Yes. A 23k stadium should be able to handle 40k for concerts. Many of the big names will add on Hobart like they do with NZ regional cities that have smaller and more basic stadiums.
Hobart Stadium: $750 million cost
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Tandy
Norm Smith Medallist
A bloody shed, doesn't meet all the criteria. Just move it and reconstruct it at an outdoor museum.
www.foxsports.com.au
Twist in Tassie stadium stumbling block after 109-year reveal
Twist in Tassie stadium stumbling block after 109-year reveal
www.foxsports.com.au
My_Username
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A bloody shed, doesn't meet all the criteria. Just move it and reconstruct it at an outdoor museum.
Twist in Tassie stadium stumbling block after 109-year reveal
Twist in Tassie stadium stumbling block after 109-year reveal
I don't think it needs to meet all the criteria. Meeting one or two would be enough for it to be looked at and considered.
I do agree however that unless something hugely significant happened there, classifying a rail shed is just crap.
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I have to ask this question. Will a new stadium in Hobart save Tasmanian football? The following article was written in The Age 12 months ago and I ask whether anything has improved or changed?
Here is the most significant moment of my 2022 football season.
I follow Longford in the Northern Tasmanian Football Association. Mid-season, I arrived at the Longford ground at 1.30pm on a Saturday to find the senior match nearly over. When I asked why, I was told, “Because it’s the under-18 round”. At the end of the senior match, the players from the two senior sides lined up to clap the under-18 teams on to the ground. The crowd roared, cars tooted, the young men leapt like salmons. The crowd stayed and gave the under-18 match their full support. Why? Because, in Tasmania, a growing number of young men and women are indifferent to the game.
Former Hawthorn player Peter Schwab told me that once, when legendary coach Allan “Yabby” Jeans was delivering a pre-match pep talk, the odd thought occurred to him that, “this only matters because we agree it does”. In Tasmania, a significant number of young people – plus any number of affluent refugees from other states – no longer think that footy matters.
About five years ago, the then president of Glenorchy Football Club, John McCann, said the ecology of Tasmanian football was sick. The ecology of Tasmanian football is now beginning to collapse with clubs around the island struggling for numbers. Earlier this month, Glenorchy, one of the powerhouses of Tasmanian football in the post-war period, let it be known that it will struggle to field a men’s team this season. A list of players who have come to the VFL/AFL via Glenorchy Football Club would include Darryl Sutton, Rodney Eade, Adrian Fletcher, Andy Lovell, Ben Brown, Jimmy Webster, Daryn Cresswell, Brodie Holland and Matthew Mansfield.
Another big name to play with Glenorchy was Peter Hudson, one of six geniuses of Australian football to emerge from Tasmania during the 1960s (the other five being Darrell Baldock, Ian Stewart, Royce Hart, Brent Crosswell and Johnny Greening). At Hawthorn, over 129 games, Hudson averaged 5.6 goals a match, the highest average in VFL/AFL history.
Hudson started with the Upper Derwent Football Club, which no longer exists. He then played with New Norfolk, which is struggling for numbers. When he returned to Tasmania from Hawthorn, he joined Glenorchy, which is now also struggling for numbers. The game is no longer played in government schools. Hudson was a government high school kid. Exactly where does the AFL expect the next Peter Hudson to intersect with the sport except on screens along with other e-games?
The AFL has a Brexit-like arrogance, the sort that promises grand visions and, within a couple of years, delivers empty supermarkets. Historically, Tasmanian football was valued by the AFL only in so far as it supplied recruits for AFL clubs and provided a guaranteed television audience. The AFL has now promised to spend $30 million on talent academies if the stadium goes ahead. Offering conditional aid in times of crisis is Trumpian.
Nature abhors a vacuum and the vacuum in Tasmanian folk/sporting culture is being filled by NBL club the Jackjumpers. An ABC story three weeks ago revealed that interest in basketball in Tasmania has “skyrocketed”. Basketball Tasmania says it needs 26 new indoor basketball courts around the state. Meanwhile, in the southern third of the island (including the Greater Hobart area), there are only 20 football clubs left.
Tasmania having a team in the AFL was always a just cause. The critical moment in recent history was when Robert Shaw’s Tasmanian team defeated Victoria in a 1996 state of origin match in Hobart. There was no question that Tasmania could then field a competitive AFL team. Instead, Tasmanian football declined.
