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Jack Anderson: GAA could take an awful lot from how the AFL operates

It might be an idea for the GAA to adapt someday: pick a pair of adjacent provincial towns and have a festival of hurling or football (league or championship) over a weekend.

LEAF OUT OF AFL BOOK: Over the Gather Round weekend, most of the teams from interstate stay an extra day putting on coaching clinics and signing autographs for young fans at local clubs. It might be an idea for the GAA to adapt someday: pick a pair of adjacent provincial towns and have a festival of hurling or football (league or championship) over a weekend. Pic: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Thu, 17 Apr, 2025 - 20:00

Jack Anderson

Jack Anderson is a professor of sports law and global expert in governance, and regulation. He advises sporting bodies and contributes widely to public debate – as well as being a Limerick hurling supporter.

Footy season is in full flow here in Australia. The governing body, the AFL, do a lot right, a lot of the time. The manna of modern sport is broadcasting revenue. The AFL are superb at fighting for the last crumb of a TV network’s money.

They also market their sport relentlessly: mid-week shows; multi-media platforms of every kind; spreading the schedule of games from Thursday to Sunday evening – they even make a media event of their weekly tribunals. By the AFL’s book, if you are not a talking point, there is no point.

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