I'm with you
@Tazzytiger. I remember 20 years ago I would watch as many games as I could each weekend. But with Demetriou and McLachlan the game has transformed into a vehicle for corporate money making while depriving the fans of access (pay to view) and competition (compromised rules, draft, etc.). These days I watch every Tigers game on free to air as I refuse to pay money to Uncle Rupert, and I spend time on these forums and have the odd squizz at the site that shall not be named mainly to then jump to the Tigers site.
The game itself has turned into a clusterfuck of complex, poorly thought out, rule interpretations designed to manufacture a spectacle that is unattainable. Many teams have become robot-like in how they approach the game making them unwatchable.
I also reckon the "Americanisation" of "footy" means we'll never see another player as good as DM (statue now please) because soccer, basketball and cricket offer more money and greater choice internationally which will suck gifted sportsmen away from the pathways into AFL.
Adding to this is the massive growth of on-line competitive/cooperative play through the medium of computer games, and there are very few parents in Aus who will tell little Salim, or Jenny to go join up at the local footy club and run about in the mud and rain because that just creates work for Dad and Mum to wash kit and do the Saturday taxi runs.
$0.02