AFL Record Magazine Presentation (text) Jamie Radford

Slide 1-2 - Title Slides

Slide 3 – About

The AFL Record is the official match-day program of the AFL. It is published by AFL media, and except for the season preview issue which can be bought at newsagents and other outlets, is sold only at AFL matches. Despite this the AFL Record is the highest selling sports magazine in Australia.

Slide 4 – About

Colloquially known as the ‘footy record’, the AFL Record was first published in April of 1912, making it one of the oldest magazines still in print in Australia.

Slide 5 – April 1912

The AFL Record (or football record as it was then known) was originally published as a pocketbook guide to assist spectators identify players on the field. It provided a list of players and the numbers they wore, as well as their positions on the field. It also included articles on football issues and players, a full playing fixture for the year, as well as results from previous rounds, and of course advertising.

Slide 6 – April 1912

Being that it was 1912 naturally the look of the magazine was very different to what we are accustomed to

today. It used a two column format, using only the one font for articles – although in different sizes, and two

fonts for advertisements. Only two colours were used – black and blue, and although there are images, they

are all portraits or posed shots, and have very simple captions, usually just the name of the subject and the

team they play for.

Slide 7 – The Evolution of the AFL Record

Having been in print for so long, the Record has undergone many changes since it was first published. One

of the first major changes to the magazine was the introduction of colour, with the first full colour cover

appearing on the 1967 Grand Final issue.

The next major change was in the 1980’s when the Record abandoned the pocket size concept and became

a full sized magazine. Then In 1999 the Football record became the AFL Record, although it is still referred

to as the ‘footy record’ by the majority of punters.

In 2012 the AFL Record celebrated 100 years in print with a commemorative collectors’ edition which

included every grand final issue from 1912, the year the record first came into print.

Slide 8 – September 2013

While many things have changed over the years, much has remained from the 1912 version. Numbers and

positions of players are still included, although this is now in a lift out form. It still has news articles about

the game, and of course it still has advertising.

However much more has been added including club news, feature articles and competitions.

Slide 9 – Regular Features

The AFL Record also has regular features including Inbox, The Bounce, Answer Man, Last Line, NAB Rising

Star and Record for Kids.

Slide 10 – Special Issues

Each season the AFL Record publishes a number of special editions. The first of which is the Season Opening

issue - the only time the Record is available for sale outside of AFL matches. There are also special editions

for multi-cultural round, Women’s round, Dreamtime at the G, Anzac Day, and the Grand Final issue.

Slide 11 – Cover Design

The AFL Record’s cover has also undergone many changes over the last century. While the Record title has

been prominent and centre for a number of years, it is only fairly recently that the AFL logo has been placed

in the O of record. Underneath the title is a small sub heading stating that the record is the official magazine

of the AFL game. There is also an image of the AFL’s Toyota sponsored logo with the round number, year,

date and price listed underneath.

Slide 12 – Cover Design cont.

There is also an image of the featured subject (in this case Scott Pendlebury), placed either in front of or

behind the title. Placed around the image are text blocks of headlines, bylines or quotes, with the positioning

of the text dependent upon the image. One of the headlines sometimes appears above the title, and there

are usually one to three articles featured on the cover.

Slide 13 – Feature and Column Style

Features mostly open with a double paged spread which includes a full page image of the subject with a

quote. The image’s background bleeds to the second page, and is then overlayed with the title, introduction

and text of the feature.

Slide 14– Feature and Column Style cont.

The title of the feature is usually accompanied with the name of the subject, and is followed by the lead and

the author’s name. The text is normally four columns of unjustified text, although one of these columns is

taken up by a large sized quote, and features always begin with an oversized capitol letter.

Slide 15 – Feature and Column Style cont.

Features are usually made up of 1000 – 3000 words, although there are occasionally longer features in

special editions, however this is not often. Many direct quotes are used, from both the primary and

secondary sources, and sidebars and fact boxes are used often and to good effect.

Slide 16 – Feature and Column Style cont.

The format and layout of columns and other articles are very similar to features, although they do not begin

with a two page spread. However they also have a four column layout with unjustified text, and one of the

columns is either a break out quote, image, fact box or sidebar, or another article. As in features an oversized

capitol is also used to begin articles.

Slide 17 – Colours and Fonts

The AFL Record uses a colour pallet comprising of yellow, flesh, firebrick, a light and dark blue, black and tan.

Headlines use either Antenna Compressed, Antenna Condensed or Dispatch Condensed fonts, and each type

of font is used in light, normal, bold and black. Charter ITC regular and bold are used for normal text.

