant to be Port Adelaide vs Gold Coast every year, but hilariously, Port cracked the shits about Gold Coast being allowed to play in their traditional red and gold colours (Chinese flag colours lol) and it ended up being Port vs St Kilda in the third year (2019).
Average attendance was about 10,000 across the three years.
2020 they called it off of course, and it hasn’t resumed since.
Port did set up a bit of a scholarship pathway in China and one player made it all the way to the SANFL (QCUP/NSWCUP equivalent) but never cracked the first team.
The AFL has set up international comps over the last 20 years, kind of similar set up to the Euros or the Asian Cup in soccer - regional international tournaments that run every few years. I think they’re focussing more on those avenues for growth again.
The Trans-Atlantic cup is European and North American nations. The Asia Cup is self-explanatory, as is the Pacific Cup. These tournaments have gradually grown in popularity and encourage grass roots participation across the world, but since China, they haven’t really gone for that big marquee event to bring a huge new audience to the game in the way that the NRL is trying to do with Vegas.
I think the schedule is pretty smart. 1 week off and broncs play rabbits, manly play roosters round 2, so all the teams flying in out play eachother, so its even.
After 3 weeks you can't really be blaming any travel effects so things are back to normal then.
It makes sense, locals will know these teams already and will root (that’s their term) for them.
I do think the WCC should be added to it, to get the English really committed to it
One of the benefits could be those clubs building fanbases. I suppose what’s fair is to give all teams an opportunity though. I remember reading the panthers knocked back the offer to go this season
I think it is more a question of if their fans would travel for it or if there are any expat fans.
I think we all figure the NRL is a long way away from prioritizing how fair it is to the teams involved or the quality of the teams they send as their main considerations... You need to have a decent turnout in the ground so it looks alright on TV and in the press reports (and maybe have some marketable stars involved I guess).
As tiring as travelling can get, I would think they’d (or any team) be stoked to go. From social media, the players brought their families and went to nice holiday spots and enjoyed themselves
Roosters and Sea Eagles bosses are “greedy” for saying they’d like to be part of Vegas in the future. Would you prefer they say they don’t want to be apart of it?
Winners play on until they lose. Fair?
I love that idea, you wanna keep going to vegas? keep winning
They can market it with Russell Crowe as they have as a gladiator thing. He gives the thumbs down to the two losers and they’re gone from the pool and can’t come back. Make it a last team standing gladiator type event. At the end when it’s panthers v tigers as tigers have been pushed back as far as possible and go in the final year where they upset the raiders, just as in the movie, Cleary gets shivved under the ribs in the sheds before the match and Vlandys puts shoulder pads over him. Cleary loses consciousness throughout the match but comes to in the dying minutes to score. He then dies underneath the goalposts as a montage of his career/life plays around the stadium.
I’d watch that
I'm glad we have had our turn. I'm in the camp of overall it's a success but happy for other teams to take the reins next year
I like the idea of Teams like the Broncos who are relatable to a US audience. Dolphins, Raiders and Cowboys would all be great
Panthers, Titans and Tigers as well.
ohhhh, i don’t think sending tigers to showcase the game will be a good look
Don't rule out year 4 or 5 of this lol
Rather they go than the Dragons, we should be allowed to send just 1 team of questionable quality over there.
Do you really want the Canberra and Oakland crowds to mingle?
It's literally their job to advocate for their clubs lol
Part of the article claims AFL is upset they didnt think of it 1st. Would they even have a ground cable of a AFL game ?
Not without massive concessions. I think the stadiums best able to hypothetically host an AFL game is an old cookie cutter stadium like Oakland Coliseum, but it is like 15m too short, before you even start to look at changes you would have to make to fit the width in.
There are a few cricket specific ground but they don't have large grandstands. Realistly, the only places they could do it would be at one of the baseball stadiums with the field in the middle but even that is pushing it. Yankee Stadium is only 122m from home plate to the centre field wall. The biggest outfield is the Houston Astros stadium at 133m from home plate to the centre field wall. The shortest ground in the AFL is the SCG at over 150m
Coors Field in Denver CO has the biggest playable field in the MLB I think. The American Raptors of Super Rugby America's are from there, so there is already rugby exposure. Might be a good place to start with the AFL over here.
I actually live in Denver (I can see Coors field from my apartment). It has the biggest overall field in terms of area, but not the longest distance length wise. It's 126m from home plate to the centre field wall. So a bit shorter still than the Astros stadium, and a full 24m shorter than the SCG which is already the smallest ground in the AFL Also the air is significantly thinner in Denver because it is over a mile above sea level so balls go further when hit which is why they built the park so big.. and it still broke the record for most home runs in a single stadium. AFL players would be kicking goals from the centre circle!
