Tasmania- Why a brand new stadium?

[Vortex]

It’s over capitalising and a massive waste of money

Spend 250-300M on refurbishing

25-30M on a training facility

Save 400M on spending which doesn’t need to be spent!

If ya fair dinkum about promoting grass roots footy down there.

The stadium requirement is deeply rooted in corruption and a gross diversion of tax payer money.

Come on now Vortex you are not at all intimating that Albo is corrupt ( heaven to Betsy - no way - he’s still in his media honeymoon period)?
No way is Albo thinking ahead, and wanting to get sporting Tassie voters onside to vote out the only State liberal government at their next election. Never

Of coarse not Loris, as we know corruption only occurs in those naughty communist countries like China and Russia, political party donations in countries like ours are all legit and in no way considered official bribery. And in no way are the donations made by the AFL to political parties given to influence Government decision making, that's just the AFL being a good corporate citizen.

[asiu]

re ... a good citizen

V ... did u find out any info re Round 18 ?

[Vortex]

re ... a good citizen

V ... did u find out any info re Round 18 ?

Yeah sorry I did put posted it via pm but essentially the AFL hasn't advised the clubs yet of the scheduling so info not available as yet.

[asiu]

ta mate

[ace]

How much does Palashchook want for the redevelopment of the Gabba stadium ahead of their Olympics.
Those Olympics are going to consume a hell of lot of federal taxes, much more than this stadium.

[SaintPav]

Political vanity projects to bribe voters.

Back of the envelope costings always blow out.

That’s politicks!

[The Fireman]

Political vanity projects to bribe voters.

Back of the envelope costings always blow out.

That’s politicks!

He’s won my vote and I’m not a taswegian

[SaintPav]

What is gullible?

[happy feet]

It’s over capitalising and a massive waste of money

Spend 250-300M on refurbishing

25-30M on a training facility

Save 400M on spending which doesn’t need to be spent!

If ya fair dinkum about promoting grass roots footy down there.

The stadium requirement is deeply rooted in corruption and a gross diversion of tax payer money.

Come on now Vortex you are not at all intimating that Albo is corrupt ( heaven to Betsy - no way - he’s still in his media honeymoon period)?
No way is Albo thinking ahead, and wanting to get sporting Tassie voters onside to vote out the only State liberal government at their next election. Never

Of coarse not Loris, as we know corruption only occurs in those naughty communist countries like China and Russia, political party donations in countries like ours are all legit and in no way considered official bribery. And in no way are the donations made by the AFL to political parties given to influence Government decision making, that's just the AFL being a good corporate citizen.

Oh Vort my old friend, how can you be so cynical. I’m sure that funding allocation has nothing to do with future voting .

[Vortex]

It’s over capitalising and a massive waste of money

Spend 250-300M on refurbishing

25-30M on a training facility

Save 400M on spending which doesn’t need to be spent!

If ya fair dinkum about promoting grass roots footy down there.

The stadium requirement is deeply rooted in corruption and a gross diversion of tax payer money.

Come on now Vortex you are not at all intimating that Albo is corrupt ( heaven to Betsy - no way - he’s still in his media honeymoon period)?
No way is Albo thinking ahead, and wanting to get sporting Tassie voters onside to vote out the only State liberal government at their next election. Never

Of coarse not Loris, as we know corruption only occurs in those naughty communist countries like China and Russia, political party donations in countries like ours are all legit and in no way considered official bribery. And in no way are the donations made by the AFL to political parties given to influence Government decision making, that's just the AFL being a good corporate citizen.

Oh Vort my old friend, how can you be so cynical. I’m sure that funding allocation has nothing to do with future voting .

Absolutely, I bristle at the very suggestion.

[saynta]

Political vanity projects to bribe voters.

Back of the envelope costings always blow out.

That’s politicks!

He’s won my vote and I’m not a taswegian

I would not admit to either one.

[Teflon]

As sure as death and taxes. Tassie were always going to get a team. Investment by govt was also a Monty

The afl is a cash cow for our southern state ,an investment that will inject millions of dollars in tourism in the coming years,construction of accommodation etc
Anyone who thinks otherwise is ..well ..not as smart as they think they are

Put a nice hotel at the venue and I’ll go over …great food, wine certain win first few years while they battle
What’s not to like ???
Indoors roof closed
Geez us ….I’m entitled…
Love it!!

