Rob's Thoughts

Preliminary Survey Results

Now that the Grand Final is behind us, we've had a chance here at AFANA to do some preliminary analysis of the survey results.   Here's a capsule view of what we have learned:

• The average age of the fans who responded to our survey is about 36 years old and about 53% of them are under 34.
• Over 85% of those who responded were male.  We believe that this is a bit distorted since we had a significant number of USFooty players respond and they are almost all male.  The actual percentage of female audience members is more like 30%.
• More than 59% of the respondents have followed footy for over six years with an average of about 11 years.  
• Over 92% of the responses came from the US and 6% from Canada.  The rest were from other countries and not targets of this survey.
• About 65% of those answering the survey were born in the US or Canada.  32% were born in Australia and the balance elsewhere in the world.
• About 81% watch FOX Sports World.  Around 19% watch at a bar or pub.  About 10% don't get the programs at all.  Viewership thru other sources such as FOX Sports World Canada, the internet, and MHz Networks were all around 3 to 4%.  (There were multiple answers allowed on this question.)
• Interestingly, the satellite crowd is over represented among the audience of our survey compared to the national average.  While about 20% of US homes get DirecTV or DISH, they represent 34% of the survey.  Cable represents just 49%.  The Canadian satellite systems are around 2% and MHz Networks just 1%.  The AFL's internet service was the source of the programs for 3%.
• The average fan watched just over half of the programs aired thru the dates of the survey.   Most watched with one to two other people.
• Nearly 85% of the audience want live programming and some 64% were willing to pay for it.  On average they were willing to pay $15 per month.  Over 15% were willing to pay more than $21 per month.  This is highly significant since it suggests we are getting close to the numbers required for pay per view to be successful.
• AFANA members accounted for 23% of those responding and USFooty club members for 43%.  
• The most popular AFL clubs among the fans were, in descending order: Collingwood, Essendon, Sydney, and Hawthorn.  The least popular were Western Bulldogs, Melbourne, and St. Kilda.  Every AFL club had between 6% and 27% of the audience.  Some 13% expressed no specific preference.   Most fans follow more than one club.

Next time I will review some of the findings regarding the program content and organization and discuss some of the conclusions we can draw from the survey.

-Rob (who thanks all of you who participated!)