Article
AFL Presidents Approve Tasmania Team Bid
by ABC Sport, 2 May 2023
AFL presidents approve Tasmania for 19th team licence after decades of campaigning
The AFL club presidents have voted unanimously to grant Tasmania the game’s 19th licence, fulfilling decades of dreams for a team from the island state.
During a video meeting this afternoon, the presidents reached a decision within 15 minutes and there were no objections.
The granting of the licence now goes to the AFL Commission for a formal ratification.
An official AFL announcement of the licence is expected later in the week.
Read the full story here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-02/tasmania-granted-19th-afl-licence/102286066.
Media release – Cassy O’Connor MP, Greens Leader, 2 May 2023
President’s Decision on Tassie Team Tarnished by Stadium
It’s a bittersweet day for Tasmanians who’ve long dreamed of our own AFL team.
We’ve got our team but what a price we’ve been asked to pay.
It’s effectively a billion dollar AFL license. That’s money that won’t be invested in health, housing or public education. It’s also looking like a half a billion dollar debt, at a minimum, which will be carried by generations of Tasmanians along with the hundreds of millions it will lose over decades.
So, there’ll be many Tasmanians who have mixed feelings today.
Today should be a time of celebration for all. Tasmanians should be united in celebration – but Jeremy Rockliff bowed to AFL bullying on the stadium and made the choice to divide us over the AFL and AFLW teams we deserve.
Tasmania deserved a team on our own merits. We didn’t deserve to be blackmailed by the suits in the AFL, or a jellyback Premier willing to kowtow to them.
This is a team with a billion dollar price tag, and at the expense of Tasmanians’ health, access to housing and education.
Responsible, decent governments will alway put essential services first. The Rockliff Liberal Government is more concerned with bread and circuses.
There’s a long way to go on this stadium. While we may have a team, the stadium is far from done and dusted and there are plenty of Tasmanians ready to fight it.
Rebecca White MP, Tasmanian Labor Leader; Josh Willie MLC, Shadow Minister for Sport, 3 May 2023
Labor welcomes Tasmanian AFL licence
Tasmanian Labor strongly welcomes today’s confirmation that Tasmania has been granted the 19th AFL licence.
Tasmania has a proud footballing history and our state is worthy of inclusion in the national league.
Peter Hudson, Royce Hart, Darrel Baldock, Mathew Richardson, Alistair Lynch, Rodney Eade and Nick and Jack Reiwoldt are greats of the game.
Tasmania deserves our own teams in the AFL and AFLW and this is exciting news for boys and girls who can one day grow up to represent our own state team in our own colours and for football fans right around our state.
It’s no secret that we’ve disagreed about the way the Tasmanian government has negotiated with the AFL to secure the license and we remain opposed to taxpayers funding a $1 billion stadium in Hobart.
But we do look forward to cheering on our own Tassie side when they take to the field at York Park and Bellerive in 2028.
Media release – Tasmanian Hospitality Association and Clubs Tasmania, 3 May 2023
Hospitality and Clubs Tasmania united in support of AFL team
Confirmation Tasmania’s decades-long fight for its own AFL team is finally over is undoubtedly among the top historic moments for sport in the state.
Tasmania securing the AFL’s 19th licence paves the way for one of the code’s traditional heartlands to finally call a team its own, something which will capture the imagination of all passionate supporters and spurn the next generation of youngsters.
Both the Tasmanian Hospitality Association and Clubs Tasmania applaud this history making day, which will reap huge benefits for a variety of sectors and end decades of neglect.
“For so long it appeared this day would never materialise, a day where Tasmanians could band together for their own AFL side,” THA chief executive Steve Old said.
“As a sports lover who has been involved with football at all levels as both a player and administrator, this truly is an announcement which will change the landscape of the sport, which we know has withered in the past few years.
“Hopefully it also provides inspiration for other codes who hold aspirations to join national competitions, as I have no doubt both a Tasmanian A-League team and a Tasmanian Super Netball side are achievable goals in the future as well.”
Club Tasmania project manager Tom Darke said the impact a Tasmanian AFL team will have in reinvigorating the game at grass roots level cannot be underestimated.
“You only have to look at what the JackJumpers have done in their first two seasons in the NBL to see what influence a club in a national competition can have,” Mr Darke said.
“The explosion in juniors taking up basketball is astronomical, they can clearly see a pathway to the elite level and a dream to pull on a Tasmanian jersey down the track.
“AFL at grassroots level has faced its challenges in recent times, but now juniors starting out can hold the same dream to represent their state at senior level and return the sport to its rightful place on the national stage.”
THA president and Burnie-based publican Ben Carpenter said the benefits of an AFL side will be far reaching despite matches being split between Hobart and Launceston.
“Data from the past two decades of AFL games being played in Tasmania shows interstate supporters don’t just travel to watch their sides play at UTAS Stadium and Blundstone Arena,” Mr Carpenter said.
“They will often stay for multiple nights, they get out to other parts of the state and experience everything we have to offer.
“Each region will reap the rewards from the influx of tourists, whether they fly or catch the Spirit of Tasmania, for sports and entertainment events that the new stadium will bring.”
Association vice-president Paul Jubb, who owns multiple Salamanca venues, said the state’s hospitality industry will go to another level with a Tasmanian AFL team, pointing to the blueprint of Optus Stadium and Adelaide Oval and the traffic they bring to their respective cities.
“The inner-city stadiums and precincts built in Perth and Adelaide have transformed both capitals and their respective hospitality sectors.
“The vibrancy and buzz on match days and when major concerts or events are held has provided a major injection, venues are filled with fans and spectators and it will be no different in Tasmania.
“Winter is traditionally the quietest period of our industry, but an AFL team will ensure operators remain busy during these months.”