World Footy News

The first USAFL game to be televised is eagerly awaited amongst the US footy fraternity. Initial details are just starting to come out. It seems that the first match to go to air will be the East-West All Star game to be held in Texas on April 30th 2005.

This will be the 3rd annual All Star weekend, following on from the success of the event in Atlanta in 2004. The All Sports Television Network will apparently broadcast the match to potentially millions of viewers across the US. While the audience is likely to be modest initially, the potential is unlimited. To the best of our knowledge *, this will be the first locally broadcast game of Australian Football between non-Australian teams anywhere in the world. Also adding to the weekend will be the All Star Banquet Dinner, at which the Revolution Coach Alan Nugent will announce the 35 man squad to represent the US at the 2005 International Cup in Melbourne. The weekend will actually feature two All Star matches, with players drawn from the country's best US and Australian expat players.

The Dallas Magpies website promises more updates in the coming weeks. Material also sourced from USFooty.

* Correction: it appears that the first telecast non-Australian game outside of Australia may have been the Canadian grand final in 1990, between Toronto and Mississauga, which reportedly was played on local cable television by Maclean-Hunter. Thanks to Bill Frampton for the information. Nevertheless, a telecast of the All-Star game would be an historic occasion for several reasons.