Then about five years ago everything changed. There was a concerted movement from the grassroots for Tasmania to get an AFL licence. It had broad support and articulate leadership. It was like hearing an old song, a merry dance tune. Tassie footy was alive and on the move ... and who came along but the AFL making the stadium a condition of Tasmania getting a licence. As the stadium became a mind-numbing and unnecessary distraction, the enthusiasm for a Tasmanian team among Tasmanians has waned.
In the north of the island where I live and where the culture of the game is strongest, I have met one person in favour of the stadium. People are opposed to the stadium because they believe the money could be better spent on the ailing public health system. It has also been noted that Lachlan Murdoch, co-winner of the AFL broadcasting rights, owns the Hobart Mercury which – surprise, surprise – is stridently pro-stadium.
The best argument for the stadium was advanced by Matthew “Richo” Richardson. As a footballer, he was a performer who put it all out there for the crowd to see. Growing up, he loved the Tassie footy scene but, in his heart, he wanted to play on the MCG. If he were a kid again, he believes he’d want to play on the Hobart stadium because, in his view, it’s a grander stage. He also points out that if the Brisbane Lions have had player retention issues, a team based in Launceston can surely expect them.
But the stadium is not the critical issue facing Tasmanian football. The history of popular games is like the history of popular music. There are tracts of America where blues and jazz began and flourished where that music is now hardly heard. Footy was my jazz. I loved it, still do, and that’s why to every footy lover outside Tasmania I say – if the game dies in Tasmania, it can die anywhere. To Richard Goyder and the AFL Commission, I say: you only had one job – to protect and nurture the game. Where have you been?
The AFL had one job – protect the game. But in Tasmania, it’s dying
By:Martin Flanagan (Columnist for The Age)
Here is the most significant moment of my 2022 football season.
I follow Longford in the Northern Tasmanian Football Association. Mid-season, I arrived at the Longford ground at 1.30pm on a Saturday to find the senior match nearly over. When I asked why, I was told, “Because it’s the under-18 round”. At the end of the senior match, the players from the two senior sides lined up to clap the under-18 teams on to the ground. The crowd roared, cars tooted, the young men leapt like salmons. The crowd stayed and gave the under-18 match their full support. Why? Because, in Tasmania, a growing number of young men and women are indifferent to the game.
Former Hawthorn player Peter Schwab told me that once, when legendary coach Allan “Yabby” Jeans was delivering a pre-match pep talk, the odd thought occurred to him that, “this only matters because we agree it does”. In Tasmania, a significant number of young people – plus any number of affluent refugees from other states – no longer think that footy matters.
About five years ago, the then president of Glenorchy Football Club, John McCann, said the ecology of Tasmanian football was sick. The ecology of Tasmanian football is now beginning to collapse with clubs around the island struggling for numbers. Earlier this month, Glenorchy, one of the powerhouses of Tasmanian football in the post-war period, let it be known that it will struggle to field a men’s team this season. A list of players who have come to the VFL/AFL via Glenorchy Football Club would include Darryl Sutton, Rodney Eade, Adrian Fletcher, Andy Lovell, Ben Brown, Jimmy Webster, Daryn Cresswell, Brodie Holland and Matthew Mansfield.
Another big name to play with Glenorchy was Peter Hudson, one of six geniuses of Australian football to emerge from Tasmania during the 1960s (the other five being Darrell Baldock, Ian Stewart, Royce Hart, Brent Crosswell and Johnny Greening). At Hawthorn, over 129 games, Hudson averaged 5.6 goals a match, the highest average in VFL/AFL history.
Hudson started with the Upper Derwent Football Club, which no longer exists. He then played with New Norfolk, which is struggling for numbers. When he returned to Tasmania from Hawthorn, he joined Glenorchy, which is now also struggling for numbers. The game is no longer played in government schools. Hudson was a government high school kid. Exactly where does the AFL expect the next Peter Hudson to intersect with the sport except on screens along with other e-games?
The AFL has a Brexit-like arrogance, the sort that promises grand visions and, within a couple of years, delivers empty supermarkets. Historically, Tasmanian football was valued by the AFL only in so far as it supplied recruits for AFL clubs and provided a guaranteed television audience. The AFL has now promised to spend $30 million on talent academies if the stadium goes ahead. Offering conditional aid in times of crisis is Trumpian.
