AFL 2023: Federal Government to announce funding for Tasmanian stadium

Tasmania’s decades-long fight for an AFL team is finally over. See how the money will work and when the 19th team could enter the competition.

Tasmania’s decades-long fight for an AFL team is finally over with the Federal Government to meet the $240 million shortfall for a Hobart stadium which will grant the state a 19th AFL licence.

Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese is expected to make the $240 million funding commitment across the weekend in Hobart as a pre-budget commitment ahead of May 9’s budget.

Government sources told the Herald Sun Albanese was expected to deliver the good news in person in Hobart across the weekend.

The decision by the Albanese federal government to commit the funds will allow the state to build a $750 million covered-roof stadium and the AFL to commit to the 19th team.

The momentous decision will add another team to the AFL and 11 extra home and away games, with the new team likely to come into the competition as early as 2027.

Tasmanian football officials also believe it will prove a surge of momentum to a withering state league competition and junior development that has seen many kids instead following the NBLs Tasmania JackJumpers.

It will also be a signature legacy item for outgoing AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan, who has remained at the head of the league while closing a deal on Tasmania.

While the league in theory needs its 18 presidents to approve the granting of an AFL licence, two thirds of them would need to vote against the proposal for it to be rejected.

In reality the league’s extensive lobbying of presidents and strong financial case for the Tasmanian team means while some will still have objections it will not be enough to torpedo the team’s bid.

Gillon McLachlan and Anthony Albanese at the Australian Open. Picture: Michael Klein

Tasmanian premier Jeremy Rockliff had made the official request for the $240 million of funding for the 23,000-seat stadium in Macquarie Point adjoining the Hobart CBD in December last year.

The league said on Tuesday night it continued to work with the federal government on securing funding for the new stadium.

Albanese has been determined to integrate some kind of affordable housing in Hobart into any funding arrangement, and is keen to turn the Macquarie Point site into an urban renewal centre.

The league’s path towards that first AFL game for a new Tasmanian side will include a list build and extensive list allowances for the new side as well as a new high performance centre in Hobart.

The league will chip in $15 million towards the stadium, with the Rockliff Liberal state government also pledging a massive $375 million.

The AFL has also committed $360 million over a decade, which includes $90 million in game development and $33 million to develop players in three new “talent academies”.

The state government was initially rocked by Gillon McLachlan’s demand that there be a new stadium after pulling a compelling case to the AFL, which had also delivered the favourable Carter report into the viability of a new side.

McLachlan said in February: “Without a stadium there is no team. The stadium is now the last key requirement. We have a moment in time here decades in the making, to have a strong Tasmanian team and a sustainable club.”

And while there will clearly be delays and cost blowouts with a stadium of that size, a team that was reported to be dead in the water several times is now on the brink of reality.

It will be a glorious day for Tasmanian football identities including ex-AFL stars Matthew Richardson, Rodney Eade, Robert Shaw and Alastair Lynch who have long lobbied for a team in their own state.

Designs reveal what Hobart’s AFL stadium could look like.

Originally published as AFL 2023: Federal Government to announce funding for Tasmanian stadium