No AFL team for Tasmania, league boss Gillon McLachlan announces

[Virgin Dog]

Love Tassie getting a team.
Hate the AFL expanding to a 19th team and spreading the talent further.


Gold Coast the obvious option to move down. Can cull anyone who doesn't want to go., allow them to FA elsewhere and then given them another bevy of draft picks and Stae-League access to set them up.

Alternatively, St Kilda, North? Which one of you are putting your hands up.

Bit unfair on North and Saints, they've been somewhat competitive at times. Fairest way would probably be to move an uncompetitive team, using some arbitrary metric. Say, whoever has taken the most wooden spoons in the last 20 years?

 

[Johnny Bananas]

Love Tassie getting a team.
Hate the AFL expanding to a 19th team and spreading the talent further.


Gold Coast the obvious option to move down. Can cull anyone who doesn't want to go., allow them to FA elsewhere and then given them another bevy of draft picks and Stae-League access to set them up.

Alternatively, St Kilda, North? Which one of you are putting your hands up.

Tasmanians have expressed over and over that they want their own team with their own identity, not some transplant. If you feel so strongly about the competition staying at 18 teams, advocate for the two poorest Melbourne teams to merge instead of sending their club interstate. Or you could offer up your own team for relocation instead of idly speculating which set of fans you want to rob of their club.

 

[dogspur]

Gold Coast are still far and away the worst in the comp in terms of attendance etc. They make the most sense, the Gold Coast is a sporting franchise graveyard.

You can whine all you want, the Gold Coast aren't going anywhere. People like you just don't get it.

 

[Mr Taswegian]

S

I assume John is Richard’s brother.

Sorry I actually mean Richard

 

[Carringbush2010]

Merge two struggling Vic clubs to become one strong entity, who can retain their support.

Nice attempt at comedy, who in their right mind is going to support a merger of two teams? A fair assumption is that 99.99% of the merged clubs supporters and members won't be backing it.

Not gonna happen.

 

[kaiserchief13]

Announce at end of this year the worst performed team in 2020 and 2021 is moved to Tasmania

 

[Carringbush2010]

There won't be merging or culling of teams, would've happened already if it was viable.

Everyone chill out and cease with the wild theories.

 

[Heardy_101]

Oh good.

Just merge North with the Cold Toast and you'll have your spare spot for Tasmania

 

[Engimal v3]

There won't be merging or culling of teams, would've happened already if it was viable.

Everyone chill out and cease with the wild theories.

Right? The AFL couldn't relocate North in 2007, and every club (including North) is financially healthier than that in 2019.

 

[Kappa]

I doubt they'll ever sustain themselves as AFL clubs without massive amounts of permanent support.

Sydney people don't really go in droves to club sports. The Swans have done well after some tough periods, but it is a city of over 5million people or so, all the 'southern' expats alone could sustain them.

I just don't see the same growth in Western Sydney. I hope it does, but its a different world to the parts of Australia which have the long history of 'Aussie Rules'. Geez, they hardly go to NRL games! The club sport tribal thing is not the same in the wider west of Sydney, or Sydney generally. except SOO RL of course.

GC has a long history of failed sports teams. Their is a reason for that, people do other things.

They may be given enough help to win games & flags, but massive local support? I just don't see it. Again, people do other stuff on the GC.

The question as to how much the game of Australian rules football will grow is more important. In time I think it may make some inroads. Maybe GWS >GC

I think those 2 will always need massive AFL support.

Tasmania will also always need support to keep up with the big clubs. In 50 years time GC and GWS population will make Tasmania look tiny.

 

[Hawkk]

Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan (and I have changed from a naysayer to being pro Tasmania) but I just hope they don't screw up the structure...

If you look at South Australia (and I presume Western Australia) the second team's in these markets are effectively hamstrung by terrible stadium deals...

I understand Port Adelaide have to draw 35,000 at the Adelaide Oval to break-even (which is 8,000 higher than the worst of Docklands)

If Tasmania does proceeed I hope they dont get caught out with expensive and extravagent stadium deals, due to the decentralisation of the Tasmanian population and cold, winter weather would a dual stadium strategy between Hobart and Launceston actually be viable?

What role, if any, will AFL Tasmania play in setting up or benefiting from the stadium deals negotiated in Hobart and / or Launceston?

 

[Football Tragic]

I always find the talk of a Tassie team interesting. The AFL have shown that they are loath to bring in a single team that would imbalance the draw and force byes. Now while we already have 'byes' during the 'bye rounds' having a bye every week is certainly not ideal and one of the reasons why two new teams were introduced with GC and GWS rather than just the one. I can't see the AFL removing or merging teams considering the impact to supporters, Sponsorship, TV rights, club revenue etc so if Tassie does get a team I would imagine it would be along with another new club.

