Key questions that will decide the future of the Tasmania Devils in the AFL answered

Tasmania’s AFL team is in jeopardy months after it was unveiled to the world. How did we get here? We examine the key questions and what will happen next.

No stadium, no team. It is a line the new Tasmania Football Club has tried to stay behind, but political turmoil has put not just the stadium, but the team in serious doubt as Tasmanian premier Jeremy Rockliff faces a parliamentary shove out the door. This is the state of play on the Apple Isle.

Tasmanian CEO Brendon Gale.

WHY IS IT ALL ABOUT THE STADIUM?

As AFL CEO Andrew Dillon has said repeatedly, the 19th team licence is contingent on a Macquarie Point stadium with a roof. The 18 club presidents voted for that as part of the case for the new Tasmania team in May, 2023, so without the ground, the team is no longer approved. The case hinged on building a brand-spanking new stadium on Macquarie Point, prime real estate near the water’s edge in Hobart, with a roof. The Devils are not expected to play there from the start, with at least a year spent playing between Hobart’s Bellerive Oval and Launceston’s UTAS Stadium. But if the stadium wasn’t going ahead, that approval from the presidents would vanish, and even if it is pushed back, the case for a team becomes dicey.

WHAT DO THE DEVILS THINK?

Brendon Gale was appointed CEO almost exactly 12 months after the president’s gave a thumbs up in that Zoom meeting. Last week he acknowledged that if the stadium plans fall over, so could the team, as club presidents would have to change their verdict somewhat and approve the team more on goodwill than the financial returns of a new stadium.

IF THEY NEED THE STADIUM, WHY ARE PEOPLE AGAINST IT?

The Greens have led the anti-stadium push, at least politically, and were against the Macquarie Point from the start. The latest estimates had the build ballooning out to $945m – up from the initial $715m – and those against it reckon that money should be put into health, housing and education. The anti-stadium crew either think they can cut a new deal with the AFL to keep a team – an idea which has no backing at this stage – or they are happy to kill the Devils.

Picture of the proposed Macquarie Point stadium, home of the Tasmanian Devils.

BUT DOESN’T TASMANIA WANT A TEAM?

Definitely, the overwhelming sentiment on the island and on the mainland is that Tasmania should have a team. But some locals don’t think it’s necessary for a new stadium to be part of that team.

WHY DOES IT NEED TO BE A NEW STADIUM?

Basically, because the AFL says so. It has been a key part of the case for the team from the start and the team has not been approved without it.

DOES IT HAVE TO HAVE A ROOF?

The roof definitely makes things more expensive, but it has been a core part of the case this whole time. Cricket, who would play matches there in summer, has not been happy with the design of the roof, given the shadows it would cast.

The stadium from the outside at Macquarie Point.

WHAT DO THOSE IN FAVOUR OF THE STADIUM THINK?

The arguments on the pro-stadium side are clear. Firstly, the stadium gets Tasmania an AFL team. And other cities further west have greatly benefited from expensive builds, with Perth Stadium the envy of many rival cities and the Adelaide Oval a gold-standard success story in revamping a state-owned asset. The Devils suggest that clubs in those towns have benefited greatly, with Port Adelaide’s match day revenue up a whopping 130 per cent since the Power moved out of Football Park, according to Devils modelling. The Adelaide Oval has been such a success that this masthead revealed last month that South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas had pitched to independent Tasmanian parliamentarians about the positives of a new stadium. A world-class venue would open the door to more non-sport events like concerts.

Hawthorn and Carlton clash in Launceston.

BUT AREN’T THERE TWO OTHER STADIUMS IN TASSIE?

Yes, there are two grounds on the Apple Isle deemed good enough to stage AFL right now. North Melbourne has hosted games at Bellerive Oval (Hobart) since 2012, with the Roos to soon depart as they chart a new course selling games to Western Australia. Hawthorn has made a powerful second home at UTAS Stadium (Launceston), having first hosted a game in 2001. Those games are bolstered by bank transfer, with the Tasmanian government sending cash to the Roos and Hawks to stage games there, and with a capacity of around 20,000 at each stadium, aren’t seen as big enough to support an AFL side full time.

