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Victorian bias in the Australian Football League

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Victorian bias in the Australian Football League (also known as "VicBias") is an assertion by critics of the Australian Football League (AFL) that there is an intrinsic bias towards its Victorian based clubs and Victorian developed players. Causes attributed to the alleged bias range from

Background

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In 1982 the VFL relocated the South Melbourne Football Club to Sydney in New South Wales with the following decade seeing the competition established clubs in all Australian mainland states. By 1997 there were 10 clubs located in Victoria and 6 clubs located outside of that the state. After a further series of expansion clubs being introduced the AFL consists of 8 clubs outside Victoria whilst retaining 10 clubs inside it. This imbalance of clubs inside and outside Victoria is often cited as the main, or even only, cause of any bias.[1]


Commonly cited examples of bias

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Assertions of bias towards Victorian based clubs in the AFL are multifaceted.

Grand Final location

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Main article: AFL Grand Final location debate

The location of the AFL Grand Final is often the subject of allegations of Victorian bias in the AFL due to long-term deals for it to be hosted at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.[2] The AFL Women's does not have this arrangement and the Grand Final is rotated to the qualifying club's best available home venue.

History, clubs and expansion

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Further information: Expansion of the Australian Football League

During its history, the league has consistently prioritised Victorian clubs in its national expansion in an effort to maintain their history, tradition and fanbase. As such the vast majority, 12 of 18 AFL clubs in 2024, present strong Victorian Football League identities. Two notable cases of this are the Sydney Swans (who began in South Melbourne) and the Brisbane Lions (who merged with the Fitzroy Football Club). In both cases the league subsidised the retention of their Victorian histories and identities in the new national competition.[3][4][5] In 1981 the league dismissed new license proposals from Perth, Adelaide, Canberra and Sydney prior to incentivising the relocation of South Melbourne to Sydney.[6][7] And despite the club not being accepted there, continued for decades to heavily subsidise it and re-tender the license to ensure its survival across the Barassi Line over a wide range of proposals involving non-Victorian licenses.[8][9] The league pushed to move struggling Fitzroy to Brisbane as early as 1986 initially giving the proposal first priority over a new Brisbane license[10][11] and ultimately forcing the merger in 1996.[12][13]

Likewise the league strongly prioritised relocation of the North Melbourne Football Club over plans for new clubs in Canberra, Gold Coast, Greater Western Sydney and Tasmania as new licenses with their own identities.[14][15] Both Fitzroy and North Melbourne strongly resisted these moves abd the AFL persisted despite the clubs failing to gain any significant following in the new markets.

The league since the 1980s has charged many millions in new license fees which were distributed to its primarily Victorian members to support their financial survival.[16] In 2004 it introduced a Competitive Balance Fund (CBF) which subsidised primarily the continued existence of struggling Victorian clubs. While the variable fund now supports its non-Victorian expansion clubs, in 2023 struggling clubs like North Melbourne and St Kilda, Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs receive similar amounts to Brisbane despite its higher levels of debt, and these four Victorian clubs received more than the five out of eight non-Victorian clubs.[17] In addition emergency funds have been given as grants outside the CBF in 2003 to North Melbourne, Western Bulldogs, Carlton in 2006 and Melbourne in 2009 and 2013 to prevent insolvency.[18]

In contrast, its has been less forthcoming to non-Victorian clubs. Expansion clubs the West Coast Eagles and Brisbane Bears, whose $4 million 1986 license fees kept Fitzroy and Footscray trading both came to the brink of financial collapse within two seasons.[19][20] In 1989 as both clubs were about to fold their Victorian counterparts continued to trade.[19][20] Neither the Eagles or Bears recieved league assistance, instead it sold the Bears to Reuben Pelerman[20] and the West Australian Football Commission bought up a significant stake in the Eagles to ensure their survival.[19] The Port Adelaide Football Club was required to significantly modify its identity to protect the identity of Victorian club Collingwood prior to being granted entry to the league.[21] In 2009, the league initially denied Port emergency funds when it faced a financial crisis, instead it faced the threat of its license being revoked and was demanded to seek funds from the South Australian National Football League, in place of an emergency grant the league brokered a deal that involved a loan from the SANFL and a buy-back of the club's AFL license.[22][23]

Despite rebranding as the AFL in 1990, the league retains all Victorian records since becoming a national competition, meaning that it will take many decades for non-Victorian clubs and players to challenge existing records such as Victorian premiership tallies and Victorian player records which have an almost century long head start.

