I HAVE just returned from heading an AFL tour to Indianapolis, USA to observe how the NFL conduct, promote and televise their National Combine, an event that leads into the NFL Draft at the end of April.

Along with eight representatives from five AFL clubs, we spent the best part of four days watching a combine that has been turned into a major television event while still being able to achieve the most thorough testing of more than 300 college footballers, many of whom will replenish NFL rosters for the 2011-12 season.

Creating marketable television products is essential to the NFL’s strategy to remain the number one sport in the US. The fact the combine can be stretched over four days of immediate television, not to mention the reviews and analysis after the event, is a great example to the AFL of how to maximise the marketability of your sport; the assumption being that the fans have an interest in the next generation, and they surely do.

You may well say television is only one aspect, but when you can turn your sport into a $9 billion a year business, you must be doing something right, and you need television to generate that amount of money. The relationship between the AFL and the broadcasters has always been strong, and two-way, and this relationship will certainly form part of the new agreement, as it must.

The AFL combine and draft may not be the same products that have evolved within the NFL’s universe - and then manipulated by smart marketing and programming to new levels - but the AFL product has gradually captured the football public’s interest as major events. It is most likely they will grow into sought-after television products in the years ahead.

We knew before we made the trip that television rights turn the financial wheel, but we didn’t understand the strategy and planning that goes into all the methods the NFL employs - and how this extra knowledge can maximise the AFL’s appeal post-season as we work to retain and grow our status as the number one sport in Australia.

AFL talent manager Kevin Sheehan has observed the NFL grow the status of its combine and draft for some years, and has brought back many ideas and adapted them to produce a much more productive AFL combine, in particular when it comes to measuring and assessing players.

Marketing, of course, is only part of the picture: the NAB AFL National Draft’s main purpose is to replenish AFL lists. Close observation of the NFL combine reinforced our view that the NFL franchises, as do our AFL clubs, focus on the critical elements of making certain all potential draftees are medically and psychologically sound. 

They already know who has shown the talent to play the game - otherwise they would not be at the combine - but the NFL franchises also need to know the athlete they are spending millions on is healthy and well adjusted.

Learning from the NFL as to what they believe are the best tests or measures to assess a player’s psychological capacity to not only play a high level of football but cope with the attendant publicity and lack of privacy was worth the visit in itself.

AFL clubs were also keen to hear about how free agency works from those who have been dealing with it for a considerable time. When it is eventually introduced into the AFL system, our clubs have a better understanding of the positives and negatives that go with such a critical issue as a free market.

We also learned how clubs deal with player agents, particularly around free agency and rookie players. The NFL view was that is essential to work closely with agents, as the availability and cost of free agent players as well as the wages for rookies is essential to the decisions franchises make.

As with the AFL, there is a strict accreditation processes for player agents. While this creates a pool of tough negotiators, it appears to engender confidence and respect for each other’s role.

Visiting the media centre at the combine reveals how well the NFL cater for their media partners and how they report and conduct the total combine coverage, in particular the interview strategies of the young college players and senior staff from the NFL franchises.

Like the NBA and MLB, the NFL has minimum media requirements the franchises must adhere to, but many franchises go well beyond these requirements. They realise the importance of a well-planned communications strategy to inform and connect to their fan base, to support their sponsors, and to build the profile of their club brand and the NFL.

Although finding talent was not a major objective of the trip, it would have been neglectful if we had not taken the opportunity to speak with the NCAA about college athletes of high calibre who do not make the next step to professional levels. This is a huge number - more than 95 per cent of NCCA athletes don’t make it through, and can be lost to sport. The NCAA, as we do, see Australian football as a possible career some of these ‘lost’ athletes may wish to pursue.

We should not shy away from talent discovery as an outcome of the AFL’s international strategy. We should celebrate the likes of ex-Canadian rugby international Mike Pyke (Sydney Swans) and former US college basketballer Shae McNamara (Collingwood) and look upon them as ambassadors rather than dismissing them as one-offs. Let’s also remember that attracting and drafting these players has been no more expense than for any young player drafted to an AFL club.

The NCAA also introduced us to their coaching programs. Of particular interest was their support of minority group coaches, many who have the skills but would not have access to the necessary training or discover the opportunities that coaching can provide them without the NCAA’s support. The lessons to be learnt from the NCAA are significant as the AFL develops strategies for indigenous coaches.

US sport is often considered to be about money and weight of numbers, but our visit also confirmed what the AFL and its clubs are doing is not only on the right track, but in many cases, leading the way.

Of course, we need to maximise our home-grown talent, and the annual development budget of more than $10 million on local development is money well spent, and well placed.

Some believe investment outside our shores is at the expense of Australian game development. This is not true. To close our eyes and ears to what other sports are doing, and the talent pool in other countries, is narrow-minded and short-sighted. Scouring the world - locally and internationally - must be part of the AFL’s future.

Even a $9 billion sport like the NFL is looking offshore for players and fans.

The AFL has an obligation to do the same.

Peter Schwab is the AFL’s director of coaching.

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL and its clubs.

Underarmour, the sponsor of the NFL Combine, is the official apparel sponsor for the AFL in 2011.