Actually AFL Chairman Craig Drummond recently noted that any international eyes are firmly fixed on India and the West Coast of the United States. If the round-ball game is dominating TV screens, expect an announcement about an academy program in Mumbai or a potential exhibition match in Los Angeles to remind everyone of the AFL's global "ambitions."
Trying to pitch drop-punts and contested marks to Los Angeles—a city with two MLS teams (LAFC and LA Galaxy), a massive Latino football culture, and hosting matches for the upcoming World Cup—is peak AFL delusion.
But that’s exactly why the AFL media strategy works so well on the home front. They don't actually need to convince LA to love footy; they just need the headline "AFL Explores US West Coast Market" to flash across The Age and the Herald Sun to make the local game feel worldly and grand......
And the reality on the ground in the US completely contradicts what the AFL executives pitch to their board members during "international strategy" meetings.
LA is essentially the capital of America's growing soccer culture. It's not just the casual weekend park players, the roots run incredibly deep thanks to the 6,000,000 Latino's in Greater Los Angeles!
When half the city has cultural, familial, and emotional ties to places like Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and the entirety of South America, football isn't just a recreational choice for kids in the park. It’s part of the fabric of daily life.....
AFL is no doubt about Australia's sporting culture and history but it's not getting anything like a look in in LA or anywhere along the West Coast anytine soon....