Fixturing bias

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As a result of the majority of the 18 AFL clubs being based in Victoria the competitions fixture provides an unequal distribution of home games. The AFL is often criticised for scheduleing the big 4 Victorian clubs being fixtured with an unequal distribution of games at their home grounds in Victoria than other clubs, however the league cites commercial factors such as audience maximisation.[24]

Travel burden

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Due to the unequal distribution of teams based inside and outside Victoria, non-Victorian based players are required to travel far greater distances during their careers. This travel burden discrepancy is highlighted by comparing the distance travelled by West Coast Eagles players Darren Glass, Daniel Kerr, Mark LeCras, Quinten Lynch and Chris Masten all travelling over 515,000 km in their first 200 games compared to Collingwood players Ben Johnson, Alan Didak, Dane Swan, Josh Fraser and Travis Cloke all travelling less than 96,000 km for their first 200 appearances in the AFL.[25]

Friday night broadcasts

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Friday nights are regarded as the premier time slot for AFL fixtures as they are broadcast nationally on free to air, consequently generating the largest TV audiences of the week for the competition. Victorian clubs often dominate the Friday night fixture, and it is asserted that this is the result of broadcasters' preference for those matches to involve Melbourne teams, as that city is the largest market for the competition.[26]

Public holiday events

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The AFL fixture has a heavy bias towards providing Victorian clubs with stand alone public holiday fixtures.[citation needed] The Anzac Day match has since 1995 been perpetually held in Victoria at the Melbourne Cricket Ground between Collingwood and Essendon, and is often cited as an example of a Victorian-centric approach to commemorating the national public holiday.[27] Victoria is the only state to get a dedicated public holiday for the AFL competition; non-Victorian clubs are required to travel early to Melbourne on Grand Final eve to participate in festivities.[28]

Media

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Player appraisals

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As a result of both the AFL administrative headquarters (AFL House) and the majority of the league's teams being located in Victoria the majority of the competitions associated media is based in Victoria. As a result, it is asserted that the media that covers the game has a bias towards Victorian clubs and particularly Victorian based players with critics suggesting that players of Victorian clubs garner a higher profile compared to their non-Victorian counterparts.[29]

Clash uniform policy

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Supporters of non-Victorian clubs often complain about the AFL's clash uniform policy which is lenient on Victorian based clubs but strongly upheld for non-Victorian clubs.[30] Richmond, Carlton and Collingwood are often singled out as almost never adhering to the AFL's 'Clash Uniform Policy'.[31] However, in more recent times Richmond have been more accepting of the policy, wearing a full clash uniform for the 2017 AFL Grand Final.[32]

Subsidisation

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There have been claims that supporters of non-Victorian clubs pay higher ticket prices than those in Melbourne with the former effectively subsiding the latter.[30]

State of Origin and representative football

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Further information: Representative matches in Australian rules football

In 1990 the league made selection exceptions to State of Origin rules resulting in three of the four best players representing Victoria who were not even from Victoria, including Hawthorn's Jason Dunstall and Essendon's Terry Daniher from Queensland and New South Wales respectively.[33] Upon taking over State of Origin in 1993, it merged 4 states and territories effectively removing their representation in interstate football. In 1994 it merged further states into a composite team called The Allies representing multiple states. Despite the competition being popular outside of Victoria and the unpopularity of these composite sides, it abolished State of Origin in 1999. After this it would schedule matches (AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match and State of Origin for Bushfire Relief Match) such that only Victoria would compete as a standalone state effectively preventing all other states from challenging it and all players from outside Victoria from representing their state of origin.[34] In 2017 the AFL removed representative teams from the National Championships in favour of teams based on its clubs to secure talented athletes from other sports, which means that players from other states are not able to achieve state selection on merit from their local competitions.

Recruitment and AFL draft system

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Disproportionate number of players recruited from Victoria

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See also: Geography of Australian rules football

More than 60% of professional AFL players are recruited from the state in 2017 despite it having just 30% share of registered players worldwide and 40% of Australian players. While this reflects the proportion of Victorian clubs in the competition, it also denies many players from oustide Victoria the opportunity to play the sport professionally. AFL clubs across the country have been accused of focusing their recruitment on Victorian developed players. Critics claim that this is because current pathways favour them.[35] This is exacerbated by a "go home factor" where clubs won't risk recruiting players from outside the state who could return due to homesickness.[36][37] The AFL run Talent League which is based in Victoria and predominantly consists of Victorian teams is promoted as the best way to recruit players, with the vast majority of players being sourced from its ranks.[38][39] Victorian AFL clubs have lobbied against the introduction of northern academies aimed at increasing the number of players from developing states like New South Wales and Queensland.[40][41] This bias is not as evident in the AFL Women's competition where despite a similar demographic distribution, the most successful clubs appear to be more open minded to non-Victorian and local talent.[42][43]

