How the AFL boosts its numbers to sell its game

[Lockyer4President!]

There you go ;-)

Long said the AFL and its clubs, through programs such as Auskick and Kick-start, had been leaders in embracing indigenous culture.

“The AFL has educated a nation,” he said.

Thanks, you made me throw up...


I was looking for an unbiased report, not a puff piece from the AFL. Surely there'd be one out there somewhere?

I'm sure they have before no doubt but a bloody indigenous round which as mentioned is essentially a normal home and away round wouldn't be one of them. Would they also be trying to take the gloss off origin by scheduling an equally nothing rivalry round up against it as well? Please lol.

What are they supposed to do, not schedule these type things during the two months or so of origin just so it won't be accused by some paranoid league fans of trying to sabotage origin? As i said i have no doubt the AFL have tried in the past to undermine the origin series and other important events in the NRL's calender for that matter, just as every other sport i'm sure has been guilty of at one time or another.

But IMO putting a nothing indigenous round up against it isn't one of those times. Again they would've put the Vics v Dream team game up against it if they wanted to do that on this occasion as it was a game that got a sh*t load more publicity than the indigenous round.

We'll have to agree to disagree. We went the whole year and as soon as Origin starts we have the Indigenous round, a mock origin game, talk of buying Homebush, etc (did they play that oldies exhibition game this year?). It all seems pretty obvious to me.

 

[LordLeague]

Touch Footy and Oztag are both non-contact versions of Rugby League. Surely a small handout from the NRL or ARL would secure NRL/ARL branding for these forms of Rugby League and bring them under the RL banner. Then I'd like to see how many registered RL players there were!.

Anyone know how many Touch Footy and Oztag players there are across Australia?

LordLeague

 

[Ice777]

I was looking for an unbiased report, not a puff piece from the AFL. Surely there'd be one out there somewhere?

You asked for a source to the point i made that there's 72 indigenous players which represents 10% of the entire league. Regardless of whether or not it was a puff piece the article only pointed out what you asked for and validated my original point.

We'll have to agree to disagree. We went the whole year and as soon as Origin starts we have the Indigenous round, a mock origin game, talk of buying Homebush, etc (did they play that oldies exhibition game this year?). It all seems pretty obvious to me.

For starters the the "mock" origin game was played over a week before origin 1, even before the teams were announced so it didn't clash with it in any way at all. The EJ Whitten legends game was played a day before origin 3 but considering it's been going since 1996 and it's a charity game to raise money for prostate cancer i think taking the gloss off origin is the furthest thing from their mind.

Not to mention it has nothing to do with the AFL anyway, they don't even televise it on channel 7 or 10 who as you know are the AFL's broadcasters. It's shown on the NRL's free to air broadcaster, it's totally a channel 9 thing so make of that what you will.

As for the indigenous round it's not like it was a new thing this year and it's been done before. While IMO i think it's a good initiative of the AFL to celebrate the indigenous players of past and present, i'll say it again that it's just your normal everyday home and away round. It also started a couple days after origin 1 so it's not like it was clashing with the lead up or anything like that.

I've agreed that the AFL have tried to foil the NRL in some areas over the years for sure, but this is in no way of of them.

 

[Lockyer4President!]

You asked for a source to the point i made that there's 72 indigenous players which represents 10% of the entire league. Regardless of whether or not it was a puff piece the article only pointed out what you asked for and validated my original point.

I was looking for something like this.

http://www.humanrights.gov.au/racial_discrimination/whats_the_score/index.html

Just a few choice quotes:

There was an 11% participation rate of Indigenous players in NRL starting line-ups in 2006.

“From 1906–1980, records show there were only 18 players who claimed indigenous heritage to have played in the Victorian Football League”.

In 2005, there are 52 Indigenous players on AFL lists representing about seven per cent of the total player list.

It is outdated though so obviously the figures can't be used anymore but on the upside it's an independent report and isn't just a PR piece from AFL.com.au

For starters the the "mock" origin game was played over a week before origin 1, even before the teams were announced so it didn't clash with it in any way at all. The EJ Whitten legends game was played a day before origin 3 but considering it's been going since 1996 and it's a charity game to raise money for prostate cancer i think taking the gloss off origin is the furthest thing from their mind.