Slide 18 – Target Audience

As is obvious, the AFL Record’s target audience is AFL supporters, of which there are 7,579,000 over the age

of 14 in Australia. This number makes up 40% of the population. As has also previously been noted, the

Record is predominately sold at AFL matches, which were attended by over seven million people in 2012.

Slide 19 – Readership

The AFL record is sold at 207 matches over 27 weeks and averages sales of 50,000 per week during the

regular season. In the period of April through to September of this year the AFL Record sold 182,000 copies,

which is down 7% from the same period in 2012.

Males make up 69% of readers, while males between the ages of 25-49 make up 40% of all sales. Appealing

to this demographic is great for advertising revenue as………..

Slide 20 – Readership

Slide 21 – Readership cont.

Slide 22 – Readership cont.

…….Norman Morris, Industry Communications Director for Roy Morgan Research points out. “There’s a lot

more to the average footy supporter than football. Roy Morgan Research data reveals that this huge section

of the population is more likely than other Australians to gamble, eat out and go to professional sporting

events.” He goes on to say “This presents many possibilities for prospective sponsors across various

industries: reaching this influential group shouldn’t be difficult given their wide-ranging interests.”

Slide 21 – Competitors

Being the only magazine totally devoted to AFL football, the record does not really have a direct competitor

in that particular market, however newspapers do supply much of the information contained in the record,

and Inside Sport is a competitor in the general sports category, as is Big League – the NRL equivalent of the

Record.

Slide 22 – Competitors cont.

However as can be seen from this chart, although the AFL Record is aimed at only AFL supporters, it is still

the highest selling sports magazine in Australia easily outselling both Inside Sport and Big League. The only

other sports magazine that comes close in sales is Rugby League week, a magazine sold at retail outlets,

unlike the Record.

Slide 23 – Strengths

The AFL Record’s biggest strength is that it has no direct competitors, giving it a market monopoly. It has

held this monopoly for so long that it has become somewhat traditional to buy the record when attending

matches, making it part of the experience of going to the footy. It caters for its audience demographic

wonderfully well, partly by having access to players and officials that other publications may find harder to

get, and also has a ready group of journalists, as those used already work for the AFL.

Another strength is the price. Five dollars is fairly inexpensive, about the same as a reasonable cup of coffee.

So it isn’t going to break the bank.

As has also been shown in this presentation is the Record’s ability to adapt over time, to cater for the

changing attitudes and expectations of their readers. This is shown not only in the design and content of the

magazine itself, but also by the release of app that can be downloaded onto a compatible smart phone.

Slide 24 – Weaknesses

Having been in print for more than a century, and considering my own very limited experience, I find it hard

to find a weakness in the AFL Record. Perhaps that it is only sold at AFL matches is one, however as was

mentioned in strengths, an app can be downloaded. Another, although I am clutching at straws, is that there

may be too much bold and bright colours for men (who are the predominant readership). Although as The

Record is also aimed at women and kids, an argument could easily be made against this.

Slide 25 – Impact

As was mentioned in strengths, the AFL Record has become a tradition, and part of the footy experience, so

much so it has become a cultural icon amongst many footy fans. There are numerous entries in footy forums

on the internet asking for particular copies of the Record by people who for some reason or another have

missed a game, but want the Record for their collection.

Because the magazine is released by the AFL, it upholds the values of the AFL as an organisation. As was also

previously mentioned, it is the highest selling sports magazine in Australia, and with AFL attendances on the

rise, and very little in the way of direct competition, that does not look like changing in the foreseeable

future.

Bibliography

Alison Wright, Designer AFL Record, Alison.Wright@afl.com.au

State Library of Victoria – Football Record - http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/football-record

Wikipedia – AFL Record - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFL_Record

B&T Today - AFL Record kicks revenue goal - http://www.bandt.com.au/news/archive/afl-record-kicks-

revenue-goal

Roy Morgan Research - There’s more to AFL supporters than footy -

http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/finding-2020-201303210249

Magazine Publishers Australia – Nickable Charts - http://magazines.org.au/

Google Images – AFL Record - http://images.google.com.au/footballrecord

Program Sellers Australia – AFL Record sellers handbook -

http://www.programsellers.com.au/Seller_Zone/sellers_handbook.htm

AFL.com – 100 Years of GF Records -

https://shopdesq.imgstg.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=subcategorylisting&CategoryID=2911&SubCategoryID

=2378&OrgID=9743

Twitter – AFL Record - https://twitter.com/AFLrecord

W3Newspapers - Australian Magazines Online - http://www.w3newspapers.com/australia/magazines/

Big League Magazine http://www.newscorpaustralia.com/brand/big-league