Sustainability of the AFL.

[Bones17]

The AFL will have 19 teams with a population of approx 30 Million.
The NFL has had 32 Teams with a population of 337 Million.
I know the NFL has insane wages but the teams are privately owned.

 

[Steely Danzig]

*18 after Norf fold.

 

[Bones17]

*18 after Norf fold.

I wonder if Hawthorn will still play in Launceston? I imagine the State Government support will be finished.
From what I have been told they are fairly parochial in Tasmania, North v South.

 

[theglove3]

On the face of it you'd think it's unsustainable.
Just too many Teams.

Yet the AFL boffins will find a way to keep their pockets lined.
They let Fitzroy die yet they pump gazillions into AFL wastelands like Broadbeach and West Sydney.
Just a matter of who they want to survive.
Corruption and Greed will lead the way.

But everything's going great, just ask the CEO.

 

[Tigers of Old]

The health of junior football is the big question going forward.

 

[BluesBloke]

The health of junior football is the big question going forward.

I do fear for the sustainability of junior clubs - which in turn feed the senior clubs - due to the socioeconomical shift we're seeing.

Take the eastern suburbs for example. Once a thriving corridor for junior football. But young families currently can't and won't be able afford to live there. Where will the players come from to feed these clubs? Scoresby is a prime example. Once a Premier Division senior club playing off in grand finals, they've been without a junior club for some years now.

Current league models of salary caps and player points systems at senior level dictate that building through your juniors is the way to go. But you can't build if the participation numbers dry up.

Wantirna South, Boronia, Bayswater, Knox, Mitcham, Blackburn, Vermont, etc. are all in that belt - and that's just a mere few to mention.

Prospective home owners and young couples are being forced to the outer south east - as in, Cranbourne, Pakenham, Clyde, Officer etc. So while that corridor may only get stronger and boom, a traditional heartland suffers and likely dies. Swings and roundabouts with the way things turn? Perhaps. But it'll be sad to see, nonetheless.

 

[Bones17]

I do fear for the sustainability of junior clubs - which in turn feed the senior clubs - due to the socioeconomical shift we're seeing.

Take the eastern suburbs for example. Once a thriving corridor for junior football. But young families currently can't and won't be able afford to live there. Where will the players come from to feed these clubs? Scoresby is a prime example. Once a Premier Division senior club playing off in grand finals, they've been without a junior club for some years now.

Current league models of salary caps and player points systems at senior level dictate that building through your juniors is the way to go. But you can't build if the participation numbers dry up.

Wantirna South, Boronia, Bayswater, Knox, Mitcham, Blackburn, Vermont, etc. are all in that belt - and that's just a mere few to mention.

Prospective home owners and young couples are being forced to the outer south east - as in, Cranbourne, Pakenham, Clyde, Officer etc. So while that corridor may only get stronger and boom, another traditional heartland suffers and likely dies. Swings and roundabouts with the way things turn? Perhaps. But it'll be sad to see, nonetheless.

Spot on.