Not to mention it has nothing to do with the AFL anyway, they don't even televise it on channel 7 or 10 who as you know are the AFL's broadcasters. It's shown on the NRL's free to air broadcaster, it's totally a channel 9 thing so make of that what you will.

As for the indigenous round it's not like it was a new thing this year and it's been done before. While IMO i think it's a good initiative of the AFL to celebrate the indigenous players of past and present, i'll say it again that it's just your normal everyday home and away round. It also started a couple days after origin 1 so it's not like it was clashing with the lead up or anything like that.

I've agreed that the AFL have tried to foil the NRL in some areas over the years for sure, but this is in no way of of them.

Arguing that just because they aren't on the exact same day as an Origin game is missing the point. They are all scheduled on during the few weeks when origin is on.

 

[Perth Red]

They are our competitors, what do you expect? The sooner we wake up to the fact we are in a war the better.

 

[Ice777]

I was looking for something like this.

No, you asked for a source to prove my statement that there are 72 indigenous players on AFL list that make up 10% of the entire comp. I gave it to you and just because you want to stick your head in the sand and not believe it then that doesn't make the fact any less true.

If you need further proof it's really not that hard to find. They might fudge crowd numbers on the gold coast sometimes like every sport does, but they'd have a sh*t load more trouble hiding indigenous players from playing lists given that info is freely available for anyone who wants to see it including you.

Arguing that just because they aren't on the exact same day as an Origin game is missing the point. They are all scheduled on during the few weeks when origin is on.

So for the 2 months or so origin is on are the AFL not meant to schedule normal home and away rounds with special names just so not to upset a small minority of rugby league fans who accuse them of trying to sabotage origin just by running their league? Do you want them to stop playing all together while origin is on? Even the weeks between games when there's not even any origin teams picked during that time? Fair dinkum i don't believe what i'm hearing.

 

[bobmar28]

Extremely wishful thinking. Look at the Lions, their support is decreasing to what it was before the 4GF's in a row.

Swans support is also decreasing.

 

[Lockyer4President!]

No, you asked for a source to prove my statement that there are 72 indigenous players on AFL list that make up 10% of the entire comp. I gave it to you and just because you want to stick your head in the sand and not believe it then that doesn't make the fact any less true.

If you need further proof it's really not that hard to find. They might fudge crowd numbers on the gold coast sometimes like every sport does, but they'd have a sh*t load more trouble hiding indigenous players from playing lists given that info is freely available for anyone who wants to see it including you.

Don't be so pissy, I was just saying I'd be more likely to believe the figures from the government instead of a puff-piece from the AFL. The AFL are masters at fudging figures so until they break down that '72' and list who plays for who and whether or not they're regular members of the squad then I'll be skeptical.

So for the 2 months or so origin is on are the AFL not meant to schedule normal home and away rounds with special names just so not to upset a small minority of rugby league fans who accuse them of trying to sabotage origin just by running their league? Do you want them to stop playing all together while origin is on? Even the weeks between games when there's not even any origin teams picked during that time? Fair dinkum i don't believe what i'm hearing.

As I have said, it's an obvious decision on their part to schedule a number of events so that the focus is taken away from Origin. Claiming that it's just a co-incidence is pretty laughable.

 

[Chapsta]

Touch Footy and Oztag are both non-contact versions of Rugby League. Surely a small handout from the NRL or ARL would secure NRL/ARL branding for these forms of Rugby League and bring them under the RL banner. Then I'd like to see how many registered RL players there were!.

Anyone know how many Touch Footy and Oztag players there are across Australia?

LordLeague

The numbers rival soccer, i think.

 

[Perth Red]

Never understood why we don't claim them as our own. RL gave up its name far too easily in my opinion at all levels.

 

[Coaster]

Never understood why we don't claim them as our own. RL gave up its name far too easily in my opinion at all levels.

