Welcome to WXAV 88.3 FM Chicago. My name is Philip Bridges, and alongside me we have David New, who is the president of AFL Global. How are you doing today, sir? Good morning, Philip.
How are you? I'm doing fine. Sir, so first things first, after being involved in rugby for over 30 years, you were a player, a coach, you had a lot of experience. What got you into the arena football league?
What drew you in? You know what? Provincially, I'm a sports fan for this, you know, even though I was involved in the sport of rugby, and in cricket, growing up in a strength, and within my career throughout Australia and then through Europe, and then eventually moving to the U.S.I. I became a football fan, American football, and then it just happened to be a chance meeting with the owners of the Philadelphia Soul, who just won recently the arena ball here in the U.S.A.
Yes, they did. That was a real exciting, real exciting game. Now, what was the mindset when the idea was first pitched to create the Chinese American Football League? What was going into your mind when you chose China, when or when that decision was made?
Yeah, it was developed over a number of things. Marty Judge, he's been the founder of the company. It's a U.S. and internationally-based IT staffing and consulting company, the Judge Group, who happened to be doing business in China at the time, and currently still do.
He's a parent of the Philadelphia Soul, who has an interest in arena football in the U.S., and then being a sports fan himself, and a sports league, and we saw an opportunity in China for the indoor game, placed on a number of things in the structure and the opportunity within the sports marketplace. He's an entrepreneur and a smart businessman. He thought of the game and his connection with the change in the China sports industry. He thought, you know what, why not try to bring indoor football to China, professional indoor football for Chinese athletes and for a Chinese market audience.
That was the start place, and the genesis of that idea was about four years ago. We were about to launch a professional league in October this year with six teams. So, over that time, we've learned a lot, developed a lot, and we're ready to go. Sounds great.
So, about those six cities that are having teams, what was the mindset when it came to picking those specific cities or those teams in general? You know, we talk about China. It's a really large population of 1.4 billion people. There's about 19 to 20 cities or tier one cities that have populations of over 20 million people.
So, we identified out of our 16, there's about four cities. Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, who have massive populations. Dalian and Qingdao, who themselves have about 10 million people. So, you know, the number of people in that marketplace is significant.
Infrastructure was another key driver in the fact that there was a facility in the venue that made sense. In terms of local infrastructure, there was a public transport, an advanced transportation system that could move people to and from the venues. And then there's the seasonality of it. You know, we're looking to play between the professional soccer league and the professional basketball league, where we believe there's a competitive advantage for us to play at that point of the month in September, October, November, November, November.
That sounds really good. How do you think your league will be able to compete? Do you think it could become a top two sport, top two or three sport in China at some point, you know, maybe five or ten years down the line if the league is successful? Yeah, most definitely.
We have some modest goals at the moment. We want to make it a viable business and we want to make it a viable sport in the mindset of the Chinese youth and Chinese athletes. So, that's my goal for this goal. And then ultimately, our goal is just to move into the top 10 and then the top five sports within the country.
So, we think that that's a realistic goal. We understand our competition in terms of other professional athletic endeavors over there. And that would be, you know, the professional basketball association, the professional soccer league, high-end athletics, athletes, and then sports, the Olympic and international competition. So, we can also have a good opportunity and we intend to grow and be very successful.
Again, this is David New, the president of AFL Global. And now, you say you have modest goals to start off with. So, what do you think in terms of expansion for the league? Are you just focused on making sure you establish the six teams that are here right now?
Or have you in the owners thought to the future of possibly expanding outside of those six teams and maybe bringing in maybe two or four teams in the near next five, ten years if it really does become a successful league? Yeah, that's certainly within our thought process at the moment with one eye on the future and one eye on the present. The present being those six teams, the future being expansion of the teams throughout other marketplaces. In terms of growth of the league, it's very important that we create sustainable and profitable businesses within those first six cities.
And then we translate that model into the growth cities and potentially two or four in the subsequent years of years two, three. And then over time, hopefully by year five, we've made this into a league of 10 or 12 really strong teams. And then that gives us the capacity to understand whether we want to upside and continue to grow. And that way, the league itself grows and the opportunities for other athletes throughout China and different marketplaces to embrace the game.
But that also has an influence and an impact on all the other business drivers, our broadcast revenue, sponsorship, ticket sales, apparel and merchandise. So we have to be cognizant of what we can do right now, what that looks like in the short term, and then make some conceded judgments at the end of each of those seasons and at the end of each of those business or operating years for those teams in each of those significant areas that we're starting in. How has the reception been from the players who've come over so far? How do you think it will affect the development of the game in China as a whole?
Do you think the international players will come over? Are they really looking forward to not only playing but being able to be teachers in a way to the Chinese players or the players who haven't really gotten into the sport for that long? Do you think that's part of it? Yeah, it's critical.
It's critical for us that our players that come over in the first instance, that are foreign-based personnel that come and join us in the league in China, our ambassadors and mentors are the game. That's only natural that those guys will have the most experience and information and pass that through to the Chinese players. It's a mission of ours to make a Chinese league specifically for Chinese athletes. We think that makes total sense.
