AFL website, behind the times

It’s somewhat not a surprise to find an Australian business, service or government behind the times and not up to date on the latest tech, digital and internet methodology. AFL is this.

No HTTPS for starters, meaning the website is not secure and doesn’t have the green padlock like most sites do now days. It’s not even hard to implement but when the nations major sporting organization is behind the times and lacking in a secure website its hard to comprehend.

Up next we have the old outdated content still showing. take this image as an example

The sidebar is showing articles from back in 2014 and 2013, that’s 3 and 4 years ago… To problem seems to be a CMS issue, but its something that has existed for a couple of years now. I remember seeing these articles back in 2015 sitting on the sidebar.

Another sign you’re behind the times is when you do not offer streaming through a web browser. The AFL app has streaming even though on an ipad it takes up only half the screen but no web-based streaming. If you think how easy it is to watch American sports and how convenient their streaming is the AFL is even close. I understand that contracts have to be adhered to but if a contract is going to set the growth and development back is it worth it?

If we wanna get nit picky using the .com.au extension because the AFL are too stingy to buy afl.com and currently the AFL website uses www in its address. Something that is not needed as addressed here. Imagine just typing afl.com/news to view AFL news or afl.com/ladder to view the ladder rather than having a lackluster www.afl.com.au/ladder which has no SSL protection.

For a sporting organization wanting to take their product global the AFL really need to improve their web and digital presence. I’m not even going to go into the design of the website either….