AFLX hype is off the map
THE AFL already has clubs knocking on its door wanting to take AFLX overseas as the league considers playing in Hong Kong next year.
The game’s newest format took to screens across the globe over the last three nights and AFLX project manager David Stevenson said that while there was no time frame for expansion, there had been substantial interest both at home and abroad.
“When you think of the trends in global sport, you’ve got to have regional sports. We want to be able to grow and expand it because we think it’s the best game in the world,” he said.
“If there’s a way to introduce that to great global cities … we’d love to explore it.
“We’ve already been approached by a number of organisations overseas who want to take AFLX.
“And we’ve already been approached by a number of AFL clubs who want to take AFLX overseas as well.”
The idea of a Big Bash League-style franchise system in which players represent teams not associated with AFL clubs excites Stevenson. “We’d love to. Because of the possibilities now with a rectangleshaped field, that allows us to play in places like Hong Kong, Singapore, New York or London,” he said.
“Wouldn’t it be amazing down the track to be able to explore those possibilities with a team in those global cities? That would be amazing for our game.”
League chief executive Gillon McLachlan has forecast a tournament being held in Hong Kong late next year.
It isn’t traditional Australian rules and isn’t trying to be, a “proud” Stevenson said. It’s different, and he said the response had been largely positive, with the league anticipating AFLX could be played “from juniors to the elite level”.
Clubs, players and supporters will be canvassed from tomorrow to deliver their feedback, with the league to potentially tinker with the format before it is taken further abroad.
“There are still some tweaks as we’re learning along the way,” Stevenson said.
“There was a slightly different game style (in Melbourne), so next week, we’ll sit down and take a deep breath and do a bit of an analysis of what worked and what would we tweak for the future.
“We’ll do that and then decide the next step.
“Gill talked about maybe 2019 in Hong Kong.
“There’s definitely some thoughts around that. We want to get the game right, so we’ll listen to the fans, the players and the clubs and then make those adjustments and then see how we go from there.
“We’ve got surveys that will go out (tomorrow) so we want to listen. We want to be able to look at the stats from a workload perspective. Did it give them the experience they were after? What was it like for clubs? What was it like for fans? We’re really interested to see what people think.”