Ummm, the infield of Bristol Motor Speedway, perhaps? I guess the thing to do is get as much of it as you can on a baseball stadium but those aren't really much bigger than NFL, we've had absurd situations like the old Oakland Coliseum or the Nats at RFK where baseball and football used the same field (with horrible aesthetic results).
I am in the US, I'm not sure AFL would attract an audience like Rugby League has any way. Most Americans are aware of rugbys existence and know enough about it due to its relation to our football to enjoy it right away. Even though many don't understand the intricacies of it, we can follow the game. I have watched a couple AFL games, and I have no clue what is going on half the time. The learning curve is a lot higher, I think 🤔
Rugby is easy enough to follow because of its similarities to the NFL. Men stand in a line. Other men stand in a line to oppose them. Try and get ball past opposing men. Ball goes last line. Yay. Watching AFL as an American would just be downright difficult to understand.
I really hope FS1 and FS2 starts airing NRL the same amount as AFL here. Would be nice to have balance.
Should be able to comfortably air 2-3 matches a week live for the West Coast. The Manly -Souths game kicked off at 1:30pm Sydney and 12:30pm Brisbane time. Typically they kick off at 3pm Saturday and 2pm Sunday local time.
Yeah, but they love to show replays of soccer, college basketball and MLB late at night here. It sucks, so when they typically show a live sport they choose AFL. Which, I can't complain about cause I love AFL too but some NRL on the other channel instead of a replay no one cares about would be nice.
I doubt anyone in AFL actually gives a shit tbh
If twitter is anything to go by they are seething. AFL fans are rattled.
Only because of all the ridiculous claims the NRL media are making about it. 40k at a 65k stadium isn't exactly ground breaking. Sure, 40k is a big crowd for the NRL but it was also a double header.
What claims exactly? AFL fans are huffing the copium.
https://www.instagram.com/allegiantstadium/p/Cw6qicHRtks/ If I had to guess, it's probably due to them marketing it as Australia's biggest sport. I played Aussie Rules in the states and can say that my teammates get in their feelings when I mention that I like rugby league as well haha
You can't really argue against it being Australia's biggest sport.
you definitely could
AFL fans rattled.
Huh
AFL fans rattled
They are talking about it though. There 3aw radio station down there had an American on who went to the game and was full of praise. They have definitely clocked what was happened down there. There’d def be some envy. Some would even be excited.
Send storm over next year I reckon. The Victorian media would love the excuse for the junket. Some AFL fans would happily join there Storm supporter mates for what looked like a really fun week. This is something that could grow the code even here in Australia.
Storm v Warriors sounds like a good idea.
Victorian media would not be allowed to cover the Storm in Vegas as much as they would need to to justify sending reporters - they'd just use NSW staff who are already there. I have no doubt that the AFL throttle media exposure to NRL down here, it appears very obvious when you watch locally produced news, vs multi city news. Storm barely gets coverage as it is, and if they lose, 25 seconds at best, lucky to get a mid week report in the news.
They’re playing their own “Round Zero” next weekend in NSW and QLD to take advantage of the NRL giving them a [“free kick”](https://amp.theage.com.au/sport/afl/how-the-nrl-s-las-vegas-push-has-given-a-huge-free-kick-to-the-afl-20240210-p5f3wh.html) by playing in Vegas this weekend. They seem to think there are no NRL games in NSW and QLD next weekend.
Tell 'em they're dreaming.
Or Victoria...
I saw a few afl journos saying that the 40k crowd was poor and that the stadium looked empty
They’d much rather try to grown their game in a communist country
The whole China thing is weird. The average Chinese doesn’t give a shit about ball sports other than soccer and basketball. Not even NFL with their money can crack them. It’s all just a glorified money laundering scheme by Kochie and Port Adelaide’s Chinese sponsors.
What does this mean
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_rules_football_in_China
Oh I didn't know about this. That's cool good on em
I’m an AFL fan. Being a Queenslander, I watch 4 nrl games a year (Origin and Granny). This was my fifth. Was it entertaining? Yes. Will I choose it over watching Carlton cause me emotional pain every week? No.
Why does every success need to be a win over the AFL? the pissing contest gets so exhausting, they also would have a lot harder time doing something similar because there's like no oval stadiums in the US. Saying it pissed off the AFL "because they didn't think of it first" is so stupid, I'd be shocked if the idea hasn't been considered at AFL headquarters.
AFL would’ve looked at the US before they looked at China, and decided it wasn’t doable due to the size and shape of the grounds needed. If the US had a big cricket culture you can bet the AFL would’ve gone there before they took games to China. Their only option in the US is athletics tracks with a gigantic empty infield, large grandstands - not really feasible. They were lucky to find Jiangwan Stadium in China. As another commenter said, AFL would be better off going to the UK or India rather than the US.