It would make no sense for us to build a league in China that's only for foreign athletes. So our roster's in the first year, 20 men for the team. 10 of those will be Chinese nationals, 10 of those will be foreign-based football players will come in and help the team develop and grow. But over time, we would imagine that and we believe that the number of Chinese players will increase or the number of foreign players will decrease.
Not saying that that won't create opportunity for foreign players. On those teams, as they evolve and develop, there'll be more teams for foreign-based players to be spread across. So their influence and impact on this is critical. We're looking at a model here that we need all hands on deck and everyone operating as a unit heading in the same direction.
So for players who have an interest from overseas, one, there's an opportunity for you. But two and three means that you need to be a high-character guide. And three, you need to be a guide who wants to get involved in the development of the game and be involved in all the cultural aspects of China's sport and the landscape of China generally. So how do you think the players are going to be able to handle that adjustment?
I would have to believe many of those players will be their first time in China and getting used to the culture. Do you think that they'll be able to handle that adjustment period in a reasonable amount of time so that once they get established, in their personal terms, they can be able to help as much as possible on and off the field with the players and helping develop the game? Do you think that's something that shouldn't be too hard for them? Or do you think it might be tough for some of the players to adjust at first glance?
Yeah, we look at it from a number of perspectives. And one is based specifically on that, what type of cultural shift and what type of implications that we have on foreign personnel. From anything from the communication barrier all the way down to different types of diet and different types of conditions that they're not used to. So we created a model for the Super Series so that all six teams will travel over a period of two months together as one functioning unit.
So we'll play with all six teams in one location to create a week-long football festival so that first off is Beijing. Then we're on to Dalian, then down into Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and up into Shanghai. So we created it so that these guys will be together, move together, live together, eat together. And we wouldn't spend too much time just in one location.
So that will just be a week-long commitment where we will practice, prepare, and promote, and develop, and launch, and present the game. And then we move on to the next city. Those things, in order to give us a step process where guys can be climatized, can become accustomed to what China looks like, and then feel more comfortable in what it looks like in year two and three when they become part of a traditional franchise-based league where they'll live in that one city over a period of time. I think that helps them.
I think it helps us as a league. I think it helps all of us understand what this one will look like going forward. It's a great question. Yeah, so now with that happening with the Sports Festival, do you think that the CFL...
Okay, to make it out of there, if you had one hope and one real goal for the league this season, what would that be? And why do you think that goal is the one that needs to be attained? Yeah, I think that's a great question. The one goal is the one mission for us this year is to launch football, professional, American arena-style football in China, and to complete the season.
And by completing the season is that we fulfill all our obligations. That is, we fulfill our commitment to the broadcast schedule and the broadcast partners that we have to deliver content at a high level. It's that we satisfy the requirements of all our players and our team to make sure that we take care of them and manage their involvement in this whole process in a professional and business-like manner. And the third part is that the fans and audiences come and look at the game, feel like they've enjoyed it, understood it more, and they'll be available to come back, see us again next season and subsequent years.
They are the three simple goals we have in mind, and that's how we'll be able to measure success. All right, that sounds wonderful. So do you think the league can reach out and maybe pull in some fans from outside of China? Do you think the league will be able to do that at some point?
You know, I'm not saying that it'll become respectable like the NFL and pull in some international fans, but do you think you'll be able to bring in a decent base of foreign fans to the league, or is that not necessarily one of your goals as of right now, more so down the line in the future? I think it's an opportunity for us to do a lot of things. Right now, the first goal is the interest of Chinese audience and that marketplace within mainland China. And then we see that the opportunity outside of that place on our broadcast footprint, where we'll be able to deliver content to do that that will have an interest in Asia.
And then back here to the USA, where the existing arena football fan base is, we're going to be showing live content back here at their games, and those partnerships will be announced after later. So it would make sense for us to try and reach as many people and eyeballs as possible. And then within that process, we'll look at who might be interested stakeholders. So, for example, that content may reach someone in America who has an interest in owning a team in China.
It may reach a sponsor or a brand or a company in the US who wants to be able to reach that massive audience in China as a sponsor and be able to represent and expose their product to a wider audience. On the other hand, it may be a Chinese brand that wants more international reach, such as our programming and content. Their brand and their product can be positioned within our content to be seen by an American or international audience. So I think it works both ways.
And I think over time, that will be an organic process. We're going to start to understand, you know what? More people are interested in this than just Chinese people. Look at the numbers of interest that's coming through our digital programs or our online programs that we're seeing.
The people are picking up the content in South Korea or Vietnam or in India or down in Australia or all the way back here in North America. So it will be an ongoing process. So as the president of AFL Global, when it comes to possibly expanding this arena-style football, is there any other country that you really had an interest in possibly starting a league in? Or was it only China was your main goal and that would be just it for the time being?
No, the mission of AFL Global was to go to the game, as its name suggested, to go to the globe. So China is definitely our focus at the moment. But we certainly look at Asia. We're looking at, as I mentioned, there's South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, down in through Malaysia and Indonesia, up into India, throughout Europe, potentially into the Gulf region, down into Australia and the Pacific and here in the Americas.
