Australian rules football in the United States

However availability of officials, large fields, squads of sufficient size and difficulty in differentiating it from rugby as well as a lack of support from the game's administrators in Australia stunted its growth and it went into permanent recess at the end of the 1920s.

[10] Furthermore, American players did not adopt any of the VFL's laws, however their investigations eventually led to legalizing the forward pass to open up the field of play a distinctive feature of the game today.

Following the VFL's failed attempt to convert the colleges, and its underestimation of the pull of global rugby, the league resolved not to respond to any further requests for copies of the game's laws.

[11] It successfully lobbied the AFC not to support the game being played outside Australasia, much to the frustration of proponents such as West Australian Football League secretary John J Simons.

Lynan decided that teaching younger players would be more effective to differentiate it and engaged O'Dea (following his move to San Francisco to practice law[20]) to assist him to popularize it.

[22] Having gained the support of the Public Schools Athletic Association of San Francisco president and founder of the Columbia Park Boys' Club Major Sidney Piexotto, Lynan and O'Dea, in correspondence with Australian football organizations including the WAFL and Young Australia League (YAFL) (who earlier had donated two footballs to the school) organized a cross-cultural excursion, feeling that their American boys were ready to take on Australia.

[29] En route via Tahiti, the Americans visited New Zealand,[30] both north island at Wellington on May 12 where they were asked why they did not play rugby, but trained with local players at the Basin Reserve.

En route to Melbourne the Americans were scheduled to visit towns along the way including Goulburn, Wangaratta, Victoria, Benalla and Beechworth to play against local representative sides.

The VFL's football boycott of the American tour was highly criticized by the West Australian media, accusing the Victorians of being sore losers and putting profits before the promotion of the game.

[57] With the South Australian Football Association aligning with the VFL and the AFC, beyond a lukewarm reception upon the visitors initial arrival, interest and media coverage in Adelaide was virtually nonexistent.

The tourists finally reached Brisbane and Queensland on 19 January 1910, for a rushed, low key visit and were, by that time, too exhausted from the oppressive outback heat to play any further football matches in Australia.

[60] The return of Columbia Park boys and the arrival of Cullen-Ward from Sydney who traveled along with them[61] (along with YMCA instructor C.F Martin)[62] helped the game, first known locally as "bouncing football" and "field ball", spread to San Francisco public grammar schools in early-mid 1910.

[89][90] Three matches with the Young Australian League were set for September at the Presidio of San Francisco[91] Cullen-Ward was appointed head coach of the national team.

The match was won 95 to 44 at Lincoln Park in front of a crowd of 5,000 including most of the school children in the city and photos of gameplay were featured in The San Francisco Call.

[113] The Young Australia League once again hosted the American side, however the WAFL, facing backlash from the AFC, began to distance itself from the venture and withdrew financial commitment to the tour.

[127] Commentators in Australia however noted that by the 1920s it was in dire trouble with soccer now being adopted by most of the junior schools, it had better access to fields and required less players to hold a match.

[134] The idea was boosted when a touring Young American League in Melbourne commented that it would be ideal for high schools and proposed that the VFL invest in promoting the game.

In 1934, the Los Angeles Daily News published photos of Geelong and South Melbourne Football Club VFL players flying in a pack marking contest mistakenly labelling it a game of "soccer".

[138] In 1938, a proposal was put to the Australian National Football Council to send teams to California for an exhibition match to stimulate grassroots interest in the game, however Victorian president Bob Rush refused to take the idea seriously citing access to suitable grounds and that he would not endorse funding the venture.

In response to a gridiron exhibition match in Melbourne in 1943, Harry Dyke the president of the Richmond VFL Club proposed a scheme which would coach the Americans in Australian Rules.

NSW association and AFC secretary K. G. Ferguson extolled that with its introduction into the college system the United States would be capable of sending a national team to Australia within 5 years.

Both Melbourne and Geelong had taken an interest in the American market and in 1963 the first VFL exhibition games were played in major U.S. cities to test its potential international audience.

Coverage began with the 1980 season with matches airing on late Friday and Saturday nights, sometimes live but usually one or two week tape delayed to up to 2.5 million subscribers.

The South Australian National Football League also had a broadcast rights deal with American cable television and by 1984 was attracting around 40 million viewers to its weekly 1 hour highlights segment.

[168] The experiment was largely unsuccessful, with Armstrong not debuting at senior level, but nevertheless created media interest in Australia about the possibility of American athletes playing the Australian game.

Also in that year former Geelong Football Club player Ben Graham joined the New York Jets, bringing media exposure for the Australian sport.

In January 2006, an AFL promotional pre-season match was played in Los Angeles at UCLA between the Kangaroos and league premiers the Sydney Swans, it attracted a crowd of 3,200.

[179] He instantly became America's most notable export in the game and captured the imagination of the Australian sporting public earning the nickname "Coxzilla" for his on field and off-field presence.

[180] The big American's impact on the Australian sport could not be understated, with visiting celebrities including president to be Joe Biden in 2016 and Tiger Woods in 2019 meeting with the home grown product and with ESPN increasing its coverage in response.

[187] Since 2006, due to growing demand and lobbying by AFANA, Australian rules began playing live matches on television in the United States on the new Setanta Sports USA network.