Nature abhors a vacuum and the vacuum in Tasmanian folk/sporting culture is being filled by NBL club the Jackjumpers. An ABC story three weeks ago revealed that interest in basketball in Tasmania has “skyrocketed”. Basketball Tasmania says it needs 26 new indoor basketball courts around the state. Meanwhile, in the southern third of the island (including the Greater Hobart area), there are only 20 football clubs left.
Tasmania having a team in the AFL was always a just cause. The critical moment in recent history was when Robert Shaw’s Tasmanian team defeated Victoria in a 1996 state of origin match in Hobart. There was no question that Tasmania could then field a competitive AFL team. Instead, Tasmanian football declined.
Then about five years ago everything changed. There was a concerted movement from the grassroots for Tasmania to get an AFL licence. It had broad support and articulate leadership. It was like hearing an old song, a merry dance tune. Tassie footy was alive and on the move ... and who came along but the AFL making the stadium a condition of Tasmania getting a licence. As the stadium became a mind-numbing and unnecessary distraction, the enthusiasm for a Tasmanian team among Tasmanians has waned.
In the north of the island where I live and where the culture of the game is strongest, I have met one person in favour of the stadium. People are opposed to the stadium because they believe the money could be better spent on the ailing public health system. It has also been noted that Lachlan Murdoch, co-winner of the AFL broadcasting rights, owns the Hobart Mercury which – surprise, surprise – is stridently pro-stadium.
The best argument for the stadium was advanced by Matthew “Richo” Richardson. As a footballer, he was a performer who put it all out there for the crowd to see. Growing up, he loved the Tassie footy scene but, in his heart, he wanted to play on the MCG. If he were a kid again, he believes he’d want to play on the Hobart stadium because, in his view, it’s a grander stage. He also points out that if the Brisbane Lions have had player retention issues, a team based in Launceston can surely expect them.
But the stadium is not the critical issue facing Tasmanian football. The history of popular games is like the history of popular music. There are tracts of America where blues and jazz began and flourished where that music is now hardly heard. Footy was my jazz. I loved it, still do, and that’s why to every footy lover outside Tasmania I say – if the game dies in Tasmania, it can die anywhere. To Richard Goyder and the AFL Commission, I say: you only had one job – to protect and nurture the game. Where have you been?
Cunnington Cartel
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I’m of the opinion that an AFL club will be the shot in the arm that Tas footy needs to get its mojo back. 20 years ago we had the highest participation rates in the country and even in the present day, despite the drop off, there remains 15 leagues, 108 clubs and 46 AusKick centres across the state. That’s significant for a state of just over 550k people and also points to how massive footy was down there a few decades ago when there were even more leagues and clubs with a smaller population base.
The article below shows how Tassie has a higher percentage of AFL fans than any other state in the country, despite not having our own side. Junior participation needs to improve, but once the funding, pathways and excitement of our own team kicks into gear then I’m really confident we’ll see things grow in that space too because we already have all of the infrastructure in place at community club level. Also, Tasmania did not have a full time team in the TAC Cup/Talent League from 2002-2019. I’m certain that had an effect on the quality of youth talent the state has produced. Only been back in that comp on a full time basis for a few years and it’s already paying dividends with 3 top 20 picks this year.
One thing that irks me about that article is him saying footy is no longer played in Tassie public schools, which is totally incorrect. It may be the case with Hobart because they stuffed their school sport pathways decades ago; however, in the North, the LSSSA has a mid week footy roster throughout winter for primary schools and the NHSSA has a weekly footy comp for Year 7-10 high school students. These have ran for over 40 years. The NHSSA had 38 teams last year (not bad for a regional population of 150k). Pretty sure that public schools on the North West have a similar arrangement as well.
Children in general are more sedentary than they were a few years ago. Other sports like basketball and soccer have grown in Tassie (like they have in other states as well), although ultimately, with this AFL club and the $360m in additional funding that comes with it, there will be a huge uptick. Basketball and Soccer Tas won’t be able to compete with that. It may take a few years to witness the impact on footy, I think that it will happen though.
https://www.uts.edu.au/news/culture-sport/case-tasmanian-afl-team-and-stadium#:~:text=In%20WA%20it's%2062.3%25%2C%20in,In%20Tasmania%20it's%2079%25.&text=Aussie%20Rules%20is%20really%20the,AFL%20and%20National%20Rugby%20League.
