Afl Essay, Research Paper

AFL football is one of the most loved sports in Australia. This popular game attracts over 13.9 million people a year. It has, according to research conducted in 1999 the 3rd highest number of registered players in any Australian sport with the figure standing at 447,436.

As the AFL is a premier sporting competition it commands high levels of corporate sponsorship, massive media coverage for 12 months of the year and huge attendances.

AFL s main sponsor is Coca-cola with other major sponsorship deals with Mc Donald s, CUB, Ansett and Norwich Union.

AFL also requires a corporate partner and this is the seven network which holds all television rights.

The AFL competition is played in Victoria, Queensland, NSW, South Australia and Western Australia, beginning in March every year and finishing in September. Although this year the grand final is to be played earlier than usual so it doesn t clash with the Olympic games.

During this time the 16 clubs play 176 matches and 9 finals, these matches are split between 9 venues including the newest Colonial Stadium and by the year 2001 Stadium Australia will be opened as a new venue for the AFL.

It has been a rapid evolution for the game that began in 1877 as an official competition called VFA. By 1897 VFL had begun with foundation clubs, 6 of them financially secure.

The VFL expanded to 12 teams by 1925. In 1982 there was a significant change when south Melbourne football club relocated to Sydney to become the Sydney Swans.

In 1990 the name, VFL, was changed to the AFL to reflect the game s reach.

The AFL is now divided into 5 key areas, Football operations, finance, game development, commercial operations, corporate affairs and communications.

The AFL has embarked on a program to build the key areas and participation in newly emerging states that guarantee the long-term future of the game throughout Australia.

At the moment the Essendon football club is the best in the league, with 20 consecutive wins, with superb performance and they aren t stopping until, they re crowned the premiers of the year 2000.