[Sanctorum]

It is not at all surprising that a lot of people have the view that governments at all levels should concentrate more on social welfare and services than on spending taxpayers dollars on building prestige sporting venues.

Following is a lengthy article in yesterday's Australian which is worth recording on this forum because it gives a far better context to this debate:

Grabbing the tiger by the tail by Scott Gullan.

"The passion in the air was obvious. They were all in the room for one reason: their love for Tasmanian football and the fact it was dying.

It was a cold autumn night in the middle of May 2017, in Melbourne when 500 diehard fans of football in the Apple Isle came together for a gala dinner that was essentially a last roll of the dice.

Grassroots football in the state was on its knees and a foundation had been set up by AFL Tasmania chief executive Rob Auld to try to raise awareness and, more importantly, funds to save the game. AFL legends were everywhere. Peter Hudson presented the narrative, triple Brownlow medallist Ian Stewart made a rare public appearance, Matthew Richardson provided a keynote speech, while the last Robert Shaw-coached state team to have defeated Victoria, which included the likes of Brendon Gale, Graham Wright and Scott Clayton, was presented on stage.

Alastair Lynch was doing the interviews with modern day stars from Tasmania Nick and Jack Riewoldt, who spoke about their love for their home state. Gold Coast Suns coach Rodney Eade was on a panel alongside Carlton coach Brendon Bolton and just-appointed Brisbane coach Chris Fagan.

“The AFL won’t truly be complete until there is a Tasmanian team,” Fagan told the gathering which included members of the AFL commission and league chief executive Gillon McLachlan.

There had been a number of failed bids to get a Tasmania team into the AFL dating back to 1994 when Ross Oakley was presented with a report that
involved a 30,000-seat stadium at Hobart Showgrounds.

In 2008 a delegation led by MP Paula Wriedt launched a bid carrying the slogan “It’s time”. It met with the AFL but was quickly sent packing.

There had never been enough substance behind the pushes, and there had certainly never been a public show of force to rival what was seen on that night at Crown casino.

It was hard not to get carried away with the emotion and many in the room knew it was a significant moment in time as it put Tasmanian football back on the radar.

The general feeling among Tasmania football people was that McLachlan wanted to pick North Melbourne up and dump it down in Tassie. That would solve the AFL boss a lot of problems. The Kangaroos were a basket case, on and off the field, and this yearning for a 19th team in Tasmania was gnawing away constantly in the background.

While Hawthorn had been the trailblazer in Tasmania, making Launceston its second home, the Kangaroos were playing games in Hobart, so a lot of the heavy lifting had already been done.

But this time the noise coming out of Tasmania was different. The momentum from the gala dinner was real and in June 2019 a taskforce was set up to submit a fresh bid. Former St Kilda champion Nick Riewoldt was the obvious public face and spruiker for the taskforce.

“Tasmania have the opportunity and the strength to stand up on their own two feet. I don’t know why a 19th team wouldn’t be a realistic possibility,” he said.

“I genuinely believe Tassie would be an addition to the game, not a drain as some people have proposed.”

The taskforce team included former Woolworths chief executive Grant O’Brien, local Lauderdale Football Club president Julie Kay, prominent Tasmanian business identity Errol Stewart, former Greater Western Sydney chief financial officer and TasRacing chief executive Paul Eriksson, and high-profile sports agent James Henderson, who managed Tasmania’s favourite son, former Australian Test captain Ricky Ponting.

But the key to it all was the chairman, Brett Godfrey. He was the founding Virgin Australia chief executive who brought serious business cred to the
table – and he wasn’t even Tasmanian. In fact, he wasn’t even an AFL follower; he preferred rugby.

“The issue was the chairman, how do you find the right chairman to get the commission’s attention?” Henderson said.

“He was able to stand up and say, ‘Hey, I’m not Tasmanian, I’m actually a rugby guy but I’m passionate about this. I’ve got investments in Tassie, I run businesses in Tassie and Tassie deserves this chance, so let’s go and see if we can make it stack up’.

