Newscorp and International League expansion

[Bombay Devils RLFC]

Except the chances of anyone from another country becoming interested or invested in any way in an obscure Australian sports league are slim, certainly on any sort of meaningful scale. It works for the NFL because of the sheer size and magnitude of the league, and because people are culturally obsessed with America. But that isn't the case with Australia, nobody cares, nobody is going to care no matter how good the product is because it isn't something that is relevant to anyone outside of Australia, it isn't something that anyone has ever heard of.

If the NRL want to expand their brand overseas then international development is absolutely the ONLY way to go, it's too bad the majority of idiots at the ARLC/News won't ever see this.

Evil - the history of the Australian Football in Canada is an interesting one. The game got some traction based on it being shown on TV there in the early 1980's. Such was the interest they ended up playing exhibition games in front of crowds of over 30k.

There are some 19 clubs there now which is not great but for a sport that is completely foreign to a Canadian it is a pretty good effort.

Not so sure about internationals as being the only way forward. I can only speak for myself but growing we all had a favourite EPL side (back then divisions) that we followed even though it was not our preferred sport. Having a weekly competition structure in this case does have its benefits.

 

[Lockyer4President!]

Evil - the history of the Australian Football in Canada is an interesting one. The game got some traction based on it being shown on TV there in the early 1980's. Such was the interest they ended up playing exhibition games in front of crowds of over 30k.

There are some 19 clubs there now which is not great but for a sport that is completely foreign to a Canadian it is a pretty good effort.

Not so sure about internationals as being the only way forward. I can only speak for myself but growing we all had a favourite EPL side (back then divisions) that we followed even though it was not our preferred sport. Having a weekly competition structure in this case does have its benefits.

AFL got 30K to a game in Canada? Really?

Since it was the 1980's I can assume that there are plenty of pictures of this.

 

[Evil Homer]

Evil - the history of the Australian Football in Canada is an interesting one. The game got some traction based on it being shown on TV there in the early 1980's. Such was the interest they ended up playing exhibition games in front of crowds of over 30k.

There are some 19 clubs there now which is not great but for a sport that is completely foreign to a Canadian it is a pretty good effort.

Even if AFL did have a big crowd (which I'm extremely dubious about), it doesn't mean a thing. RL had a crowd of over 30,000 in Russia in the early 2000s, RU had a crowd of over 60,000 in Chicago last year, it doesn't mean that anyone there is seriously interested in RU or that there is any type of market penetration there. This sort of thing is pure fantasism. If you want to do some legit comparison, AFL Canada has around 700 likes on Facebook whereas Canada RL has 3,800 and another 2,000 for the national team despite only being formed a couple of years ago.

TBH it's still amusing to me that you people actually see AFL as a legit sport.

Not so sure about internationals as being the only way forward. I can only speak for myself but growing we all had a favourite EPL side (back then divisions) that we followed even though it was not our preferred sport. Having a weekly competition structure in this case does have its benefits.

You're talking about a sport that is BY FAR the most popular and established international sport in the world. Use your brain.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

The only thing as stupid as thinking RL will take over the world if we get the nrl on TV in other countries is thinking getting it on TV overseas will do nothing for the game.

 

[gyallop]

Soccer in Australia when I was a kid in the bush was something that had a weird co-existence with rugby league. Boys played soccer till under 12 then swapped to rugby league so except in big towns soccer didn't exist over u/12 level and rugby league didn't exist for under 12s.


I and my mates were blissfully unaware that Australia had an international team but we all knew of Man U Liverpool etc and thought that was the pinnacle of soccer.


The NRL strategy follows that "logic" as its international vision is to grow its own brand and clubs not actual international games which they see as a bother as they make the compulsory player breaks hard for the clubs.
This may have the effect of one day helping true international footy but that will be an unintended by product of what the NRL is doing IMO.

 

[PacificCoastRL]

I was at that Aussie Rules game in Vancouver in 1987. North Melbourne v Sydney Swans. I'm trying to remember the name of the guy for Swans. Blonde hair, short shorts. Over 30,000 by a bit. It was at BC Place Stadium on artificial turf. The thing I remember most is that the players cover their elbows shoulders and knees in tape to avoid "carpet burn". This is about the same time I first saw rugby league on TV. TSN, the first Canadian sports channel had just started out and they were showing anything as they didn't have any contracts with the Big 4 sports in North America. Two of the leagues they showed were the AFL (at that time the VFL) and the NRL (at that time the NSWRL). That television presence along with a push by Australian Tourism (we had"shrimp on the barbi" up the yingyang) on North American media helped produce the crowd.

 

[Lockyer4President!]

