In China

yes i was watching it and thinking - wow this is well done, very smart homework. really well presented for tv audience

Too late to the party

China already has a well established basketball league so apart from some pre season tours and some filler for TV which may generate some sponsor dollars there is not a lot to leverage. This stuff is already under development.

Pretty sure most of the crowd were AFL diehards, either expats or those who made the trip over and the rest probably local corporate freebees. Cant see most Chinese giving a shit about AFL.

Free tickets like women's league games?

It was apparently sold out but the stadium but for like 10,000 people

NBL/Aus basketball have been doing tours, playing in front of larger crowds than that in China for over a decade.

The AFL going over there is the most over rated thing ever

Last season the NBL all star team was playing in front of bigger crowds and had a combined TV audience of like 30 million of people in China, plus whoever watched online in Australia, i doubt this AFL game gets close to that

I've been watching and it doesn't help that it has been a complete fizzer as a contest

Not a chance the ratings will be in the vicinity of 4 million. Absolute beat-up. It'll certainly be the lowest rated game in Australia this weekend - by a fair margin!

Thats pretty much it. All hype generated from the AFL. Nothing unusual about that.

Pre-season NBL and A-leage Asia Champions League been doing this for a long time now. Pity not much notice is taken there (particularly from the NBL).

Dont really get all the fuss though. Its a massively overrated concept.

I just think the AFL (and as much as I like it myself, as i am a fan) they do tend to talk themselves up so much that they think their way bigger than they are.

A few reality checks for them:
1. Its not that big in Western Sydney despite their efforts, going by Giants crowds, even when their winning.

2. Its really stuggling in Brisbane and Gold Coast.

3. The Swans only have to start losing for support in Sydney to drop off.

4. A few Victorian teams arent too healthy themselves.

5. Tasmanian games are getting more frequent, but crowds are still hovering around the 10-12000 mark. Thats poor for an AFL state. A small population should still get more people going.

If it wasnt for a TV deal and the media hype we are subjected to, the league isnt as strong as it projects itself to be. I think it needs to scale back some of these experiments because some of them are failing.

1500 police there to make up the numbers presumably..

It wasn't done to build the sport in china it was done to build sponsorship and financial relationships. It's a long term thing. Despite the lack of resources the NBL is going ok now with the Asian attempt but the fact what's happening now w Asian imports especially didn't start 10 years ago is the problem. The slingers were ahead of their time unfortunately.

"AFL in China, NBL missing opportunities?
The first AFL game in China is today and it's expected to be broadcast to 4 million people. Why hasn't the NBL organised this yet? From what I know basketball is a very popular sport i"


How long have you been asleep buddy? The NBL took a bigger game to China last year and got 30 million viewers. Melbourne United are in China now trying to sort a game. The NBL has done more in China than the AFL ever has the only difference is what the Australian media bothers to talk about.

"How long have you been asleep buddy? The NBL took a bigger game to China last year and got 30 million viewers. Melbourne United are in China now trying to sort a game. The NBL has done more in China than the AFL ever has the only difference is what the Australian media bothers to talk about."

Not an avid follower of the NBL but I never hear anything about the visits to China. Guess that's the difference between the AFL and NBLs hype machines.

The mainstream media is controlled by public interest. If you don't think there's more public interest in AFL and NRL than the NBL, you really need to get your head out of the sand.