The Australian Football League (AFL) is the professional Australian national competition in the sport of Australian football. The league comprises 16 teams which play 22 home and away rounds between late March and late August or early September. This is followed by a four-week finals series which culminates in two teams playing off for the Premiership, in the Grand Final. The organisation which became the Australian Football League, but more commonly known as the AFL was formed in 1897 when eight teams from the Victorian Football Association (VFA, established 1877) broke away to begin the Victorian Football League (VFL). By 1925 the league had expanded to twelve teams (all based in Victoria),with no change until 1982 when the league commenced its expansion to a national competition by relocating South Melbourne to Sydney, New South Wales. Since then five other non-Victorian clubs have been added: two each from Western Australia and South Australia and one from Queensland with an existing Victorian club (Fitzroy) merging with this Queensland based club at the end of the 1996 season. The league was officially renamed the Australian Football League in 1990 to reflect the new national perspective. The AFL has gained considerable media and financial strength. Through the AFL Commission it gained control over the game at most levels and controls the Laws of the Game through the AFL Rules Committee (consisting of members from the AFL Players Association). The Commission pushes for all affiliated leagues and bodies to co-brand with the league (although some state and local associations have sternly resisted). Additionally the Commission has pushed for the sport to be co-branded, requesting affiliated leagues and the media refer to Australian Football as "AFL", also encouraging participants to "Play AFL". The AFL is the most attended sporting league in Australia; it is also the most popular sport competition in terms of TV ratings in the nation. The AFL is currently the fourth-most attended professional sports league in the world in terms of attendance per match, with an average attendance of over 38,000. In national terms, however, Australian football in Australia is not a popular sport in all areas. In recent decades, the AFL has increasingly focused on regions behind the Barassi Line, particularly in metropolitan areas (its "developing markets") where the league and sport has traditionally struggled. The league has granted concessions to teams based in these regions and invested large amounts of development funding. As a result, participation (according to the AFL) is increasing in New South Wales and Queensland. | 