I was at that Aussie Rules game in Vancouver in 1987. North Melbourne v Sydney Swans. I'm trying to remember the name of the guy for Swans. Blonde hair, short shorts. Over 30,000 by a bit. It was at BC Place Stadium on artificial turf. The thing I remember most is that the players cover their elbows shoulders and knees in tape to avoid "carpet burn". This is about the same time I first saw rugby league on TV. TSN, the first Canadian sports channel had just started out and they were showing anything as they didn't have any contracts with the Big 4 sports in North America. Two of the leagues they showed were the AFL (at that time the VFL) and the NRL (at that time the NSWRL). That television presence along with a push by Australian Tourism (we had"shrimp on the barbi" up the yingyang) on North American media helped produce the crowd.

AFL struggles to get 30K in Brisbane after 30 years of professional competition and hundreds of millions in marketing.

I'd really like to see video or pictures of this game.

 

[siv]

Sounds so 1995

 

[Bombay Devils RLFC]

Even if AFL did have a big crowd (which I'm extremely dubious about), it doesn't mean a thing. RL had a crowd of over 30,000 in Russia in the early 2000s, RU had a crowd of over 60,000 in Chicago last year, it doesn't mean that anyone there is seriously interested in RU or that there is any type of market penetration there. This sort of thing is pure fantasism. If you want to do some legit comparison, AFL Canada has around 700 likes on Facebook whereas Canada RL has 3,800 and another 2,000 for the national team despite only being formed a couple of years ago.

TBH it's still amusing to me that you people actually see AFL as a legit sport.You're talking about a sport that is BY FAR the most popular and established international sport in the world. Use your brain.

Let me make simply for you Evil because you do not seem to get it. I have not stated that this would work if the NRL was shown in Canada. I have simply stated what happened when Aussie Rules was shown there. Clubs where formed directly due to this. Here is the source and I recall when it happened at the time'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_rules_football_in_Canada

By the way the AFL has the 5th highest average crowds in the world. Not bad for a domestic competition that is mainly based out of a city of 4M.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sports_attendance_figures

If you think that facebook likes makes a sport more popular then why is the more AFL clubs in Canada than RL clubs? Talk about using brains

My point is that a club competition which runs on a weekly basis has just as much chance to be popular than a one off international route that you have suggested. Why you think this has not been explained but you are quick to have a go at others that have a different opinion.

 

[Heritage XIII]

I was at that Aussie Rules game in Vancouver in 1987. North Melbourne v Sydney Swans. I'm trying to remember the name of the guy for Swans. Blonde hair, short shorts. Over 30,000 by a bit. It was at BC Place Stadium on artificial turf. The thing I remember most is that the players cover their elbows shoulders and knees in tape to avoid "carpet burn". This is about the same time I first saw rugby league on TV. TSN, the first Canadian sports channel had just started out and they were showing anything as they didn't have any contracts with the Big 4 sports in North America. Two of the leagues they showed were the AFL (at that time the VFL) and the NRL (at that time the NSWRL). That television presence along with a push by Australian Tourism (we had"shrimp on the barbi" up the yingyang) on North American media helped produce the crowd.

I can actually back up the large crowd in Canada for the AFL exhibition. There were several of these games throughout North America during that time. Don't know much else about them but can only help if the NRL took some matches there.

 

[thorson1987]

NVM

Should read more of the thread before posting.

 

[Lockyer4President!]

Let me make simply for you Evil because you do not seem to get it. I have not stated that this would work if the NRL was shown in Canada. I have simply stated what happened when Aussie Rules was shown there. Clubs where formed directly due to this. Here is the source and I recall when it happened at the time'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_rules_football_in_Canada

By the way the AFL has the 5th highest average crowds in the world. Not bad for a domestic competition that is mainly based out of a city of 4M.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sports_attendance_figures

If you think that facebook likes makes a sport more popular then why is the more AFL clubs in Canada than RL clubs? Talk about using brains

My point is that a club competition which runs on a weekly basis has just as much chance to be popular than a one off international route that you have suggested. Why you think this has not been explained but you are quick to have a go at others that have a different opinion.

Wiki links edited by the nutters who have a list of 100+ countries playing Aussie Rules? LOL

Just f**k off.

 

[The Great Dane]

AFL struggles to get 30K in Brisbane after 30 years of professional competition and hundreds of millions in marketing.

I'd really like to see video or pictures of this game.

Wiki links edited by the nutters who have a list of 100+ countries playing Aussie Rules? LOL

Just f**k off.

Strangely I couldn't find any pictures or videos of the Melbourne vs Sydney game in Vancouver (or of the Carlton vs Hawthorn game in Tokyo that I remembered getting a large crowd of about 20 thousand either), but I remember at the time that it was an anomaly because the VFL were playing games all over the world at that time (London, Miami, Tokyo and Toronto all had games that I can remember for certain, but I know for sure that there were others as well but I can't remember exactly where), and they were getting an average of about 5-10 thousand to them (the exception being Tokyo where they got about 20 thousand), then Melbourne played Sydney in Vancouver and and they got an enormous crowd of about 30 thousand that seemed to just come out of nowhere.

They couldn't back it up though because Melbourne played North Melbourne in Vancouver about a week or so later and that game only pulled about 10 thousand so who knows exactly why so many people showed up to the first game but not the second, but the VFL definitely did get a crowd of about 30 thousand in Vancouver once back in the day.

