AFL 2022: All the latest news on Tasmania’s bid for a team

Tasmania’s hopes for an AFL team will likely rest on the state government’s willingness to pay for almost all of a proposed stadium — and it could doom the 19th licence bid.

The AFL has told the Tasmanian government it must fund the vast majority of a $500 million-plus Macquarie Point stadium or its dream of an AFL team is doomed.

As the bid for the AFL’s 19th licence moves into its final weeks the league’s ultimatum on a stadium deal is the clear deal breaker which could derail the entire proposal.

Tasmanian premier Jeremy Rockliff hit out at the AFL in a withering open letter on Saturday, saying the league should accept the current bid as he made clear the government would only pay for half of a new stadium.

The Tasmanian government have been told it must fund the vast majority of the proposed new stadium if it is to get an AFL team.

But the league has made clear to Rockliff it is not in the business of subsidising stadium infrastructure, with the Perth Stadium built for $1.8 billion funded almost entirely by the WA government.

The league believes it can work through issues over a list build, player retention, an annual distribution of over $10 million to the team and an elite training facility.

But the league’s non-negotiable is a cutting-edge covered-roof stadium at Macquarie Point on the edge of the Hobart CBD or it cannot commit to a 19th licence.

The league’s Travis Auld has been brought in to help the government with that process but the lion’s share of the funding will have to come from the Tasmanian government.

Hopes the Albanese Federal Government might commit to significant funding to help pay for the stadium are clouded by massive cost-of-living pressures, the Tasmanian political landscape and the upcoming 2032 Olympics.

The Albanese government is much more likely to fund infrastructure in Brisbane for the upcoming Olympics — and win crucial Queensland votes — than in Tasmania where it already holds two of the five Federal seats.

Tri-partisan support for the stadium between the Liberal government, Labor and Greens has waned.

Tassie premier Jeremy Rockliff said at the weekend that the state government would only pay for half of a new stadium.

Gillon McLachlan says all clubs will get a detailed costings on how the league will afford the extra team in August.

The Greens have publicly stated the government cannot afford to pay $750 million for a new stadium when it is only putting the same figure each year into public housing for the next decade.

Labor’s shadow minister for Sport has also questioned where the funding will come from.

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan made clear again last week clubs would be handed detailed funding for the bid in August as clubs grow nervous about how the league will afford the extra team.

The $750 million figure is only a guesstimate with a detailed $1.25 million feasibility study being conducted to find detailed costings, but McLachlan has been adamant a stadium is required.

“Whether it’s contingent or however you want to frame it … this team needs and will have a new stadium if it wants a licence. And I think Tasmanians will expect that,” he said.

Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale, a loyal Tasmanian, said on Friday night those who voted against a Tasmanian team would be on the wrong side of history.

“I would be very surprised if Gill wasn’t using this to leverage the best deal for the AFL community but if you genuinely love footy I can’t see how you could be against Tasmania. You risk being on the wrong side of history.”

Originally published as AFL 2022: All the latest news on Tasmania’s bid for a team