Fans watch an AFL game from the hill at Bellerive Oval. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

WHY DON’T THEY JUST REVAMP BELLERIVE OVAL?

That has never been part of the plans for the new team. Bellerive Oval has almost always been built around cricket and the ground is wedged into suburbia, making a genuine upgrade to a world-class stadium just too tough. The ongoing plan is for the Devils to play some home games at UTAS Stadium in Launceston going forward to ease the state’s famous north-south divide, but playing home matches at Bellerive Oval long-term is seen as a no-go, given its shoddy infrastructure. The Devils themselves believe the team would be $5.4-5.9m worse off every year if they played home games at Bellerive Stadium instead of Macquarie Point. The Devils reckon sponsorship would be down by $1.2m, corporate hospitality cash down $1.8m, and even merchandise down $100,000 without a brand-spanking new stadium. Tasmania hopes to bring in $55-60m in revenue per year to be a viable team, so losing nearly $6m would make the club too reliant on AFL support.

BUT HASN’T THE AFL PROPPED UP OTHER TEAMS?

Definitely, recent expansion sides Gold Coast and GWS, have been held up by the league for their whole existence. But the league and the club presidents had little interest in bringing in another problem child on pocket money. Even as football participation has waned down south, Tasmania is not the growth market that western Sydney is for the game. And the Devils themselves have been adamant they want to stand alone, not with the crutch of the league. The AFL put in $15m of its money at the announcement of the stadium, but hasn’t promised the same support for the new team as its other recent sides.

The Suns and GWS both received AFL support as expansion sides.

Jeremy Rockliff is facing a vote of no confidence.

LET’S TALK POLITICS

Yes, we have to. This section is important, don’t skip it. The Liberal government reiterated on Wednesday it would only spend $375m on building the stadium. Labor leader Dean Winter again said his party backed the stadium and the team, so both major parties support it. But the Greens don’t and crucial independents are on the fence at best.

BUT IF LABOR AND LIBERALS SUPPORT IT, WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?

Even with both parties behind it, independents are needed to shepherd the bill for the stadium through the upper house of parliament, if they ever get to debating that. The Liberal Party is governing in minority, which means it needs support from the crossbench to stay in power, and that support doesn’t all back in the stadium. Labor leader Winter wrote to Dillon amid a busy day in parliament on Wednesday “to reaffirm our party’s strong support” for the Devils and the stadium.

SO, WHAT IS THE KERFUFFLE AROUND ‘NO CONFIDENCE’ AND THE BUDGET?

Winter tabled a motion of ‘no confidence’ in Tasmanian premier Jeremy Rockliff on Tuesday night, which was debated all day Wednesday but no vote was held. Debate will continue Thursday. That wasn’t specifically about the stadium – officially the budget concerns include a bungled Spirit of Tasmania ferry port. The Greens wanted to insert that the cause of budget disarray was the impending stadium, but that was voted down. If the no-confidence call succeeds Rockliff will step down as premier, and either a new premier can emerge, of the Tasmanians go back to the polls for a snap election.

Kathryn McCann was reduced to tears by the situation on Wednesday.

SO TELL ME AGAIN WHY THE POLITICS IS IMPACTING FOOTBALL?

No doubt, given the turmoil about the stadium, a new election would be a pseudo-referendum on Macquarie Point, and effectively the football team. Whether the Devils come out well in that potential public vote or not, another election would clearly delay the project further putting more doubt on the team, because remember, the team needs the stadium.

SO, WHAT DO THE DEVILS DO NOW?

Basically, sit on the edge of their seat. Club GM Kathryn McCann was in tears about the situation on Wednesday morning and said: “our leaders need to think about the consequences of their actions”. The football club’s concern had grown enough for Gale to essentially go on a media tour late last month, speaking to journalists and radio stations to push a case. Clearly, instead of hoping things would go their way, the Devils realised they had to get into the fight more. The football club is still wary of getting too involved in politics, but in this case, football is politics.

Originally published as Key questions that will decide the future of the Tasmania Devils in the AFL answered