Here's the only evidence I could find for either the Vancouer or Toyko game (which I reiterate, is very strange considering that both games were kind of a big deal back in the day)- https://news.google.com.au/newspapers?id=A-YxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=C5MDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6239,299949&hl=en

And here are a couple of links to other VFL games played in Canada- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJXiMTTdbkQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVB78GIiing

 

[Evil Homer]

My point is that a club competition which runs on a weekly basis has just as much chance to be popular than a one off international route that you have suggested. Why you think this has not been explained but you are quick to have a go at others that have a different opinion.

Laughable Wikipedia links aside, what exactly are you talking about? Do you think Canada contributes to the AFL in any meaningful way, or that they have any sort of penetration into the Canadian market? You are aware that if people in Canada are actually forming clubs and playing AFL that this constitutes international development? That isn't what the NRL guy in the OP was talking about, and isn't what anyone in this thread was talking about either. Exhibition matches can boost interest, that is indisputable. But drawing a big crowd a for a one-off exhibition match doesn't mean that there is any real local interest in the sport or anything much to be gained apart from that one-off crowd. Pretending otherwise is just fantasy.

Local, one-league sports are never, ever going to expand internationally. It just isn't going to happen. GAA I believe gets huge crowds in Ireland but nobody in the UK really knows what it is, I doubt too many people outside of avid sports fans have even heard of it. Until I joined this forum I legit thought AFL was just a quirky cultural thing like Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling, I didn't even consider that you took it as a serious sport. Even the NFL, which sells out a bunch of matches in London every year and has a huge fanbase compared to just a couple of years ago (which is embarrassing for RL really), will never be taken seriously at a domestic level because it isn't an international sport. RL has an irrefutable developmental advantage over any of these type of sports, and to ignore it purely for the sake of insularity and because the NRL have their heads up their own ass is plain idiocy.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

To suggest playing a few exhibition games or getting NRL on TV overseas is ignoring development is plain idiocy. It's part of it not an alternative to it. Pretending this has no benefit to development is just fantasy.

 

[Evil Homer]

To suggest playing a few exhibition games or getting NRL on TV overseas is ignoring development is plain idiocy. It's part of it not an alternative to it. Pretending this has no benefit to development is just fantasy.

Are you talking to me? :?

 

[Bombay Devils RLFC]

Wiki links edited by the nutters who have a list of 100+ countries playing Aussie Rules? LOL

Just f**k off.

Ok Lockyer4President - you are not clear about what parts you disagree with from this source however if it is about the games getting 30k+ as you seem to think did not happen here is an article about the coverage from the Canadian papers at the time.

http://www.blogto.com/city/2013/07/that_time_australian_rules_football_came_to_toronto/

No need to apologise I deal with people who have learning difficulties every day:lol:

 

[Lockyer4President!]

Ok Lockyer4President - you are not clear about what parts you disagree with from this source however if it is about the games getting 30k+ as you seem to think did not happen here is an article about the coverage from the Canadian papers at the time.

http://www.blogto.com/city/2013/07/that_time_australian_rules_football_came_to_toronto/

No need to apologise I deal with people who have learning difficulties every day:lol:

I asked you for pics and you linked me to a blog post. Great work champ.

Look at the videos posted above, crowd is in the hundreds not tens of thousands...

If you've got pics then post them. If not, scurry back to editing Wikipedia.

 

[LESStar58]

I was at that Aussie Rules game in Vancouver in 1987. North Melbourne v Sydney Swans. I'm trying to remember the name of the guy for Swans. Blonde hair, short shorts. Over 30,000 by a bit. It was at BC Place Stadium on artificial turf. The thing I remember most is that the players cover their elbows shoulders and knees in tape to avoid "carpet burn". This is about the same time I first saw rugby league on TV. TSN, the first Canadian sports channel had just started out and they were showing anything as they didn't have any contracts with the Big 4 sports in North America. Two of the leagues they showed were the AFL (at that time the VFL) and the NRL (at that time the NSWRL). That television presence along with a push by Australian Tourism (we had"shrimp on the barbi" up the yingyang) on North American media helped produce the crowd.

This would have been the old Fosters Cup pre season comp. I remember them playing in Canada and London but nowhereelse. The bloke you are thinking of is Warwick Capper who represents everything wrong with Australian culture and society

As for promoting rugby league, if that chattering pirate skeleton on loan from Disneyland does what he says they'll do then I'll eat my hat!

 

[deal.with.it]

I asked you for pics and you linked me to a blog post. Great work champ.

Look at the videos posted above, crowd is in the hundreds not tens of thousands...

If you've got pics then post them. If not, scurry back to editing Wikipedia.

Did you even read the article? There is several newspaper articles included with crowd figures. From the archives of a toronto newspaper. Sure, the 30k crowd isn't listed but two crowds of 24k and 18k are. Not bad at all.