Considering the new franchises are still struggling and building supporters/interest, I doubt it very much that the AFL would bring in another new team so soon. I think Tasmania will get their own team but not until 2030+

 

[AuntyBlindEye]

Would love to see a tassie team. Would just hope it works.

We I'll also love a NT team.

 

[kranky al]

Bout time.

 

[Mr Taswegian]

Bout time.

I will believe it when the AFL officially announces it.

 

[Elmer_Judd]

The link is obvious clickbait. It's not going to happen.

 

[1990crow]

ONLY if a Vic team gets relocated, kicked out or merged with another.

 

[StCicatriz]

it'll happen. there will be a 20th team a year or two later. it'll be in WA

 

[Cmarsh]

Why is there this assumption that Tasmanians would support a relocated club?

Surely thay would rather get behind an entirely new entity to call their own.

 

[Ando727]

Tasmania will also always need support to keep up with the big clubs. In 50 years time GC and GWS population will make Tasmania look tiny.

It doesn't matter. You only need enough to fill a stadium. Tassie will fill their own stadiums. There will never be 150,000 people stadiums anyway, so who cares about future population stats. And no matter what the population of the GC, doesn't mean they'll ever give a rats about the Suns. It's all hopes and presumption from the AFL regarding the expansion teams. The difference is, we know Tassie will be behind their team from day one.

 

[Gigantor]

Consolidate?

So it'll be never then.

Never is a long time, but it won't happen in 2023, that's for sure.

 

[coniglio_number1]

Given how even the comp is becoming I can see the league expanding with 2 new teams in tassie and NT.

Concessions would be close to what GC and GWS got but probably with the mini draft removed and probably not the extent of draft picks that we got.

Also give each club exclusive access to NT and Tassie talent for inaugural list build with academy style rights after the third year.

Spacing the teams 1 year apart would be the obvious choice in my book

 

[Tasmanian saint]

8 years in compared to decades upon decades.

They aren't going anywhere.

They need to turn things around within the next 5 years another decade like this and the afl would seriously have to start thinking about cutting there loses it’s not fair on the rest of the competition to have one club continue to be given priority handouts !

 

[telsor]

It doesn't matter. You only need enough to fill a stadium. Tassie will fill their own stadiums. There will never be 150,000 people stadiums anyway, so who cares about future population stats. And no matter what the population of the GC, doesn't mean they'll ever give a rats about the Suns. It's all hopes and presumption from the AFL regarding the expansion teams. The difference is, we know Tassie will be behind their team from day one.

Numbers matter.

If all it needs is 'fill the stadium' and 'all the locals support it', then why not add a team in Kalgoorlie, or Alice Springs, or Mt Gambier, or Shepparton? I'm sure they'd regularly fill the local ground and the locals would be all over it after all.

An AFL team needs at least $40M to operate (probably more than $50M to be realistically competitive)....Sure, the AFL will provide some of that, but if the AFL is to put $10M in, then the AFL is going to want that team to add at least $10M in revenue for the AFL (it's not like they can pass it off as an investment in growing the game like in GC or GWS). Yet, we're told that Hawthorn is 'bleeding Tasmania dry' by taking $6M or $7M/year...

To make that kind of money, you need a LOT of support, and home ground attendances of <20K every week in one of the poorest regions in the country wont exactly have the big corporate sponsors jumping at the opportunity to associate with the team.

 

[kranger]

Nice attempt at comedy, who in their right mind is going to support a merger of two teams? A fair assumption is that 99.99% of the merged clubs supporters and members won't be backing it.

Not gonna happen.

Well consider it this way.

Which will cause the biggest loss of support (thats in the sense of sponsors, spectators, etc) for a team:

A. Being merged with another team in the same City; or
B. Being relocated to a different state?

I am open to any answer, but I presume (and maybe my presumption is wrong), is that more support would leave a team if they relocated to another state.


On top of that, what would most help a second struggling Victorian team:

1. Staying the same but having 1 neighbouring team move interstate; or
2. Merging with a neighbouring struggling team and combining support.

To me, another team relocating interstate is not going to help a struggling team. The support who choose to leave the relocated team are not going to just jump on board the next struggling team. If anything they will be lost to the sport.

To me, two struggling teams that positively promote a merger and recognise both identities, would be more beneficial to the two teams and retain support, compared to one of them just relocating and leaving the other behind.

Even if 25% of support from both teams drop out due to the merger (arbitrary number I’m using) that would still mean a combined 150% support post merger (being 75% from both teams original support).

That then allows AFL resources that were supporting two struggling Victorian teams, to instead be redirected elsewhere.