Last night we saw the inaugural season of AFLX, and interesting concept to say the least. Although there was a noticeable lack to star power throughout the games.
With most pre-season competitions, clubs used it as a chance to give the younger and more inexperienced guys on the roster match time and gain some more experience that may be used in the regular season.
However, in regard to AFLX, there was a distinct lack of stars that may be the ones to attract viewers to the new competition.
Project Manager David Stevenson claimed that he had not pressured clubs to play some of their more notable characters but he "certainly could have down that route."
"We generally had really strong support from across the clubs, and a couple of coaches came out in strong support".
Yet the talent pool was significantly less than what you would see during the JLT community shield, obviously on a completely different scale. But if the AFL really want viewers to tune in, then perhaps star power should really be considered.
The free-to-air broadcast on 7TWO reached 643,000 viewers maintaining an average of only 171,000 viewers. A pretty big drop, in what is supposed to be a serious pre-season competition.
It is unknown whether bigger names will elevate the game and hold viewers for longer. Hopefully with this season being a trial run, they can improve the game more and make it cater for a greater viewership.
