There are many lucrative sporting leagues in the world, too many to mention here, eager to attract extra revenue from foreign viewership.The world’s most successful sporting league is the English Premier League, which is supported by broadcasting revenue of over £10 billion ($18.7 billion in AUD) for the period 2022-2025, the proportion coming from foreign revenue currently exceeding the amount derived from domestic sources.The popularity of the Premier League is evident by America’s NBC network alone paying more than $US2.7 billion ($3.99b AUD) over six years to televise the world’s richest soccer competition after achieving an average 507,000 viewers per match in 2021-22.America’s National Basketball Association also generates $US715 ($1.05b AUD) million from non-US media rights (including the NBA League Pass streaming platform), a sizeable amount even when compared to the $US2.7 billion ($3.99b AUD) it receives from domestic broadcasting rights.Victor Wembanyama. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)But what of the Australian Football League (AFL), Australia’s biggest domestic sporting league representing the indigenous sport of Australian Rules football, a sport which currently generates very little international interest. The AFL is one of the world’s best attended sporting leagues (36,000 for 18 teams in 2023). Players likely to benefit further from a record $A4.5 billion seven-year deal domestic broadcasting deal from 2025 to 2031, is there any chance for the AFL to achieve significant television revenue from foreign sources? It is very hard for any sporting league representing a sport played in just one or a few countries to gain widespread global interest. Even America’s National Football League (NFL) is projected to receive at least $US125.5 billion over the next ten years from broadcasting revenue, with only two to three per cent of its total media revenue as of 2020 come from overseas interests. But while the NFL seeks to grow globally, I doubt whether the AFL can attract the same interest. I love both the AFL and NFL, but even Australia’s greatest sporting rivals in cultural terms (England and New Zealand) have little interest in Australian Rules football. Bobby Hill and Jack Ginnivan celebrate a Collingwood goal. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)In contrast to the AFL, interest in the NFL is huge, with England hosting three NFL games in 2023 while Australians get to watch eight NFL matches per week via free-to-air on Channel Seven (2) and subscription on Foxtel/Kayo (6). The AFL does occasionally get positive exposure from prominent Americans marvelling at the athleticism and physical nature of the game. In 2020, during the brief period when the coronavirus pandemic led to American interest in the AFL as Americans stayed home, former NFL punter Pat McAfee discovered the sport via a late night telecast and immediately labelled Aussie rules as “the best thing that could ever have been made” and “maybe my favourite sport I’ve seen in my entire life” The physical action of the AFL has never resulted in any sustained American interest in the sport, or from anywhere else. Having more Americans play in the AFL may very well be the best way to attract greater American interest. We Australians know the AFL is a great game, reflected in its position as Australia’s most successful sporting league and recognized for its spectacular play. But whether the AFL can ever attract enough foreign interest to deliver substantial foreign broadcasting revenue remains a very difficult challenge.