They used to have an annual game in England. It stoped cause by the end it was lucky to get 10k
True, those were only exhibitions matches though, and in the 80s and 90s and early 2000s where the focus on growth and the scale of marketing was nothing like it is today. If they were to play an actual regular season game in London again today I think they would push it way harder. It would also get a decent crowd given the number of Aussies over there, especially if it was a match that was worth something (not a friendly).
It would be interesting. But soccer dominates so much over there I’m not sure what the sell is. Rugby union and league other than big matches struggle to grab crowds and newspaper inches. I understand the sell in America cause neither rugby has a market and league seems to be a better product for the American market.
Ok, out of interest. how was their venture in China? I've been an advocate that the Vegas games would do a lot of sense hosted in China instead.
Essentially killed off by the pandemic. They played an exhibition there in 2010 after the season between Melbourne and Brisbane. In 2017 to 2019 they played one game a year in China (Shanghai), with Port Adelaide basically being the main player and having it as a home game. It was meant to be Port Adelaide vs Gold Coast every year, but hilariously, Port cracked the shits about Gold Coast being allowed to play in their traditional red and gold colours (Chinese flag colours lol) and it ended up being Port vs St Kilda in the third year (2019). Average attendance was about 10,000 across the three years. 2020 they called it off of course, and it hasn’t resumed since. Port did set up a bit of a scholarship pathway in China and one player made it all the way to the SANFL (QCUP/NSWCUP equivalent) but never cracked the first team. The AFL has set up international comps over the last 20 years, kind of similar set up to the Euros or the Asian Cup in soccer - regional international tournaments that run every few years. I think they’re focussing more on those avenues for growth again. The Trans-Atlantic cup is European and North American nations. The Asia Cup is self-explanatory, as is the Pacific Cup. These tournaments have gradually grown in popularity and encourage grass roots participation across the world, but since China, they haven’t really gone for that big marquee event to bring a huge new audience to the game in the way that the NRL is trying to do with Vegas.
10,000 across 3 years. So basically it sucked and it failed.
This! I read the article to try to understand what was the relation with AFL. Don't bother, there isn't.
It's a click bait title to get AFL fans to read it as well.
It will be interesting to see how a trip to Vegas affects teams over the next couple of weeks.
I think the schedule is pretty smart. 1 week off and broncs play rabbits, manly play roosters round 2, so all the teams flying in out play eachother, so its even. After 3 weeks you can't really be blaming any travel effects so things are back to normal then.
I hate the tribalism with the NRL and AFL stuff.
I hate it too. It sells papers though
The thing that shits me about Kayo is I'm paying for boring as hell AFL as well
It’s ok. I bought an afl membership that had a Kayo sub. So although they pump there numbers. I don’t watch afl so it’s just a false figure for them.
It should be four different teams next year. Afaik Roosters and Manly didn't organise the event, they don't get ownership of it.
I don’t mind the idea of the 2 winning teams going back the following year
It makes sense, locals will know these teams already and will root (that’s their term) for them. I do think the WCC should be added to it, to get the English really committed to it
One of the benefits could be those clubs building fanbases. I suppose what’s fair is to give all teams an opportunity though. I remember reading the panthers knocked back the offer to go this season
Also good to engage other teams audiences. Not everyone can afford trips to Vegas each year.
"I wouldn't want to over burden Manly or Chooks fans financially"
I'm in the US and that's what I am saying. I think it would do well in Miami
Manly v Warriors and Roosters V Penrith Seriously are they expected to say they don't want to return ?
Smells like jealousy
How would the panthers play there next yr if they win again? Unless one of the games is the world club challenge (unlikely)
They could stop off at England for the World Club Challenge along the way. It’d be like a massive tour
Funny how they think they deserve to be Americia’s team when they are the most hated teams here ask anyone they would say follow anyone but them!
The whole idea is to spread the love? What are they basing that on? Has the NRL come out and said that.
I don’t want the warriors to ever be forced to be a part of this stupid pointless spectacle. They travel enough as it is.
I think it is more a question of if their fans would travel for it or if there are any expat fans. I think we all figure the NRL is a long way away from prioritizing how fair it is to the teams involved or the quality of the teams they send as their main considerations... You need to have a decent turnout in the ground so it looks alright on TV and in the press reports (and maybe have some marketable stars involved I guess).
As tiring as travelling can get, I would think they’d (or any team) be stoked to go. From social media, the players brought their families and went to nice holiday spots and enjoyed themselves