The AFL has confirmed Sunday's historic clash between the Power and Gold Coast Suns will be broadcast live locally on China Central TV - the government broadcaster - and Shanghai TV, with clubs chief Travis Auld tipping this could be the most watched game of all time.

Koch said the "numbers could be quite staggering" when reviewed on Monday, helping to make the match "one of the marquee events on the AFL calendar each year".

While local support is minimal - there wasn't a word about the game in the two major daily newspapers on Friday - Koch and the Suns are stressing the bigger picture and what the event could mean for the sport and Australian tourism.

"To be completely honest, no-one gives a toss about Port Adelaide or the AFL at the moment here in China. They love Australia. Australia is all about healthy living, Australia is about great food, a healthy lifestyle," Koch said.

"All of us always say we have the greatest game in the world, so why don't we showcase it? Why are we scared to take it outside of Australia? That's what I can't figure. Do we just want to be so insular that we keep it in Australia? We are building trade bridges, we are building diplomatic bridges. This is AFL becoming an exporter."

For the Power, this clash caps a major transformation under Koch and chief executive Keith Thomas.

"This is the end of a four-year learning experience for us as a club. Four years ago we were, fair to say in many of your (media) eyes, a bit of a financial cot case and a blight on the AFL," he said.

"In those four years, we have tried to turn it around and really make our members and supporters proud of our club and also build a financial model that underpins a club which ensures we can pay 100 per cent of the salary cap and 100 per cent of football-department soft-cap spend."

Koch said taking a game to China was an innovative way of securing new revenue - the Power have generated about $4 million to help put this game on - while building on a promise he had made to AFL chief Gillon McLachlan.

"To grow our club, we need to think differently, grow a bit outside the square. I did make a promise to Gill a couple of years ago that I wanted Port Adelaide to be his most annoying club because I wanted us to be the disrupter of the AFL, to think differently about things. To really take our club and also our code to areas where others haven't been before, and also to opportunities," he said.

"To grow a financial base of a club traditionally is all about, it seems to be, buying pubs or pokies or whatever. We think that is a really old-fashioned model and there is a new age of doing sport. We have always set ourselves a bench mark ... to be a globally-best practice sporting organisation. I think Shanghai is one of those steps along the way."

It remains to be seen if the Power will have a new opponent next year. The Suns remain interested, with chief executive Mark Evans wanting longer than the six months his club had this time to prepare.

Koch said "a number of clubs" and state governments had shown interest but Fairfax Media believes tourism chiefs would prefer either the Suns or Sydney Swans - and not Greater Western Sydney - be involved, for the Gold Coast and Harbour City are two key tourist destinations for the Chinese.

The Power hope next year's clash will be held in April during Australia weekend celebrations, when Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Chinese government figures could attend.

Tensions had exploded between Koch and counterpart Tony Cochrane over the Suns determination to don their red-and-gold home guernsey here, as it was felt the predominantly red jersey would make the Suns the team supported by the Chinese.

The two men and long-time friends stressed on Friday the spat had been nothing but a blip, with Cochrane declaring: "We are back in love".