The AFL continues to follow in the footsteps of American sports, Mark Robinson says
THE AFL continues to follow in the footsteps of American sports with the start of Sunday Night Football, writes Mark Robinson.
THE Americanisation of the AFL continues unabated.
It’s not so much a bad thing for the sport, although not everything American is a winner here.
Over there, they sing the national anthem at the start of a game of bingo. Over here, people complain if the national anthem is played at more than one game over the Anzac Day weekend.
It cheapens the meaning, they argue, which is a silly argument.
But is the American thing cheapening footy?
The American influence started with the introduction of the salary cap and national draft, two components that are the pillars of the competition and the fundamental reasons why the AFL is fair and why the English Premier League is a joke.
Important bibs and bobs followed. The racial vilification mandate, drug testing, respect and responsibility, all aspects covered by American sports.
On the field, the previous two years has seen a serious shift to the American way.
Free agency converged, sending Gazza to the Gold Coast and Buddy to Sydney, among others, which forever changes the once-mighty romantic notion that most players played for one club.
It’s a notion that is now gone forever, and the kids are the losers.
Most adults understand the money can be obscene and cannot be ignored, but I know many who have had difficulty explaining that to their sons and daughters.
Kids aren’t everything, but when you’re a kid, your heroes are. But, kids, you have to learn to live with it, just as the American kids have had to.
Moreover, the Americanisation of the draw and its future took significant steps.
Sunday Night Football was introduced, which has cool ring to it, as much as Monday Night Football has in NFL.
The AFL said it was testing the market, but six games is more than testing the market, it is trying to control the market. Why else would they play Collingwood v Carlton and Essendon v Carlton, two 80,000 blockbuster crowds at any other timeslot? This is not a test, it’s a takeover. And you have to wonder how 60 Minutes viewers will respond in the end bit, where people whinge and so forth.
The AFL, which once played six Saturday afternoon games starting at 2pm with Alan Martello on radio around the grounds, is now played Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and the AFL has a little toe in on Mondays.
Make no mistake, Sundays are not only here to here to stay, they are here to flourish.
And make no mistake, Good Friday Footy is on its way. The AFL’s Gillon McLachlan said it was ‘’50-50’’ to be introduced in 2015K. By next September it will be 90-10.
And why wouldn’t it be. The National Basketball Association in America has been playing huge double-headers on Christmas Day for years, and the people love it.
And you have to wonder what’s next.
One day, Collingwood will have 120,000 members and the club will want all of them to get first dibs on tickets at the MCG, effectively meaning a lockout of opposition supporters. Don’t laugh, it’s been happening in American stadiums for decades.