AFL in China - will it work?

[Ghost Dog]

Does anyone really think that AFL has a hope of becoming popular in China?
You never know I guess. Most sports that the Chinese play are health promoting, non-contact sports that can usually be played at any life cycle stage. AFL players have to live with constant injuries and not many people over 40 play footy.

I for one cannot see many parents (who have, for the most part, one kid ) wanting their sole child to be involved in something so seemingly brutal.

So no, I can't see it taking off here. IMO.

[GVGjr]

We will never get a big following in other countries so I don't know why the AFL keeps trying to expand the market overseas.

[LostDoggy]

Yes, I really don't understand the AFL's logic at all? Crazy to think the chinese would take to our great game!

[AndrewP6]

Doomed to fail, IMO it's the AFL (and Demetriou) having an inflated opinion of their worth.

[Ghost Dog]

BUT if Japan decides to enter a team here in China I can see it becoming a roaring success! ^_^

[macca]

I have lived and work in China and AFL would nothing be more than a foreign sport to them. Football 's appeal is from grass roots where anyone and everyone can play and go out to the park and have a kick. There is a geniune community feel to football, during or after a game you have a chat with people.

There are no football ovals over there, little soccer ovals, and all the cities are filthy, polluted, and lack any parks and gardens feel. Basketball is popular because people can play in an apartment corner surrounded by 20,000 apartment blocks. At best we may get some overseas educated chinese trying to sell the sport to the local people, or explain the peculiarities. Chinese is a language may be difficult to translate australia slang. It needs to be grown at the grass roots level. Everyone understands soccer because its quite a simple game, and you can watch a telecast in another language to get the gist of the sport. In Australia, aussies rules becomes second nature because we have grown up with it, and understand the legends and whole build up to the season. Nonetheless, it is a great field trip for any AFL team heading off to China. The chinese athletically do have the population to have good afl players, but they will take massive investment and some brilliant and passionate development personnel. Maybe they should promote the AFL dreamteam online first, and a 1million RMB prize to the winner?

[LostDoggy]

Agree that the AFL's push in China is somewhat hopeful, but only from a participation point of view.

It seems that a lot of organisations see the country as a potential unexplored gold mine and in some respects it is. For the sport of AFL it is definitely a untapped market, and the AFL are correct in exploring the opportunity.

If they are only able to capture the minds of 0.01% of the population this roughly equates to 150,000 thousand people, image if they could capture 0.1% of the population.

I believe their main aim is to secure the sale of TV content. If successful at this level, it will shoehorn other potential revenue opportunities in the future.

I wonder if anyone ever told the Xmas tree farmer that he was wasting his time planting pine trees, knowing full well that he would have no chance of selling his goods for at least 8-10 years?

[LostDoggy]

No offence Gd, it's a bit of a joke question. No chance. They are struggling to get a proper foot hold outside the footy states

[Ghost Dog]

How is it a joke question?. And it wasn't my idea. The AFL are the ones who now have free to air AFL in China, run clinics and so forth.
Having been here for half a year now, I just think it's money down the toilet. Which is the point of the thread. To question needless expenditure.

[Murphy'sLore]

As one who has been converted to football in the last few years, I question whether you really need to have grown up with it, known the legends, kicked a ball round the park etc to be won over - at least as a spectator. But the thing that made the biggest difference to me was having a team to go for, that changed everything. I don't know how you'd persuade completely indifferent Chinese viewers that the Dogs are better than the Magpies.

[Remi Moses]

Not a snow flakes chance in hell of it taking off.More chance of Aker coming back to the club as an assistant.

[LostDoggy]

How is it a joke question?. And it wasn't my idea. The AFL are the ones who now have free to air AFL in China, run clinics and so forth.
Having been here for half a year now, I just think it's money down the toilet. Which is the point of the thread. To question needless expenditure.

Sorry my wording was poor.
It's pretty obvious it's not going to work

[Cyberdoggie]

How is it a joke question?. And it wasn't my idea. The AFL are the ones who now have free to air AFL in China, run clinics and so forth.
Having been here for half a year now, I just think it's money down the toilet. Which is the point of the thread. To question needless expenditure.

Your probably in a better position than we are to judge, but would you say that if the AFL got support of the chinese government then it would be a different story?

I don't really know how it works over there but being a government controlled communist country, i would assume they basically tell you to jump and you say how high.
I guess the other positive is that you are pretty much working with a blank slate, not like in Queensland and NSW where they follow a different sport and you are working on convincing them to follow your sport. Sure there is soccer, basketball etc but with a billion people that gives you plenty of room to work with.

Will i think it will work?.....probably not, as we won't put the money into it that is required.

The other option is if we invaded China, made them a colony and forced them to play AFL.
then perhaps they might take it up, hey it worked for the british empire.

[Ghost Dog]

Look I have no doubt the Chinese could produce elite footy players.
Main issue as I see it. What are current priorities for the game.

The AFL has opened up two new fronts in 2010 - GWS and the Gold coast. In the case of the Gold coast, can see it succeeding, but with GWS, it's quite a gamble.
To me, any money spent in China seems a real waste of money. We would be far better off trying tofurther Asian Pacific links or strengthen the code at home by supporting Tas or NT. Ask any North Melbourne or Port fan how stable they are feeling at the moment.

Cyberdoggie, if needed, I reckon our army could probably manage to invade Macau, if they were very lucky.