AC/DC To Soundtrack AFL Campaign

AC/DC have licensed their anthem It's A Long Way To The Top for the first time and will soundtrack the AFL 2012 season.

Announced today it sees the Australian Rules league launch the 2012 campaign, called Australia's Game.

In recent years the Australian Football League [AFL] has looked to align itself with local music, through live performances before games and Tim Rogers' television ad.

While AC/DC have licensed their tracks to a sporting code before, “This is the first time that the iconic rock anthem Long Way To The Top with its recognisable guitar riff has been approved to be used in a national advertising campaign,” wrote publishers Alberts on their website.

Today the AFL's General Manager Of Strategy And Marketing Andrew Catterall told Your Daily SPAthat the league are delighted with the deal.

“We are rapt with AC/DC and combining two icons – Australia's game and Australia's rock'n'roll anthem,” he said. “Such a perfect analogy for a season, for a team, for a young kid, for an AFLplayer, for a fan.”

The deal was brokered by the AFL's music supervision company Level Two, and Karl Richter from the company said in the announcement, “The choice of an AC/DC song as the soundtrack to the 2012 season is a statement of intent and symbolic of a new chapter in the AFL's relationship with the local music community.

“The AFL recognizes there is a massive overlap between the communities of sport and music. We are all excited by the very real value the support of a body like the AFL can provide local musicians that contribute to an amazingly diverse and thriving music scene here in Australia. Support may manifest itself in stadium play, online or through other opportunities for profile building that the AFLmedia platform provides.”

Music promoter Michael Gudinksi, who books the AFL Grand Final, also applauded the deal. “It's only fitting that Australia's greatest game has adopted the world famous rock anthem It's A Long Way To The Top from Australia's most successful rock band of all time,” he said.

“It's a great tribute to the late Bon Scott and a fantastic coup for the AFL, Australia's national football code, to be able to use this song.”

Catterall added, “The song represents the challenges and sheer jubilation that every AFL fan or player goes through each season – from kids dreaming of becoming AFL players to fans of every club aspiring to win a premiership and even AFL players embarking on their own journey to the top.”

The AFL's Chief Executive Andrew Demetriou said it was representative of the leagues' “coming of age”.