Australian rules football is understood to be the first major sport in Australia to build an online research panel  that is representative of its fanbase. The practice is well established in markets like the US with sports such as NASCAR have changed rules and aspects of their sport around based on feedback from fans online.

The AFL will turn to its online community of more than 10,000 fans, to review their latest marketing campaigns and to gauge how successful a job they are doing at connecting with supporters. Having a representative online panel enables it to reach ‘passive’ fans that may not belong to clubs but still follow the sport, as well as fans that are more active.

The idea is to receive feedback from a broader pool of AFL fans as apposed to relying on social media sites that can often be utilised, or dominated, by the same groups of people.

The AFL is using Vision Critical technology to reach its fans. The company’s other clients in Australia include Target, Telstra, Kimberly-Clark, SBS and Yahoo.

Questions that will also be posed to fans using the technology will include who should sing the national anthem at this year’s Grand Final as well as getting regular feedback on all aspects of the sport.

The company’s software is hoped to reduced the cost of doing intensive market research by as much as two-thirds, The Australian reports.