Father–son rule

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The AFL draft includes a father–son rule, allowing clubs priority access to recruit the sons of former players. During the first two decades of the non-Victorian clubs' existences, this rule applied unequally to Victorian and non-Victorian clubs: for Victorian clubs, it applied to sons whose fathers who had played 100 games for their club; for Western Australian clubs, it applied to sons whose fathers had played 150 games for one of four WAFL clubs; and for South Australian clubs, it applied to sons whose fathers had played 200 games for one of four or six SANFL clubs.[44] This was supposed to create a roughly equitable outcome, but failed in practice, with very few South Australian or Western Australian sons ever recruited under the state-league eligibility rule.[45][46]

Next Generation Academy (NGA)

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When the AFL introduced the NGA, vic clubs were given access 12 months before SA and WA, and then SA and WA were limited to indigenous players selected after pick 40 except for two remote regions.[citation needed]

Australian Football Hall of Fame

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Main article: Australian Football Hall of Fame

The Australian Football Hall of Fame has been criticised by football writers and historians for being heavily biased towards figures from Victoria.[47] The initial selection committee was made up of 11 Victorians, one South Australian and one Western Australian, with the current selection committee being made up of six Victorians, two Western Australians and one South Australian. Of the 136 inaugural inductees into the Hall of Fame, 116 played substantial parts of their careers in Victoria, with eleven of the thirteen "Legends" from Victoria.[48]

Commonly cited examples of non-Victorian advantages

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It is often argued by Victorian football commentators that the non-Victorian teams have the only real home ground advantages in the competition as they host travelling sides every second week whereas Victorian clubs are often hosting games against other Victorian clubs resulting in neutral fixtures in regards to home ground advantage.[citation needed]

It has been argued that the two South Australian clubs receive an unfair advantage during the home-and-away season as a result of the neutral Gather Round event being played there, giving them an extra game in a home-like atmosphere compared with other clubs.[citation needed] Gather Round, first staged in 2023, will be played in South Australia every year until at least 2026.[49]

Melbourne bias in the AFL

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It is sometimes argued by supporters of Geelong that instead of there being a Victorian bias in the AFL it is actually a Melbourne bias with the club often being forced to play home games in the neighbouring city instead of in Geelong.

It is also suggested that the AFL revenue stream is more profitable from large Victorian Clubs succeeding in the regular season and playing finals, almost a desired top 8 of rich Victorian Clubs.

