AFL boss’ $360 million ultimatum to new team

AFL boss Gillon McLachlan has revealed that Tasmania must build a new stadium if it is to receive a license for a team.

McLachlan spoke in Tasmania at a tourism and business lunch in Hobart and described the Tasmanian project as “unbelievably close”.

The message to Tasmania was clear in the CEO’s address.

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“Without the stadium, there is no team. The commission and AFL clubs have made that clear. The stadium is the last key requirement,” he said.

“I know there are some people who say they support the team but not the stadium, but we have been consistent with the message that it can’t work to have one without the other.

“Our fans want, deserve, and expect the best experience and the best experience needs the best stadiums and the supporters are voting with their feet.

“That is why there can be no team without a stadium. We need to set up a team for future success, not for future failure. It is that simple.

“In the economics of new football clubs in 2023, a first-class stadium is imperative for a club trying to turnover $40-50 million annually – a commercial reality for clubs to be competitive.”

McLachlan revealed that the AFL would invest approximately $360 million into Tasmania to support football in the state.

Included in that package will be a minimum of $15 million in the stadium, $10 million in the club’s training facilities, $93 million in game development, $33 million to help develop grassroots talent and $209 million in distributions to the new club over its first decade in the league.

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McLachlan also confirmed that the AFL’s two newest clubs, the GWS Giants and Gold Coast Suns, had been told that new or fully redeveloped stadiums were a prerequisite when they entered the league over a decade ago.

”We know change is controversial, and stadium developments are hard,” he said.

“We have been through this process before in Adelaide, Perth, the Gold Coast, Docklands, Western Sydney over the last 10 years.

“All these projects were opposed and now all are completely embraced and celebrated by their communities.

“For an AFL team to be successful and to thrive rather than survive, it needs a home that allows it to be successful.

“A home that enables and empowers it to compete from the start, on and off the field.”

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