AFL chief Andrew Demetriou has reaffirmed the AFL's plans to expand internationally by foreshadowing the playing of home-and-away matches in Asia and the United States "in the not too distant future."

Speaking at the AFL Industry Conference on the Gold Coast today, Demetriou said the league - on the back of the successful Kaspersky Cup in Shanghai last month - would look to play matches for premiership points in cities such as Mumbai, Shanghai and Los Angeles.

He said Melbourne's match against Brisbane in Shanghai, where indigenous player Liam Jurrah was best afield, was so well received it showed there was an appetite for the game outside of Australia.

"Who would have thought when Australian football was first played more than 150 years ago, that one day we would play a match in China, one of the world's oldest civilizations and home to more than one billion people?" Demetriou said.

"I want you to think about that and imagine the scene when one day in the not too distant future we play the first ever match overseas for premiership points?

"It could be Shanghai. It could be Mumbai. It could be Los Angeles. Wherever it is, when that day comes we'll know our game has taken yet another great leap forward."

Demetriou further highlighted the progress that the AFL had made not only in expanding its appeal overseas but within indigenous communities in Australia.

"Who would have dared imagine that its star would be an indigenous player, Liam Jurrah, from a remote community called Yuendumu, 300 kilometres north of Alice Springs," he said.

"A young man who didn't even have a birth certificate, let alone a passport, just a few months ago. A player who's now one of 85 indigenous players at the elite level."

Demetriou also highlighted the achievement of introducing not only one but two teams into Queensland in the past 25 years, with the Gold Coast Suns set to take part in their inaugural National Draft tomorrow.

"Today there are more than 100,000 people playing the game in Queensland, stretching all the way up to Cape York. Indeed, football is growing faster here in Queensland than any other state," he said.

In a veiled criticism at the ham-fisted way the Brisbane Bears were set up in the late 1980s, Demetriou said the new Gold Coast franchise had been given - through draft concessions and better organisation - a much better chance to succeed.

"The Brisbane Bears were yet to play their first game at the old Carrara, a ground with makeshift grandstands and very little in the way of training facilities," he said.

Demetriou said that the new Queensland team would be a club that "contributes to one of Australia's fastest growing regions beyond just its achievements on the football field. A club that drives tourism and economic growth but also gives something back to the community."

"The point is this time around we are doing it the way it should be done. We have not only learned the lessons of the past but we have done the hard work and are ready to turn a bold vision into reality."

In addressing AFL club membership, the league chief said nearly 615,000 Australians had signed on as club members in 2010 - one in 37 Australians.

And that was reflected in burgeoning attendance figures. "Who would have predicted that with an aggregate attendance of more than 7.1 million people this year, the AFL would be the third most watched game in the world after the NFL and the German Bundesliga?" he said.

"Let's aim to have one on 35 people become members of AFL clubs. Better still, what about one in 30?

"Wouldn't it be great to think that in the years to come, the NFL and German Bundesliga will be talking about the AFL, and not the other way around?"