AFL Chief Executive warns Tasmanian objectors 'no expansion team without new Hobart Stadium'

With Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockcliff’s backing for a $715 million stadium on the Hobart waterfront having prompted protests and seen the state government fall into minority status, AFL Chief Executive Gillon McLachlan has this week emphasised the League’s position that the granting of the 19th AFL licence is contingent on the new venue.

McLachlan made the AFL's position clear this week, stating “it's now an arrangement that is: If you want an AFL team, it comes with a stadium.

"People have their views about that, but it's now funded."

"It's something that comes together. You can't have one without the other, and it's actually now a moment that will actually change Tasmania."

Concerns over the funding of the new venue, to which the AFL is contributing just $15 million, saw two Tasmanian MPs quit the Liberal Party and sit as independents last week, ending Premier Rockliff's majority in Parliament.

Last Saturday saw thousands of anti-stadium protesters attend a rally on the lawns of the Tasmanian Parliament in Hobart to voice concerns about the deal.

Nonetheless, speaking at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium on Tuesday, McLachlan said he would not intervene in Tasmania's political situation, commenting “I just think this is an incredibly important moment for Tasmania and Tasmanian football.”

Pointing to the redevelopment of Adelaide Oval and the building of Optus Stadium in Perth as transforming those cities' CBDs, McLachlan added “it's easy to oppose things, it's easy to point to alternate uses of capital.

“But actually the business case around this is about tourism, construction, economic impact, pride.

“But in the end, I think Tasmania wants an AFL team.”

A cost-benefit analysis of the cost of the proposed new Hobart stadium commissioned by the Tasmanian Government has indicated that the venue would generate a loss of more than $300 million over 20 years of operation.

Images: Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff, AFL Chief Executive Gillon McLachlan and acting Prime Minister Richard Marles celebrate the new 19th AFL club licence in Tasmania with locals at North Hobart Oval earlier this month (top, credit: AFL Photos) and an early concept for the new stadium (top, credit: Philp Lighton Architects).