The AFL have signalled a change away from reducing the number of clubs to that of that of increasing the spread of AFL by way of new clubs or relocation .The creation of the GC and GWS clubs was one of timing .The GC can be seen as a good case of  not following in Canberra's inaction .

The number of AFL clubs stands at 18 .IMO the structure of the league will have to be addressed before the addition of new teams unless it is by relocation .On that note I find it a little strange that an (again) strong Hawthorn is the team with strong links to Tasmania and NZ  yet it can be secure representing Melbourne East .Are we missing the boat with better fits ?.

Well you have to wonder now that North Melbourne have signed to play games in Hobart whether THIS time they will actually ultimately move there.  They flirted with ACT, Sydney, Gold Coast, and now Tassie.

Certainly if there were less Melbourne teams or some relocate that will in theory make in more likely for areas like Canberra to get a side, in my opinion.

Too many Melbourne based clubs, yes, but can we not move North Melbourne please? Don't send them somewhere random- they sponsor our women's team! And don't merge them with Melbourne because they sponsor the VWFL. I vote we send Collingwood to Antarctica as a political move to sure up Australia's territory claims there. And send the Hawks over to Tassie. They seem to like it there :-)

I'm amazed that this myth still exists .It's not that there are too many clubs in Melbourne it's the fact that they are unevenly spread .The AFL could distribute more revenue to the clubs but an even distribution only serves to make the strong clubs stronger .Mergers too have lost their popularity as people realise that one club plus one club = one club with little gain .Looking to the future ,NM stands out as the club as last out with a strategy .I hope they can lock one in . 

Who knows the financial modelling for the future might see 23 teams playing each other once over 22 rounds with 11 matches per round and a bye.  Tassie, ACT, another team in WA, another in SA and one in NZ or PNG?  Certainly expanding the talent pool could mean that a high standard can be maintained.  At any rate, I am happy to let the AFL worry about that.  I hope the Hawks stay in Melbourne but if they decided they had to relocate they would still be my team.  That may be more because I care more about my local footy than the AFL footy, wheras obviously tens of thousands of Hawks fans first priority would be their AFL club.  If they were to merge though I might think twice.

We're struggling to support 2 in SA!  But a third for WA is quite conceivable.

My one worry is that with so much TV money in this and the next deal, footy departments are now huge and the players are expecting big pay.  With more teams that gets spread thinner or the TV rights have to go up.

With media changing so fast it's hard to know if that is feasible.  And it will need more viewers.  Where will they come from?  Obviously winning a bigger slice of Australia's most populous state, NSW, is a key.  A bit more in QLD too.  But hard to grow viewing in the other states since they are quite high already.  I guess that's one reason why NZ continues to appeal to me, as getting a slice of a few million people there has to help grow the pie.

But other than going outside of Australia I do see some growth restrictions, so I don't entirely agree with cos that "too many teams in Melbourne" is necessarily a  myth.  I think it can support an unusually large number, such as 5 or 6 but I wonder about 9 plus Geelong.  Like you said thought Troy, not something we need to worry too much about, economics and the AFL and I suspect state and national governments will have the biggest say in these things.

The theory is that you need 400k~500k of population catchment area to support an AFL team (and that population to be resceptive to AFL and centralised).In theory WA could have another team whilst Tasmania ,Gold Coast and Canberra would struggle .I think you can add Geelong into that mix ! Nine teams in Melbourne is at the lower end of viability but Melbourne is predicted to continue to expand .

The reality is that a third Perth team would struggle and add little to the football equation .Clubs in Tasmania , Canberra and the Gold Coast have to survive on much lower attendances if only because their stadia are small . Geelong manages well because it has the new "boutique" structure .In Melbourne it's hard to see some clubs regain market share which is the underlying problem ,the unequal sharing of resources ..

The TV rights was a sensational  result but it was built on the addition of two new teams , a potential new market and FOX gambling on picking up new AFL subscriptions . Future rights will probably not change too much except if the situation is repeated  with the addition of new audiences .