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AFL
Australian
Football League
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The
Australian Football League (AFL) is both the professional
Australian national competition in the sport of
Australian Rules Football and its highest governing
body.
The
league comprises sixteen teams which play against
each other in 22 home and away rounds between
late March and late August or early September.
This is followed by a four-week finals series
which culminates in two teams playing off for
the Premiership in the AFL Grand Final.
The
organisation which became the Australian Football
League was formed in 1897 when eight teams from
the Victorian Football Association (VFA, established
1877) broke away to begin the Victorian Football
League (VFL). By 1925 the league had expanded
to twelve teams (all based in Victoria), a configuration
that remained stable until 1982 when the league
commenced its expansion towards a national competition
by relocating a team from Melbourne to Sydney,
New South Wales. Since then five additional teams
from Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia
have joined the league.
The
league was officially renamed the Australian Football
League in 1990 to reflect the sport's official
name of "Australian Football" and the
league's new national perspective and today has
teams based in five of the six Australian states
- with matches played in all states and territories
of Australia.
The
AFL has gained considerable media and financial
strength, as well as control over the game at
most levels through the AFL Commission. It is
now responsible for the rules of Australian Football
through the AFL Rules Committee (consisting of
members from the AFL Players Association). The
AFL also became the de facto world governing body
in 2002. Since 2000, through the commission, the
AFL has pushed for all affiliated leagues and
bodies to co-brand with the league as well as
refer to the sport as "AFL" in preference
to its official name of "Australian Football".
The
AFL is the most attended professional sporting
league in Australia; it is the most popular sport
competition in terms of attendances and TV ratings
of the nation. The previous three AFL Premiership
Seasons have each had a total home and away season
attendance of over six million (currently the
10th most attended professional sports league
in the world) with an average attendance of over
36,000. The AFL is the dominant league in television,
print, and radio news in Victoria, South Australia,
Western Australia, Northern Territory and Tasmania.
In addition, Australian rules football is the
most participated football code in these states
and territories. Despite the traditional popularity
of rugby league in the states of New South Wales,
Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory,
the popularity of the AFL and participation in
Australian rules football is increasing. (Credit:
Wikipedia).
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