Not sure when this Pdf was done but its saying 141600 over the age of 18.

http://fulltext.ausport.gov.au/fulltext/2000/ascpub/pdf/touch football 2.pdf

 

[Perth Red]

Geez that would give us something to crow about, especially as it is very popular in non Rl heartlands. Come on ARL claim them back!

 

[LordLeague]

ARL/NRL should be falling over themselves to grant some form of ARL membership to Touch Football Australia and Oztag, so that player numbers can be aligned under the RL banner.

Let Gay-FL, Soccer and Yawnion choke on those participation figures when the next Sweeney report is released!

Bean-counters for the big Yawnion and Gay-FL sponsors might have to re-assess their direction if the the true popularity of League was unveiled.

This situation is madness.

LordLeague

 

[Coaster]

http://fulltext.ausport.gov.au/fulltext/2000/ascpub/pdf/touch football 2.pdf

for those that dont like to click

TOUCH FOOTBALL
PROFILE
There are just under 141,600 people over the age of 18 years participating in
touch football in Australia.
On average, touch football participants:
• Are male, aged 34 years and under
• Reside in non-capital city regions of New South Wales and Queensland
• Are Australian born
• Will be married
• Work full time, as intermediate clerical and service workers or trades persons
Participants in touch generally play only this sport. Of those who do participate in
other sports and physical activities, the most popular are rugby league, golf,
netball and indoor cricket.
AGE AND GENDER
There are 141,600 adults play touch nationally; this is a participation rate of 1.1%
of the population aged 18 years or over. Whereas males make up 54.8% of all
participants in all sports and physical activities, nearly three quarters of players
are male (74.4%) and have a participation rate of 1.6%. Only 0.6% of Australian
females aged 18 years or over participate in touch football.
The greatest numbers of players are in the 25-34 year age group for both males
and females– 45.9% of male touch players and 48.7% of female touch players
are in this age group. The sport is also popular with the 18-24 year age group in
which there are 42,400 participants, 30,100 males and 12,300 females.
Participation rates are high for both 25-34 year olds and 18-24 year olds, with
2.4% and 2.3% of persons in each respective age group participating in touch
football. The participation rate declines to 0.1% for the 45 years and older age
group. Overall, 1.65% of Australian adults participate in touch football.
RESIDENCE
There are 73,500 people who take part in touch in New South Wales and 50,400
people in Queensland. These two states account for about 87% of players
nationally.
However, Queensland has a higher participation rate than New South Wales
(2.2% compared with 1.6%), but the sport is also popular in the Northern
Territory where the rate is also 2.2%, and the Australian Capital Territory where
2.1% of adults participate. South Australian and Western Australia have the
lowest recorded participation rates, with only 0.3% of their respective adult
population participating in touch football.
2
For all organised sport and physical activities, people living in non-capital city
regions have a participation rate of 31% which is higher than the rate for capital
city residents which is 26.2%. For touch, the rate of 1.6% for non-capital city
participants is double that of 0.8% for players living in capital cities.
BIRTHPLACE
Of the 141,600 participants, only 11.3% were born outside of Australia (116,100).
The proportion of Australian-born people who play touch football (88.7%) is much
higher than the percentage of Australian-born people in the population (72.6%).
The participation rate for Australian-born players is 1.3% which is higher than the
rate of those born in the United Kingdom, Ireland or New Zealand (0.8%) and for
people born in “other countries” (0.2%).
MARITAL STATUS
The participation rate of touch players who have never been married is nearly
twice that of married players – 1.9% and 1% respectively. The proportion of
players who have never been married (38.4%) is significantly more than both the
proportion of never married people participating in organised sport and physical
activities (29.5%) and the percentage of adults who have never been married
(22.1%). The situation is reversed for married persons – 57% of participants are
married, while for organised sport and physical activity participants and all people
aged 18 years or more, the proportions in this category are 61.1% and 64.5%
respectively.
LABOUR FORCE STATUS
Employed players comprise 89.1% of all adult touch players. The proportion of
players who work full time (76.5%) is substantially higher than the proportion of
Australian adults employed full time (43.8%) and is also higher than the
percentage of participants in all sport and physical activities engaged in full time
work (53.3%). This position is reversed for part time workers. Indeed, 12.6% of
touch football players work part time, while the corresponding proportions for all
adults and participants in all sports and physical activities who work less than 35
hours per week is 17.9% and 19.8% respectively.
OCCUPATION AND INDUSTRY
The most popular occupations of touch footballers are intermediate clerical, sales
and service workers, with 22.1% and 20.5% of touch football participants in these
occupations respectively. In comparison, the proportions for all Australians who
are intermediate clerical, sales and service workers or trades persons and
related workers are 12.4% and 9.1% respectively. Associate professionals is
another popular occupation group for touch players, with a proportion of 14.2%,
nearly two and a half times the proportion of all Australians with this occupation.
3
Nearly one fifth (18.4%) of touch participants work in the retail industry. This is
more than double the percentage of all people in the retail trade (9%) and higher
than the proportion of all sport and physical activity participants in this industry
(10.5%). The next most popular industry of touch players is construction with
12.8% of players in this industry. This is also more than double the percentage of
all people (5.1%) and of all sport and physical activity participants (5.8%) in this
industry.
INCOME
The majority of touch players - 54.1% - earn more than $30,000, compared with
36% of all sport and physical activity participants and 28.2% of Australian adults
with this income. In fact, over 20% of people who participate in touch football
earn an income of over $50,000 per annum. For lower incomes, the position is
reversed – 39% of participants in all sports and physical activities and 45.5% of
Australian adults earn an income of $19,000 or less while just 18.6% of persons
who take part in touch football have an income in this group.
HIGHEST EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION
The highest educational qualification attained by more touch football players than
any other qualification is a secondary school certificate, held by 42.1% of all
people involved.
However this percentage was lower than the proportions of all organised sport
and physical activity participants with a secondary school certificate (45.2%) and
of all persons with this qualification (51.6%).
Nearly 23.7% of touch players have a trade certificate or apprenticeship. This
proportion is almost twice that of participants in all sports and physical activities
(13.1%) and the percentage of all people (12.3%) with a trade certificate or
apprenticeship.
OTHER ORGANISED SPORT AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN
Touch is the only organised sport or physical activity undertaken by 42.2%
(59,700 people) of players. A further 37.6% (53,200 people) participate in one
additional sport or physical activity, while 11.5% (16,300 people) take part in two
other sports or physical activities and 8.7% (12,400) take part in three or more
other sports or physical activities.
Touch football players take part in a wide range of other sports and physical
activities, the most popular of which being rugby league (11,000 participants).
Golf and netball, both of which have 9,600 participants, indoor cricket (9,300
players) and outdoor cricket (8,900 players) are also popular with touch football
players.

