Australian rules football in the United States

In the United States, Australian rules football (most commonly referred to simply as "Footy" but sometimes "Aussie Rules" or AFL) is a team and spectator sport which has grown rapidly across the country since the 1996.^[2] The USAFL National Championships is currently the largest club tournament in the world with 41 teams competing across 6 divisions in 2022. A national youth team has also been established and participation is growing in women's teams, junior teams and in modified and non-contact variations such as Metro Footy and Footy 7s. The United States Australian Football League (USAFL) is the governing body, with various clubs and leagues around the country it oversees more than 2,000 players more than half of which are American. An active fan based organization, the Australian Football Association of North America also exists to promote a broader audience.

It was originally introduced in 1906 and by 1910 "field ball" or "fieldball", as it was then called in San Francisco Bay area schools, filled a niche later occupied by soccer. By 1911 with the rapid expansion to schools and colleges in three major cities the U.S. overtook New Zealand to become the second largest Australian football playing nation in the world and there were three reciprocal tours with international matches played at junior level between 1909 and 1919. However availability of officials, large fields, squads of sufficient size and difficulty in differentiating it from rugby as well as a lack of support from the game's administrators in Australia stunted its growth and it went into permanent recess at the end of the 1920s. It was rekindled in the 1980s through interest generated mainly from television highlights from Australia. Prior to this, it has been confused with rugby football which is less popular than American football in the U.S. The USAFL's founding president Paul O'Keefe made efforts to differentiate it through promotion of the moniker "footy".^[3] The world governing body, the AFL Commission has also made efforts to differentiate it, producing educational videos such as "What is AFL?" aimed at a North American audience.^[4]

The country is a source of professional talent for the Australian Football League (AFL) with clubs began taking interest in converting American athletes, particularly amateur college basketball, college football and soccer players with an AFL International Combine being held since 2010. While many moved to Australia to further their careers, only a handful have made the grade, most notably: Jason Holmes, Mason Cox playing senior AFL and Danielle Marshall in the AFL Women's. Mason Cox's success has seen a boom in interest since 2016.

The national men's team - the USA Revolution - debuted in 1999, its best result is bronze the 2005 Australian Football International Cup and has won the 49th Parallel Cup 10 out of 11 times. The national women's team, the USA Freedom - debuted in 2007 and reached bronze in the 2011 Australian Football International Cup.