The imminent expansion of the AFL in the coming years with the introduction of teams from the Gold Coast and Western Sydney will mean that the AFL's 22 round fixture must undergo some change.
Besides the odd experiment with the fixture here and there over recent years, there has not been much movement away from the current, rigid system. The move of one game per round from Sunday afternoon to a twighlight fixture has been controversial with fans but deemed popular enough by the AFL to keep it for its 3rd season.
Once Kevin Sheedy's side from Western Sydney come into the national competition in 2012 there will be 9 games per round instead of 8 and this means one extra timeslot is needed. One thinks that the television networks will have a big say in the 'home' of this new timeslot seeing that they are the ones forking out the big bucks to hold exclusive rights to the AFL content. Thursday Night and Monday Night Football seem to be the most likely options for the extra game as they will provide television networks with maximum exposure in 'primetime'.
For me, Monday Night Football is a must. The success in the US with their own version of Monday Night NFL is something unmatched in this country in terms of ratings for sporting events, they have gone through the roof for American broadcaster ESPN in recent years since they acquired the rights in 2006 to what is now in the US not just a football match but an event. The last couple of years have seen David Gallop and the NRL jump on the Monday Night Football bandwagon alongside pay-tv broadcaster Fox Sports. Together the NRL and Fox Sports have been successfull in making Monday Night Football vialble in Australia and now into its 3rd season looks to have established itself as a permanent fixture on the NRL calander. For once the AFL look to have missed the boat. This may be a reason for Andrew Demetriou and the gang down at AFL House to make Thursday nights their own, however the potential benefits of Monday Night Football are too hard to ignore.
Like in the United States ratings for a broadcaster would be unrivalled, especially for a free-to-air network. Monday Night Football would give the players another chance besides Friday nights to play in the spotlight, under lights, in front of big crowds and huge TV audiences. The potential for Monday nights to prosper is too large to ignore and if scheduled and planned in the right way the AFL could have a big winner on their hands.
Besides the odd experiment with the fixture here and there over recent years, there has not been much movement away from the current, rigid system. The move of one game per round from Sunday afternoon to a twighlight fixture has been controversial with fans but deemed popular enough by the AFL to keep it for its 3rd season.
Once Kevin Sheedy's side from Western Sydney come into the national competition in 2012 there will be 9 games per round instead of 8 and this means one extra timeslot is needed. One thinks that the television networks will have a big say in the 'home' of this new timeslot seeing that they are the ones forking out the big bucks to hold exclusive rights to the AFL content. Thursday Night and Monday Night Football seem to be the most likely options for the extra game as they will provide television networks with maximum exposure in 'primetime'.
For me, Monday Night Football is a must. The success in the US with their own version of Monday Night NFL is something unmatched in this country in terms of ratings for sporting events, they have gone through the roof for American broadcaster ESPN in recent years since they acquired the rights in 2006 to what is now in the US not just a football match but an event. The last couple of years have seen David Gallop and the NRL jump on the Monday Night Football bandwagon alongside pay-tv broadcaster Fox Sports. Together the NRL and Fox Sports have been successfull in making Monday Night Football vialble in Australia and now into its 3rd season looks to have established itself as a permanent fixture on the NRL calander. For once the AFL look to have missed the boat. This may be a reason for Andrew Demetriou and the gang down at AFL House to make Thursday nights their own, however the potential benefits of Monday Night Football are too hard to ignore.
Like in the United States ratings for a broadcaster would be unrivalled, especially for a free-to-air network. Monday Night Football would give the players another chance besides Friday nights to play in the spotlight, under lights, in front of big crowds and huge TV audiences. The potential for Monday nights to prosper is too large to ignore and if scheduled and planned in the right way the AFL could have a big winner on their hands.
No comments:
Post a Comment