Modifying rules in women's professional sport: a case study of the Australian Football League Women's league

Rule modifications are common-place in men’s professional sport however there is little understanding of why rules are modified in women’s professional sport beyond sociological enquiry. This research aims to understand the Australian Football League’s (AFL) rationale for, and approach to, modifying match rules for the inaugural Australian Football League Women’s league (AFLW). Performance data was collected from 295 players during ten exhibition matches in 2016 and semi-structured interviews were conducted with AFLW managers (n = 2) and coaches (n = 8). A rigorous data-driven approach to modifying rules for the AFLW suggested that the AFL had commercial logics and were not driven by gendered expectations. However, quantitative data indicated that rule modifications made no significant difference to the commercial appeal of match play. Rather, the AFL’s commercial priorities in modifying rules were tempered by developmental logics of operational stakeholders which led to the introduction of minimal rule modifications for the AFLW.