Tandy
Norm Smith Medallist
The money the AFL will pour into the state at grassroots should swing the pendulum back. May have already lost a generation (a good %) to other sports because Demetriou wanted GWS and GC first. It'll take 15 yrs to reverse the cycle. But once the Tas Academy (if they have one) or TAS Coates League team sees a group of kids go through the system I think Tasmanian footy will go from strength to strength. Might still lose a couple of country leagues like other states but the main ones should survive. I don't know what I'm waffling on about I'm just typing without thinking. Bread, milk, cheese, detergent...take Nana to the doctors
Cunnington Cartel
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You’re making a lot of sense to me. AFL Tas are setting up three regional academies, which will have a number of full and part time staff overseeing the program for each region.
A few more country clubs and leagues may fold unfortunately but population decline and an ageing population in rural areas has a fair amount of influence on those trends.
Tandy
Norm Smith Medallist
Oh really! I didn't know that. 3 regional over 1 state seems unique? But I like it if it works for Tas. I guess not everything that's proven to work on the mainland will work for Tas. Can't believe there's anyone in the No camp. Even these FT and PT academy positions will be creating jobs for men and women, trickling down to the families, schools, communities and small business. Who wouldn't want that. How bitter and sad must some people be
Cunnington Cartel
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They’ll all be part of the same state academy but they do most of their training within the 3 regions. The Suns do a similar thing as they have their GC North, GC South, North Qld, Darwin etc academy groups.
A report commissioned for the state government (I think it was PWC) valued that just by having an AFL and AFLW club based in Tassie would contribute an extra $120m per year to the state’s economy. The no people are too stupid to understand this. They just focus on the narrow minded things that suit their narrative without including the stadium and team as a whole package. One won’t work without the other, so when the combined value is worked out then it works out to be a huge economic win for the state.
They’re just bitter, twisted, sad people. Getting in excess of $600m of external investment from the Fed Gov and AFL and they’re still complaining.
Mr Taswegian
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They largely believe the negatives are going to outweigh the positives especially if the stadium cost blow outs to a billion or more. I think it's going to be very important to keep the stadium on budget, hopefully they can use cheaper materials that will keep costs down and then we can still show the no people that it can be kept on budget.
I think it's very easy to denigrate the people you disagree with, but more useful to understand where they're coming from and what their concerns are. That investment comes at a cost that they don't necessarily want to pay when they see bigger priorities for their state. There is such a thing as the opportunity cost of money. And I'd imagine many think that it's a poor return to be held to ransom by the AFL after all Tasmania has given the game.
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Mr Taswegian
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I would like to know the percentage for and against in Tasmania, because I think the amount of no people is a lot higher than a lot of us supporters believe.
Basically, the polls on the subject suggest there's a solid majority against the stadium, but all of those polls have issues and aren't entirely reliable.
Holding The Ball: Polling And The Proposed Stadium
Tasmanian and Australian psephology, opinion poll analysis, election analysis and political commentary by Dr Kevin Bonham.
kevinbonham.blogspot.com
So maybe we can look at political party polling as a sort of facsimile. As I understand it, the Liberals are the only one of the four largest parties that fully support building the stadium and their support is eroding, not growing.
The Tasmanian State Liberal vote is down 17% since the last election | YouGov
YouGov data reveals that if a Tasmanian state election was held now, the current Liberal government would only receive 31% of the vote, down 17% from the 2021 election.
au.yougov.com
Of course people don't often vote solely based on one issue, but you'd have to agree the stadium is one of the main issues in the state, and it must play a factor in the Liberals' decline in opinion polls.
Returning to this comment, to win the battle, finding a way to meet people's concerns is more useful than dismissing them as bitter and twisted. The pro-stadium movement need to find a way to assure people that the cost won't go over $715 million, and the Liberal Party in particular need to show they're taking healthcare and housing seriously. Then people might change their stance. Perhaps they could propose the AFL grant a licence with the guarantee of building a new stadium 10-15 years in, buying them time to do something about healthcare and housing now.
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I dare say that there are surveys out there that have been done. I haven't seen any from Tasmania myself. Having travelled mainly in the North of the State (Smithton to Launceston) on two occasions last year, I think that the vox pop from those who I discussed the matter with was that many thought that the cost of a new stadium was too excessive and were rhetorically asking what is wrong with the two perfectly good stadiums that they already have? But as I say, that was only random conversations in pubs and social gatherings.
