I've been living overseas for 20 years. The first time I returned to Aus and went to Marvel, I cam away feeling as if the place had been designed form the foundation s up to fleece the customer of as much cash as possible. Even the pies are more expensive there.
The game and the identities are not the same, but things always change, don't they? IMO, its the result of the age of debt which is hopefully coming to an end now. There are too many teams and the talent is definitely spread too thin. If we think in terms of 'elite talent,' then F1 has 20 drivers. That's 20 in the entire world. Of course, there are hundreds of engineers, so the analogy falls down somewhat, but that's truly elite. Comparing AFL to American football, imagine a single US state with a population halfway between Texas and Florida, running a league of 18 lists of 44 players. How elite would that league be? Not very elite.