 

[Lockyer4President!]

The numbers rival soccer, i think.

Touch footy is bigger than soccer in QLD iirc. There was a write-up in the Brisbane Times at the start of the year.

 

[Perth Red]

That'd make WA's RL playing numbers over 5000!

 

[t-ba]

Touch footy is bigger than soccer in QLD iirc. There was a write-up in the Brisbane Times at the start of the year.

It's also an excellent social sport.

League has a bit of a problem in that you're liable to get killed if you run out onto the field with little idea of what you'r meant to be doing.

 

[Cumberland Throw]

Touch Footy and Oztag are both non-contact versions of Rugby League. Surely a small handout from the NRL or ARL would secure NRL/ARL branding for these forms of Rugby League and bring them under the RL banner. Then I'd like to see how many registered RL players there were!.

Anyone know how many Touch Footy and Oztag players there are across Australia?

LordLeague

Excellent idea mate, you would have to think $100000 to the Governing bodies of touch and oztag with an innovate all encompassing logo, would give NRL grounds to claim the numbers.

I know in Newcastle touch games of Aussie Rules happen on a semi organised basis, I have no doubt they would claim these numbers whe claiming participation.

 

[Lockyer4President!]

Excellent idea mate, you would have to think $100000 to the Governing bodies of touch and oztag with an innovate all encompassing logo, would give NRL grounds to claim the numbers.

That'd make sense, so we all know what the chances of that happening is.