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| equipment =
| team = originally 7 per side + 5 interchange (differs to men's 18 per side + 4 interchange)
| venue = [[Football pitch]] (soccer field)
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'''AFLX''' is a [[Variations of Australian rules football|variation]] of [[Australian rules football]] designed in 2017 to be played on a [[football pitch|soccer field]] (significantly smaller than the [[Australian rules football playing field|Australian rules oval]]). Unlike the full 18-a-side game (or the already- established variant for rectangular fields, [[nine-a-side footy]], including the AFL's own variant [[AFL 9s]])—AFLX, AFLX required lessfewer players (initially 7, but increased to 8) with some modified rules aimed at generating higher scores, including increased scoring points. It iswas mostfounded notablein foran itsattempt useto inappeal officialto [[Australiana Footballwider League]]audience (AFL)outside pre-seasonof competitionsits inorigin [[2018country AFLXof competition|2018[[Australia]].<ref>{{cite andweb|url=https://www.afr.com/business/sport/aflx-the-business-strategy-behind-the-spectacle-20180209-h0vud5|title=AFLX: [[2019the AFLXbusiness tournament|2019]].strategy Postbehind the spectacle|work=[[COVID-19Australian Financial PandemicReview]]|date=11 theFebruary AFL2018}}</ref> mergedThe itAFL withbilled AFLAFLX 9sas andits retainedanswer onlyto the[[Twenty20]] Xor brand,[[Rugby coSevens]].<ref>[https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/more-brandingnews/radical-new-concept-aflx-set-to-be-launched-on-prefinals-bye-weekend/news-story/f5410d336ab237b455db5b771d28b765 AFLRadical 9snew asconcept JuniorAFLX X,set Youthto Xbe andlaunched Senioron Xpre-finals andbye aligningweekend] itby withChris Cavanagh for the moreHerald widelySun established22 9-a-sideJune format.2017</ref>
The AFL held two official [[Australian Football League]] (AFL) pre-season AFLX competitions featuring senior AFL clubs and players, in [[2018 AFLX competition|2018]] and [[2019 AFLX tournament|2019]], but these were unpopular with spectators and did not return in 2020.<ref name="aflx-removal">{{Cite web|url=https://www.afl.com.au/news/2019-08-06/x-off-the-map-afl-to-remove-aflx-from-preseason-fixture|title=X off the map: AFL to remove AFLX from pre-season fixture|website=afl.com.au|date=6 August 2019 |access-date=2019-08-07}}</ref>
It was founded in an attempt to appeal to a wider audience outside of its origin country of [[Australia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.afr.com/business/sport/aflx-the-business-strategy-behind-the-spectacle-20180209-h0vud5|title=AFLX: the business strategy behind the spectacle|work=[[Australian Financial Review]]|date=11 February 2018}}</ref> The AFL billed AFLX as its answer to [[Twenty20]] or [[Rugby Sevens]].<ref>[https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/more-news/radical-new-concept-aflx-set-to-be-launched-on-prefinals-bye-weekend/news-story/f5410d336ab237b455db5b771d28b765 Radical new concept AFLX set to be launched on pre-finals bye weekend] by Chris Cavanagh for the Herald Sun 22 June 2017</ref>
The variation continues to be promoted by the [[AFL Commission]] as a participation sport in development regions and areas, and particularly where full-sized cricket grounds are not available. Since the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], AFLX has been merged with AFL 9s and retained only the X brand, co-branding AFL 9s as Junior X, Youth X and Senior X and aligning it with the more widely established 9-a-side format.
The format of the AFL's AFLX events varied – the [[2019 AFLX tournament|2019 tournament]] consisted of four teams each captained by a high-profile AFL footballer. In August 2019, the AFL confirmed AFLX would not return in 2020.<ref name="aflx-removal">{{Cite web|url=https://www.afl.com.au/news/2019-08-06/x-off-the-map-afl-to-remove-aflx-from-preseason-fixture|title=X off the map: AFL to remove AFLX from pre-season fixture|website=afl.com.au|date=6 August 2019 |access-date=2019-08-07}}</ref> Despite being designed for play on a rectangular field, the AFL used two dedicated rectangular stadiums, [[Hindmarsh Stadium]] and [[Sydney Football Stadium (1988)|Sydney Football Stadium]], as a venue for its AFLX competitions (the other rectangular venue used for a spectated AFLX match was [[AAMI Park]] for the 2019 [[E. J. Whitten Legends Game]]). The record attendance for an AFLX match is 23,828, set in 2019 at [[Docklands Stadium]] in [[Melbourne]].
Despite its lack of popularity with spectators and the AFL's short-lived experiment with it, the variation continues to be promoted by the [[AFL Commission]] as a participation sport in development regions and areas where full-sized cricket grounds are not available.
==Rules==
The rules of the game differed from standard Australian rules football in some significant ways. The game was played on a rectangular [[soccer]]-sized pitch, allowing matches to be hosted by stadiums that usually lacked the suitable field dimensions for Australian rules football. The format was modified in the second year, with AFLX 2019 seeing slightly changed rules:<ref name="AFLX2">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeWb_dZ9USI|title=AFLX 2019 rules explained|date=4 February 2019|work=YouTube, AFL official account}}</ref><ref>[http://www.essendonfc.com.au/news/2019-02-05/aflx-rules-explained AFLX 2019 rules explained, Essedon FC official site]</ref>
* Games consist of two 10-minute halves with a two-minute break at half-time
* Played on a rectangular field with dimensions similar to that of a soccer field
==Reception==
The reception to the gametwo AFL pre-season competitions among fans and the media was mostly poor,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tendaily.com.au/views/a181218obp/the-aflx-is-the-greatest-farce-in-professional-sport-20181218|title=The AFLX Is The Greatest Farce In Professional Sport|work=Ten Daily|date=16 December 2018|author=Jackson Ryan}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/dec/17/not-even-superpowers-can-give-soulless-aflx-what-it-most-needs|date=17 December 2018|work=The Guardian|title=Not even superpowers can give soulless AFLX what it most needs|author=Alana Schetzer}}</ref> with [[ABC Radio Grandstand]] journalist Richard Hinds being particularly savage in labelling it a "hollow, unappealing, pressure-free, atmosphere-deficient, oval-in-a-rectangle hole yawn-fest".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-16/aflx-not-an-exciting-new-format-of-a-beloved-sport-richard-hinds/9452570|title=AFLX: If you wanted to kill AFL stone-dead, you'd turn it into this hollow yawn-fest|work=ABC News|date=16 February 2018|author=Richard Hinds}}</ref>
Con Stavros of [[RMIT]]'s school of Economics, Finance and Marketing, expressed doubts about the potential of AFLX to export Australian rules football but acknowledged that using rectangular playing fields instead of the standard cricket ones would make such expansion easier.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.espn.com.au/afl/story/_/id/22426386/aflx-stroke-sport-marketing-genius|work=[[ESPN]]|title=AFLX - a stroke of sport marketing genius?|date=14 February 2018|access-date=18 February 2019}}</ref>
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