As a side note, there is a funny but scarily accurate video on YouTube on "Do Tasmanian's want a new stadium" from the ABC show Utopia. "Utopia" is a lot like the old 90s series "The Games" where the parody of the show precedes the actual events which it fictionalises some several years before. I reckon that's what they mean by the term "Art imitating life".
Enjoy:
ABC comedy series predicts Tasmania’s new stadium
A comedy series episode that aired almost a decade ago has spoken into life. An episode of an ABC comedy series that aired almost a decade ago has resurfaced after it coincidentally correctly predicted the future. Characters on Utopia played by popular Aussie comedians including Celia Pacquola, Luke McGregor, Kitty Flanagan and Rob Sitch were debating the prospect of a Tasmanian stadium in an episode that aired in 2014.The new stadium would also allow for the conception of Tasmania’s own AFL team, giving the league a 19th squad.
The proposed 23,000-seat Macquarie Point stadium has a total projected cost of $715 million, with an announcement due this weekend set to confirm the stadium will be roof-covered. It has been projected to be completed by 2028-9 and is expected to be “multi-purpose”.
The concept however is far from an original one, with the sixth episode of Utopia’s first season revealing a fiery back and forth regarding whether the state truly needed a stadium.
The dispute involved Pacquola and Flanagan’s characters trying to convince Sitch and McGregor the stadium was a necessary part of Tasmania’s future.
“What would you say to someone who was thinking of building a stadium?” Sitch’s character proposed.
“Don’t,” McGregor replied.
The pair continue to argue about the contentious issue on behalf of the fake government organisation, “Nation Building Authority”.
“Right, but what if they really, really wanted to build a stadium?” Sitch said.
“Do it, but not in Tasmania.”
“What if it’s a multipurpose stadium?”
“What are the other purposes?”
“Yeah, you’re right, we are going to have to look into it.”
Flanagan’s character, Rhonda, was a big supporter of the idea, but it was clear she had little grounds for her strong stance.
“Rhonda, it doesn’t make sense. There are a few problems … lack of population, too few events, distance, fixed costs, where to put it,” Sitch said.
“But those negatives are far outweighed by the positives … although I don’t have any right now,” Flannagan’s character responded.
In another part of the show, she shut down other options because apparently 1000 people she consulted had asked for a stadium. She didn’t shy away from Tasmania not really needing a stadium, but firmly advocating for the people deserving one.
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Cunnington Cartel
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Their concerns with the project are primarily financial, yet they’re basing most of their arguments on the Mac Point Stadium’s projected CBA and the deal the Premier signed with the AFL.
When the entire project is analysed (stadium + team) then their arguments don’t stack up because they’re primarily based on misconceptions or analysing the stadium in isolation. Thus, ignoring the fact that the entire business model of the club is based on a yield that an 11k-seat Blundstone Arena cannot provide. Hence, the team cannot be successful or profitable without a bigger, more modern stadium and the stadium won’t attract enough content without a team. They’re also ignoring the stimulus that gaining 4 higher-drawing games per season in Launceston will provide.
I disagree with them because at best, they’re gullible or lazy, at worst they’re dishonest or stupid.
Mr Taswegian
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The problem with that is the cost of a stadium is going to cost significantly more 10 to 15 years down the track. I think the big focus should be on trying to build a basic stadium with possibly cheaper materials that can keep the cost down.Basically, the polls on the subject suggest there's a solid majority against the stadium, but all of those polls have issues and aren't entirely reliable.
Holding The Ball: Polling And The Proposed Stadium
Tasmanian and Australian psephology, opinion poll analysis, election analysis and political commentary by Dr Kevin Bonham.
So maybe we can look at political party polling as a sort of facsimile. As I understand it, the Liberals are the only one of the four largest parties that fully support building the stadium and their support is eroding, not growing.
The Tasmanian State Liberal vote is down 17% since the last election | YouGov
YouGov data reveals that if a Tasmanian state election was held now, the current Liberal government would only receive 31% of the vote, down 17% from the 2021 election.
Of course people don't often vote solely based on one issue, but you'd have to agree the stadium is one of the main issues in the state, and it must play a factor in the Liberals' decline in opinion polls.