“He wasn’t a footy person but he got everybody’s attention.”

The taskforce went about putting together a rock solid business plan and debunking a lot of the myths around having a team in Tasmania such as that
players wouldn’t move down there, the divide was too great between the north and the south of the state, and a lack of money and potential investment available.

They presented it to the state government, which was led by Peter Gutwein, who couldn’t be more enthusiastic about the idea of getting an AFL team.

It was an impressive document – including 23 key recommendations – and when McLachlan was presented with it in 2020 it certainly put the league chief executive back in his chair. This submission clearly wasn’t going to be able to be batted away as easily as the previous attempts.

So in 2021 he turned to a trusted colleague and mentor, former AFL commissioner and Geelong Football Club president Colin Carter.

He was commissioned to review the taskforce report and see if it stood up.

Carter didn’t accept a cent for his time. This was a passion project, he was a lover of AFL history and wanted to make sure if Tasmania was ready to have a piece of it.

“The real issue was the people who matter, the people who make the decisions were not convinced it was financially viable,” Carter explains.

“That was a core issue but part of that reflects an age-old problem in our competition which is that people misunderstand that every competition in
the world has small and large teams.

“The only issue is how you deal with them.”

By his reckoning, after crunching the numbers, the Tasmanian team would sit comfortably in the third quartile of inherent wealth in the competition. He ranks Geelong as in the second tier with clubs like Collingwood, Essendon and West Coast at the top.

“The major thing I tried to do, and it sounds a bit weird, but make this argument again that every competition has large and smaller teams so if a
Tasmanian team comes in would it be like inviting Broken Hill or Wagga Wagga or Kalgoorlie into the competition.

“Or would it be like inviting Port Adelaide in. I think the argument was persuasive, with a population of 420,000 and running a set of numbers around it, it was not all that far from Port Adelaide’s share of the South Australian market.”

In August 2021, Carter delivered his report supporting the case for a 19th franchise in Tasmania although he did qualify it by saying relocating an existing team or setting up a “joint venture” with a Victorian club would be more sustainable.

For the Tasmanian government that was the green light it craved while others hung off Carter’s relocation call, which he knew wasn’t relevant anymore with North Melbourne turning around its fortunes.

There was no doubt it changed the narrative inside AFL House and Gutwein, who had no problem standing up to McLachlan, was on the front foot saying he wanted a decision by the end of the year or he would turn the tap off to AFL football in his state, which would cost the competition millions.

McLachlan smelt blood and went for it.

On March 1 last year Gutwein made a stirring speech in parliament called the State of the State Address. In it he pledged billions of dollars to be spent on housing and infrastructure all across Tasmania, including a $750m investment in a new stadium at Macquarie Point in Hobart.

McLachlan couldn’t believe his luck, now he had a bargaining tool. The stadium had been put on the table by the government and he could now position it as a no-stadium no-licence discussion.

A month later Gutwein was forced to resign over a major health issue in his family. He had been a tough negotiator and it was going to be a hard act to follow for his replacement Jeremy Rockliff.

He was perceived to lack the doggedness and authority of Gutwein and in his first meeting with McLachlan in June, the AFL chief hit him for the first time with his new play, the stadium being built was now a proviso on receiving the 19th licence.

This didn’t endear McLachlan to the Tasmanian public who were already angered about the amount of money the AFL was taking out of the state’s coffers.

Even though they have longed to be a part of the national competition, the way the league has gone about it hasn’t sat well with many.

After more delays and more posturing, confirmation ahead of next month’s budget that the federal government is on board essentially means the team is a goer.

The numbers for the 23,000 seat stadium have the state government covering $375m, the AFL tipping in $15m with the Albanese government $240m and $85m generated by the state government borrowing against the land sale or lease for commercial purposes.

A vote of the AFL presidents on the new team is expected to happen before McLachlan arrives in Hobart on Tuesday.

While the league wanted a “unanimous” verdict, that’s unlikely to happen with at least four clubs – Sydney, Port Adelaide, Collingwood and West Coast – believed to be wavering.

