What is the AFL?

Answer 1

The AFL (Australian Football League) is the governing body of Australian Rules Football, and has been the governing body of a nationally formed league since 1990. Previously, Australian states ran their own separate leagues.

The Victorian Football League - VFL - generally being considered the most 'Premier', was laid down as the prime foundation for the building of a national league in 1990 - a league still under construction with two new teams entered in 2011.

Aussie Rules or, colloquially, 'footy' as it is known by supporters, is Australia's most popular winter sport, only behind Cricket and the recreative swimming activities of the summer.

The laws of the game were first formally created by a group of Melbourne men in 1859, making Australian Football arguably the oldest formal football code on earth.

The season is run over 22 weeks starting in March and ending at the end of September. After 22 rounds, the top 8 teams of the total of 18 competing proceed to the finals which are held in September and eventually two teams do battle in the ultimate game of the year which is the Grand Final, which is historically known as "the last Saturday in September". Winners of the Grand Final are crowned the Premiers of the competition for that season.

The AFL Grand Final is the best attended domestic club championship event in the world with 99,251 people packing into the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 2009. Its record attendance remains the [historic] 1970 Grand Final, which was attended by 121,696 people. It is also Australia's most important sporting event, with the largest attendance, metropolitan television audience and overall interest of any annual sporting event in Australia.

Historically, the AFL was also the American Football League, a competitor to the National Football League in the United States during the 1960s. The two leagues merged in 1969-70 to form the National Football League, with two parts: the American Football Conference and the National Football Conference.
AFL is the Australian Football League, a game played in Australia gathering upto crowds of 120,000 weekly. It is mainly watched/played on the south coast around Melbourne and Adelaide.