Returning to this comment, to win the battle, finding a way to meet people's concerns is more useful than dismissing them as bitter and twisted. The pro-stadium movement need to find a way to assure people that the cost won't go over $715 million, and the Liberal Party in particular need to show they're taking healthcare and housing seriously. Then people might change their stance. Perhaps they could propose the AFL grant a licence with the guarantee of building a new stadium 10-15 years in, buying them time to do something about healthcare and housing now.
Bjo187
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The AFL held Tasmania to ransom? Lol that's a classic. It was completely and utterly the other way around.
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I think that the stadium can be made viable as long as they keep the design simple and don't try to over engineer the complex. Maintenance costs can be minimalised by some additional practical measures up front. It's going to be in a shore-side location so I would say that rather than painting any steel components, that extensive use of galvanised steel would reduce maintenance costs and deterioration of the structures from rust over time.
It needs to be more than just a stadium because as a stand alone stadium it will never pay its way. It needs to incorporate conference and meeting rooms, perhaps a permanent sports bar complex complete with gaming machines. Certainly they need to get Cricket Tasmania on board to move their headquarters there as well as the Tasmanian State Football League. Coupled with that, they need both organisations to sign up as many members as possible because the memberships will help pay the rents. Another good organisation to get on board would be Channel 7 in Tasmania if they can permanently establish their main media headquarters in the vicinity of or at the stadium. An adjoining hotel would certainly compliment any conference centre or meeting rooms that are linked.
The idea is to have many people working and meeting around the stadium whilst it's not in use as a sports or major event facility.
It needs to be more than just a stadium because as a stand alone stadium it will never pay its way. It needs to incorporate conference and meeting rooms, perhaps a permanent sports bar complex complete with gaming machines. Certainly they need to get Cricket Tasmania on board to move their headquarters there as well as the Tasmanian State Football League. Coupled with that, they need both organisations to sign up as many members as possible because the memberships will help pay the rents. Another good organisation to get on board would be Channel 7 in Tasmania if they can permanently establish their main media headquarters in the vicinity of or at the stadium. An adjoining hotel would certainly compliment any conference centre or meeting rooms that are linked.
The idea is to have many people working and meeting around the stadium whilst it's not in use as a sports or major event facility.
Section 5
Norm Smith Medallist
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I have been against the Tasmania push over the years, mostly by x retires AFL players.
In my opinion the AFL needs less teams not more, but they will push ahead most likely to 20 teams.
Sponsorship dollars will be extremely hard to come by in Tasmania with such a small population.
I just don't see the "if we build it, they will come" actually happening either.
Launceston: Around 72,000 (2022) Only a 0.13% increase in year 2022 so don't see much of an uplift in the next decade.
Hobart: Around 255,000 (2022). Expected increase of only 47,000 in the next decade
Some hear have said AFL is more popular in Launceston than Hobart and recent flag suggest that is very true (see below image).
In this day and age of easily finding information it was hard to find stuff on Tasmanian AFL
Below image is the TSL seniors' ladder from 2023 at the end of H & A season.
The whole island has only 7 teams so a bye for one team each week.
They may as well have just 6 as Glenorchy did not win a game.
My team the Brisbane Bears (Lions) were admitted into the VFL/AFL in 1987.
The top local QAFL competition at that time had 10 sides. One being Southport the other 9 from Brisbane.
There were also a lot of x AFL/VFL players coming to the state either to play or coach this competition.
This was happening even when i played in the early to mid 70's.
Brisbane population in 1987 was around 1,300,000 and growing steadily. Now around 2,500,000
With a lot more going for it than Tasmania it took a long time for the Club to be successful.
Even after 3 premierships in 2001/3 it was not very long before we became a struggling club again.
Since 2019 we have returned to being successful game wise, but it was not till 2021 that sponsors become easier to find.
Last year the club still had acuminated debts of around $13 million owed to the AFL and Bank.
Hopefully this last financial year (figures due Feb 2024) will see that debt reduced some.
In my opinion the AFL needs less teams not more, but they will push ahead most likely to 20 teams.
Sponsorship dollars will be extremely hard to come by in Tasmania with such a small population.
I just don't see the "if we build it, they will come" actually happening either.
Launceston: Around 72,000 (2022) Only a 0.13% increase in year 2022 so don't see much of an uplift in the next decade.
Hobart: Around 255,000 (2022). Expected increase of only 47,000 in the next decade
Some hear have said AFL is more popular in Launceston than Hobart and recent flag suggest that is very true (see below image).
