AFL makes $360 million commitment for Tasmanian team funding contingent on new Hobart stadium

Supporting the Tasmanian Government’s push to obtain a licence for a 19th AFL team, the League has pledged to spend $360 million supporting the new team and game development initiatives in the state if funding is secured for a new stadium in Hobart.

The funding, to be spent over a decade, includes more than $90 million in game development and $33 million to develop young players in three new ‘talent academies’.

AFL Chief Executive Gillon McLachlan delivered the pledge at a business meeting in Hobart today, committing $210 million to back the team over a decade to cover "base funding”.

The funding package also includes an already announced $15 million for the new stadium along with $10 million for the new team’s training facilities.

However, McLachlan advised that the funding depends on the proposed new stadium being developed at Hobart’s Macquarie Point.

Committed to developing a stadium in Hobart at a cost of more than $715 million, the Tasmanian Government has set out a case for the Federal Government to contribute an unprecedented $240 million for the new venue.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has previously said the proposal will be examined in the lead-up to the May federal budget.

In addition, $85 million is expected to be garnered through borrowings against land sales and commercial leases.

However, as Australasian Leisure Management Publisher Nigel Benton has pointed out, the Federal Government’s largest previous commitment to a stadium project has been $100 million to the Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Townsville.

Benton also noted that “the recent funding announcement for venues for the Brisbane 2032 Games did not see any Federal Government money pledge to the redevelopment of the main Olympic stadium - the Gabba.

“It might be a side step that sees the Federal Government instead contributing to the Brisbane Live indoor arena so as not to create a precedent for stadium funding.”

While the Tasmanian Government will fund more than half of the cost of the new venue - itself a divisive topic locally - McLachlan made it clear that “without the stadium, there is no team. The commission and AFL clubs have made it clear that the stadium is the last key requirement. I know some people have said they support the team but not the stadium, but we have been consistent with the message that we can’t have one without the other.

“Our fans want, deserve, and expect the best experience, which needs the best stadiums, and the supporters are voting with their feet. That is why there can be no team without a stadium. We need to establish a team for future success, not future failure. It’s that simple.

“In the economics of new football clubs in 2023, a first-class stadium is imperative for a team trying to turnover $40 to 50 million annually - a commercial reality to be competitive.”

McLachlan’s comments came after 10 Tasmanian Federal politicians signed a letter earlier this week calling on the AFL to grant the 19th licence without the requirement of a new stadium.

In it, they call on McLachlan and the AFL to "do the right thing by Tasmania" and "give Tasmania the team without making us build a stadium".

Countering this, McLachlan added “I would note that new or fully redeveloped stadiums were a pre-requisite for the Gold Coast Suns and GWS Giants prior to entry in the AFL. To be clear, this is not and has never been just a Tasmanian requirement.”

Images: The AFL's 2023 concept for the proposed Hobart stadium (top) and AFL Chief Executive Gillon McLachlan (below). Credit: AFL Media.