David_G wrote:martinjs wrote:Quick foot note to Hangdog98, AFL is not just a Melbourne sport. It's one of the most popular sports in Australia. Played and watched big time in Victoria, SA, WA, Tasmania, ACT and apparently pretty big in NT, also very popular in Southern NSW and is growing in Sydney and Brisbane. The AFL Grand final was watched by 3.72 million viewers last year in Australia and apparently is watched in growing numbers all over the world. Also it's the closest sport we have to a truly Australian sporting event.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFL_Grand_Final
Have a look at some of the names of people they have had at the Grandfinal at Half time, can be found at the bottom of the website. The first ever VFL football match was in 1897 and the game was played even longer than that in Southern parts of Australia.
Not as big as the TDF but not to shabby.
Martin
+1 from me.
95,000 plus people cheering for him at half time or before the game would be quite a tribute. I've been to about 20 GFs and it is the biggest annual sporting event in Australia, good fit with Le Tour being the biggest annual sporting event on Earth.
...ok but how many people watched the TdF and Cadel's TT worldwide? The Europeans are mad about the sport....am sure the viewing figures in proportion were higher than the America's Cup too.