In this day and age of easily finding information it was hard to find stuff on Tasmanian AFL
Below image is the TSL seniors' ladder from 2023 at the end of H & A season.
The whole island has only 7 teams so a bye for one team each week.
They may as well have just 6 as Glenorchy did not win a game.
My team the Brisbane Bears (Lions) were admitted into the VFL/AFL in 1987.
The top local QAFL competition at that time had 10 sides. One being Southport the other 9 from Brisbane.
There were also a lot of x AFL/VFL players coming to the state either to play or coach this competition.
This was happening even when i played in the early to mid 70's.
Brisbane population in 1987 was around 1,300,000 and growing steadily. Now around 2,500,000
With a lot more going for it than Tasmania it took a long time for the Club to be successful.
Even after 3 premierships in 2001/3 it was not very long before we became a struggling club again.
Since 2019 we have returned to being successful game wise, but it was not till 2021 that sponsors become easier to find.
Last year the club still had acuminated debts of around $13 million owed to the AFL and Bank.
Hopefully this last financial year (figures due Feb 2024) will see that debt reduced some.
Tandy
Norm Smith Medallist
Wouldn't what the afl are bringing in to the state each year cover the cost of the stadium build and the yearly upkeep?
Mr Taswegian
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I would of thought so, but many anti stadium people can't see it.
Mr Taswegian
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- May 25, 2019
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An article that was in the Mercury last year said they have seen big interest from corporates wanting to sponsor us locally and nationally.
Cunnington Cartel
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- Nov 18, 2022
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The figure you’re quoting for Launceston is only the Launceston City Council Area, which does not include several of Launceston’s biggest suburbs. When the other councils in and around the Greater Launceston area are considered (West Tamar, Meander Valley and Northern Midlands) then the number is about 120k. There’s also another 90k+ on NW Coast, which is between 50 min and 2hrs drive from Launceston (yet 3-4 hours drive from Hobart).
The TSL had 10 clubs when it restarted in 2009 (5 from the North and North West, 5 from the South). In AFL Tas’s wisdom, South Launceston was booted out the same year they won their first state league premiership (2013) due to debts. A brand new Launceston based club that AFL Tas helped establish replaced them. South Launnie went on to have their debts paid off within a couple of years and win 4 out of the next 5 Senior flags in regional footy. AFL Tas’s new club folded within a few years.
Burnie and Devonport ended up withdrawing and going back to regional footy as well, because the excessive travel was not only expensive, but creating player retention issues because the top players on the coast could play in local comps for more money - there are reasons for the contraction of the TSL and it’s largely down to geography, lack of funding/promotion, and incompetent decision making by the governing body. The league isn’t even televised like it was when I was a kid and other state leagues around the country are. There are far bigger crowds at regional games where fans can travel and watch their club each week without too much effort.
During his consultancy work for the Tas government, Alistair Clarkson analysed the state league set up in Tasmania. He made the astute observation that state leagues like the SANFL, WAFL etc are essentially Adelaide and Perth metropolitan leagues. Tasmania’s population is more decentralised with its major population centres spread all over the state. This is why it’s difficult to get players from the North West committing to play in a league where they’re having a round trip of 3-7 hours every other week.
When Burnie and Devonport left, it ruined the league because then the best players from those clubs who still wanted to play at the highest level signed up with North and Launceston (the closest remaining state league clubs to them) - which partly explains why they’ve won 8 out of the last 10 flags. Like I said, there are reasons for these things. If Tassie had been kissed on the d*ck like Qld and NSW have in terms of AFL funding over the last 15 years then I can assure you that we’d be achieving way better outcomes per head of population than your state has.
You say Brisbane has a lot more going for it than Tasmania. I moved from Tas and now live in Brisbane. IMO it has SOME things going for it, but I’ll tell you what it doesn’t have - it doesn’t have the widespread level of passion, community support and heritage for this game that Tasmania does (and I doubt it ever will).
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- Dec 7, 2016
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No because you still also have to recoup the $350 mil outlayed by the state government up front to help fund its initial build. This is why it has to attract other tennants and functions as I outlined on my previous post.
- Dec 7, 2016
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Indeed, there are a few very highly sucessful busineses in Tassie. If Ballarat can have a Mars Stadium then why the heck can't Hobart have a Cadbury Stadium?
