Australian Football League Has To Be Mindful Of ICC While Scheduling Matchups

The Australian Football League's ability "to retain the hearts and minds of the Victorian sporting public in mid-winter will be tested after the state government secured a three-year contract extension" to host the Int'l Champions Cup, according to Jon Pierik of THE AGE. Just days after the Melbourne Cricket Ground hosted 99,382 supporters to watch Real Madrid and Man City, the government "has announced a new deal until at least 2018." The upgraded contract "will mean the AFL will again have to be mindful of what matches it slates for mid-season" at a time when the likes of ManU, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Barcelona could be in town. The Champions Cup contract extension, believed to be worth A$150M ($110M), "comes at a time when television ratings for the AFL have dipped in Melbourne and attendances overall have risen only slightly despite a revamp of this year's fixture in wake of the problems of last year" (THE AGE, 7/27).