There's a place for this game based on its modified style, being indoor, fast, high up-lane, high-energy, high-scoring, value entertainment, where this can be transferable and mobile, this version of the game and this model of the game. So we're excited about starting in China and then going throughout Asia and then down out through the Pacific and around the world. So if you were talking now, I really, back in the mid-2000s, I was really a big fan of the AFL. And I really loved the Chicago rush and the AFL before they went extinct.
Well, they had to disband and cease operations. It was a great time. It was great. Watch for me.
I was excited. I loved it. How do you think you could reach out and grab the casual fan who won't necessarily have seen the league before, even in America, who hasn't necessarily seen the AFL? Watching the Arena Bowl, people would say that there's no defense in the league.
It's just pass-oriented. That's all it is. It's not really great. How would you be able to be able to bring in those fans and show them that this game is really great and it's a really exciting thing to be a part of?
I think it's a number of things. One is that for most people, when they look at sport or some type of sporting activity, they want to understand if it makes sense to them. So in terms of football, it's fairly simple in understanding that, well, that thing needs to cross that door and score, and that thing needs to stop them. So that's the basic premise of the game.
So it's not that difficult to understand. The next thing is they want to see points going in action. Well, the game has plenty of that. Then they want to be close to the game.
Well, certainly in the indoor version of the game, you're sitting right on top of the action. Then they want to understand how can they interact with each other? How can they purchase a t-shirt, a hot dog, or be involved in the whole overall entertainment package of the game? So for us, and from my perspective and our company's perspective, it's about entertainment, it's about interaction, and it's about engagement.
So we think that the game in itself does all those things. But as far as the hardcore fans concerned, in terms of, oh, sorry, there's not as much to be sensible, you've only got to look at other modified sports in the game. You can have that same argument. You can look at rugby.
That's one from a 15-man version now all the way down to a 7-man version. That's in the Olympics. And now it's exploding around the world because of those factors. It's entertaining.
It's exciting. It's fast-paced. And it's actually made for a TV audience, not just an in-stadium audience. So there's many reasons why this game can be successful, based not only on what we know about a real football, but what we know about modified versions of sports throughout the world globally.
And I'll give you the examples of rugby 7s or T20 cricket that's brought it from a five-day game all the way down to a three-hour spectacle now that people are engaged in in this thing. So we'll follow models that work, employ those best practices, and we think that we'll come up with a plan that will interest not only our existing fan base, but bring in new and casual fans also. All right. So now here's my next question.
And I guess you could go a few different ways. What's been the most exciting part or most enjoyable part for you in being a part of and setting this league up with the owners and being around those companies and the sponsors? What's been the most enjoyable part for you in doing this? I think for me, from a personal standpoint, it's about building something.
Right? I'm not a great... I was never a great builder in terms of the traditional sense of building things in my house. I've never been one, and my wife will be able to attest to that.
I'm not really good with man. Not a Mr. Fix-It? No.
In terms of building things from the ground up, I've had a great experience in the world of sports, and it's something that motivates me and inspires me. Take something from nothing and build it into something, and then watch it grow. It's very satisfying. And I think that's also inspirational for the people that are involved in our company and other people that look at other endeavors.
I think this is something that, over time, will be a case study for sports management, sports business courses, so we have to understand and look at how these guys were able to take an opportunity, translate that opportunity, and transfer it to a different territory and a different region of the world. And if you think of some of the regions in the world that you want to try and do something, China wouldn't be at your top of the list in terms of ease of access and trying to work in an entrepreneurial spirit, because let's face it, at the end of the day, China is still a communist country, but it's very highly influenced by government and traditional approach to business and sport, even though it's changed significantly over time. So we feel that if we can be successful there. that we can move forward and we can be successful in other regions of the world.
And then getting back to your original point, that in itself is a really satisfying endeavor. Mr. David New, once again, I want to thank you so much for taking your time out of your day to be able to do this interview with me. It's really been great talking to you about the CAFL, AFL Global, and just seeing where this sport is moving forward.
It's really exciting times to be around arena football, and I just want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to interview you. Sure, thank you very much. Let me tell you one thing. I've been fortunate enough to do a lot of these interviews over the course of the last few weeks and months.
These are probably the best questions I've been asked in that period, so congratulations to you. A really good interview and some great questions. Thank you very much. No problem.
And for the fans who are interested in watching the game, interested in watching the first game of the season, how would they be able to watch it? Yeah, without giving too much away in announcing our broadcast platforms before they're officially announced next week, I would suggest that you check out our websites at CAFLFootball.com here in the U.S. and CAFLChina.com in China. So those two platforms will be able to give you all the latest news, information.
You can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, all the traditional new ways you can follow information and news, but you will be able to. You'll hear it next week. The announcement will potentially at the end of this week. The broadcast partner in China, how you'll be able to watch the games live and on-delayed and on-demand.
All right, then. Thank you so much, sir. I will go ahead and let you go. You seem like you've still got a lot of work to do, but you've done a great job so far.
So thank you so much once again. Thanks for talking to us. All that's my fault. You too.
Bye.