An AFL top 8 featuring high membership Victorian Clubs attracts larger TV viewership and therefore higher audience, which all helps with TV rights negotiations.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "AFL Round Table: Is the AFL biased towards Victorian clubs?". ESPN.com. 6 May 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  2. ^ "Starting the AFL from scratch: What would footy look like?". ESPN.com. 14 April 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  3. ^ ‘Means a heap’: Loose pubs, an iconic site, loyal fans — Inside Vic’s lasting Swans, Lions connection by Courtney Walsh from Fox Sports 27 September 2024
  4. ^ Why you might have a connection to this year's grand finalists by Mark McGowan for The Age 24 September 2024
  5. ^ The history of non-Victorian AFL grand finals — Port Adelaide's spiteful win over Brisbane and a pair of epics between Sydney and West Coast By Chris De Silva for ABC News 27 September 2024
  6. ^ "AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL South's truce uneasy". The Canberra Times. Vol. 56, no. 16, 886. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 20 December 1981. p. 17. Retrieved 2 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ "Timeline: Tough times see the Swans fly north (1960–1984)". Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  8. ^ "Australian Football: Will the VFL's card house come tumbling down?". The Canberra Times. Vol. 57, no. 17, 358. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 8 April 1983. p. 22. Retrieved 27 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ "The Football Crisis and Corporate Sponsorship". Tribune. No. 2339. New South Wales, Australia. 25 July 1984. p. 17. Retrieved 27 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ^ "VFL could go to Qld". The Canberra Times. Vol. 60, no. 18, 536. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 2 July 1986. p. 44. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ "Survival the object in Lions' year of trial". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. 2 October 1986. p. 36.
  12. ^ "Fitzroy disappeared from the AFL in 1996, but it left behind a rich history as a VFL founder". 27 February 2019. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  13. ^ "The Day That Changed Everything". 1 September 2021. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  14. ^ Footy Flashbacks: North Melbourne By Zachary Gates on May 17, 2019
  15. ^ O'Loughlin, Heath (3 September 2018). "Roosistence Rising". nmfc.com.au.
  16. ^ THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE by Ross Booth
  17. ^ Winners and losers: The 2023 AFL club funding ladder revealed By Jake Niall 3 February 2023
  18. ^ A safety net cloaked in secrecy by Jason Clout and Brett Foley 27 February 2004
  19. ^ a b c How the West Coast Eagles went from the brink of collapse to financial powerhouse By Clint Thomas 15 March 2019
  20. ^ a b c Christopher Skase: 20 years since infamous corporate criminal's death after a decade on the run from The Gold Coast Bulletin 6 August 2021
  21. ^ "Premier SA club plans AFL move". The Canberra Times. 1 August 1990. p. 38. Retrieved 18 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  22. ^ The scar tissue of Port Adelaide Football Club’s darkest hours from Indaily 29 July 2022
  23. ^ AFL Victorian bias: true or false? by Michelangelo Rucci for Indaily 14 May 2021
  24. ^ Horn, Jonathan (23 June 2024). "Forget fairness: AFL's fixture of inequities and quirks does the sport few favours". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
  25. ^ "'There's a reason WA players don't reach 300 games'". The West Australian. 6 May 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  26. ^ "It is still the VFL on Friday night". www.heraldsun.com.au. 17 April 2015. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  27. ^ "The AFL's Anzac Day clash is a great tradition, but share it around to make it better". www.abc.net.au. 23 April 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  28. ^ Not everyone is barracking for a public holiday on AFL Grand Final eve By Chris Earl for ABC 10 July 2015
  29. ^ "AFL 2020, Kane Cornes, Melbourne bias, Port Adelaide, Robbie Gray". Fox Sports. 9 April 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  30. ^ a b Rucci, Michaelangelo (10 September 2014). "After the Power jumper saga, it is the West Australians who are upset with the AFL's Victorian bias". The Advertiser.
  31. ^ "Why the AFL needs a proper policy on clash uniforms". mitchelldabb. 8 April 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  32. ^ "Tigers to wear clash guernseys in Grand Final". richmondfc.com.au. 23 September 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  33. ^ Devaney, John. "Pride restored – Tasmania v Victoria 1990".
  34. ^ Superstars unite amid brutal snub; team to silence ‘Vic bias’ claims: Rebooting AFL State of Origin by Dylan Bolch with Max Laughton from Fox Sports 25 June 2024
  35. ^ GWS Giants star Tom Green slams Victorian bias in the AFL Fox Footy 13 October 2023
  36. ^ ‘Some we can’t pick’: Admission on AFL’s big draft issue that hurts non-Victorian teams by Max Laughton from Fox Sports 12 October 2022
  37. ^ No place like home: how the go-home factor is making it increasingly difficult for AFL clubs to retain and recruit talent by Daniel Cherny for Code Sports 17 July 2022
  38. ^ Analysis: AFL Draft’s growing obsession with wealthy Melbourne 15 Nov 2023
  39. ^ Best young Vic talent to compete in Coates Talent League from AFL Victoria 6 February 2023
  40. ^ AFL’s NSW and Queensland talent academies bear fruit amid Victorian clubs’ growing frustration by Jack Snape for The Guardian 27 September 2024
  41. ^ ‘Play the homesick card’: Fuse lit in AFL debate as Vic clubs savaged over draft hypocrisy from Fox Sports 27 June 2024
  42. ^ Local talent pipeline ensures Lions’ roar is heard far from home by Jack Snape 29 November 2023
  43. ^ The player Port Adelaide won’t let the Crows get their hands on The Advertiser 2 June 2022
  44. ^ "The Father–Son Rule, AFL Official Website". afl.com.au. Archived from the original on 9 June 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  45. ^ Andrew Slevison. "Which clubs have the best and worst father–son strike rates?". SEN. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  46. ^ Heavy Hitters: Steven Trigg, Adelaide Crows Official website Archived 17 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  47. ^ Vics play favourites as Peake on bench – The West Australian. Published 11 June 2011. Written by Mark Duffield. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  48. ^ AFL Hall of Fame – See Victoria Archived 6 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine – FullPointsFooty. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  49. ^ Ben Waterworth (18 April 2023). "'Only scratched the surface': Simple fixture tweaks put forward to fix Gather Round issues". Fox Sports. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
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