AFLW Rd 1: Carlton vs Collingwood at Ikon Park

[mateinone]

So unfortunately this was in my opinion a pretty horrible spectacle. None of the athletes out there tonight looked elite and none showed a great deal of skill (in the 1/2 I ended up watching). Now that is to be expected in a way.. The game is still in it's infancy, the participation numbers are through the roof at the moment and in a few years time the girls entering the AFLW will have been playing the game competitively for a number of years, but... how does the game come close to financially supporting itself in the near future?

If the games are played in the Summer and the season is 7 weeks long, how are the players ever going to generate the income to become professionals? If the season grows to 20 weeks... What sort of TV rights will get done and as it would likely cross over into the Men's season... How many people are going to end up paying even $15 a game to go and watch it? 1000? 5000? 10000? Will people start watching 2 games on a weekend? Will many drop the men's game to watch the women's? Both would seem a little unlikely, is bringing back double headers that go? I think that could work, but I don't think the AFL really want that.

Fremantle has sold I think 40,000 tickets for an upcoming game at $2 a pop, but how many will pay $10+ ?

The problems is that the skills were far more deplorable that I remember, despite talk by some they have greatly improved.. it felt like you were watching players who didn't really grow up playing the game. The lack of composure with the ball, of hitting targets, it really was unfortunately poor and not a lot of people are going to spend their hard earned to watch it at the moment (imo). The comments about U/15 competition is harsh, but is it in fact wrong? You see kids at that level now and most can kick 40-50 meters comfortably, have been playing for a number of years and they can move the ball and kick scores. I said the AFLW would struggle to beat a lot of U/18 sides... I do now think they would struggle to beat most good U/16 sides

I am all for propping the competition up in this short to medium term, but don't the girls need to start training (as much as it is possible) like the men? I know the game is not native to a lot of the girls who have embraced the sport and joined this competition, but you look at how the Irish players convert and we have the blueprint for what we need to get the girls skills up and that includes training 44 weeks a year as well. There is no physical reason why the girls can't put on muscle, why they can't become elite athletes and why they can't kick at least 40m accurately with the right amount of exposure and training.

It is a big ask, but I compare it to Olympic hopefuls and most are doing that with little financial reward and if the women can become elite, then there is potentially a huge payday ahead for them. The women of today need to take this opportunity and invest every part of themselves so that they set the competition up to be sustainable. Otherwise it is in danger of losing it's momentum

Many many hurdles still ahead