So what will McLachlan unveil next week?

Not much. The starting date is still up in the air although 2027 has been pencilled in. There is no one ready to run the new club or even take the baton to start the process. The likelihood is that Tasmania’s new team will first live out of an office in Melbourne with AFL game development
executive Sam Graham tipped to be the interim CEO.

A working party in the AFL, led by the league’s head of clubs and broadcasting Travis Auld, has been looking at a number of issues including the building of its inaugural list which has taken in the pros and cons of the Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney experiences.

The whole focus is to make Tasmania competitive in its first couple of years, a realistic finals team rather than a creche for a stack of teenagers who are finding their way.

Brisbane Lions champion Lynch, who grew up in Burnie, believes current Richmond chief executive Gale is the man to lead the new franchise.

“He’s a statesman of the game, he has done it on the field, done it off the field, he has got the Tasmanian heritage, he knows Tassie so he would be a perfect selection,” Lynch said."

It's also worth noting that in every mainland state there are one or more state of the art stadiums, which people flock to in their thousands, especially during the winter months, to watch their teams play in first grade competitions, 'from paupers to kings'.

Aren't Tasmanians deserving of the same??

[happy feet]

It’s over capitalising and a massive waste of money

Spend 250-300M on refurbishing

25-30M on a training facility

Save 400M on spending which doesn’t need to be spent!
[/quote
If ya fair dinkum about promoting grass roots footy down there.

The stadium requirement is deeply rooted in corruption and a gross diversion of tax payer money.

Come on now Vortex you are not at all intimating that Albo is corrupt ( heaven to Betsy - no way - he’s still in his media honeymoon period)?
No way is Albo thinking ahead, and wanting to get sporting Tassie voters onside to vote out the only State liberal government at their next election. Never

Of coarse not Loris, as we know corruption only occurs in those naughty communist countries like China and Russia, political party donations in countries like ours are all legit and in no way considered official bribery. And in no way are the donations made by the AFL to political parties given to influence Government decision making, that's just the AFL being a good corporate citizen.

Oh Vort my old friend, how can you be so cynical. I’m sure that funding allocation has nothing to do with future voting .

Absolutely, I bristle at the very suggestion.

I know what you mean. Pork barrelling and political donations are a blight on our democracy.

[Sebastian Tombs]

I dont get how that much money could be spent on a ground that will only seat 23000 , it just seems like such low number

[saintbob]

Blundstone is an average stadium at best and UTAS desperately needs more seating undercover which it will hopefully get with the $140million upgrade.


The new stadium is an absolute must not just for footy, but it’ll give the state a n enclosed venue which will enable it to host all sorts of sports and other events.

[Vortex]

Blundstone is an average stadium at best and UTAS desperately needs more seating undercover which it will hopefully get with the $140million upgrade.


The new stadium is an absolute must not just for footy, but it’ll give the state a n enclosed venue which will enable it to host all sorts of sports and other events.

Far cheaper and more financially responsible than a $1.5 billion white elephant.

[B.M]

AFL to TAS
“If you want a team build an 800M stadium!”

TAS
“OK - we got the funding!”

AFL
“Oh s***, WTF do we do now?!” Ok

AFL to TAS
“Did I mention it needs a roof?!
It’s going going to be 1,5B now!” - that’ll f*** em

Funny
No other club in the AFL or expansion was required to build a monstrosity in order to play

Adelaide- has a cricket venue, ditto Sydney and Brisbane
GWS and GC have piss ant stadiums barely better than Moorabbin

Perth built a new one
But have two teams playing there plus test cricket, ODI, T20 Big Bash and concerts - and is the richest state in Aus by the length of the Nullarbor

But Hobart
A boutique city - with a population of 200k needs a fkn Marvel Stadium sized ground which it’ll never fill!!!

Ridiculous

[shanegrambeau]

AFL to TAS
“If you want a team build an 800M stadium!”

TAS
“OK - we got the funding!”

AFL
“Oh s***, WTF do we do now?!” Ok

AFL to TAS
“Did I mention it needs a roof?!
It’s going going to be 1,5B now!” - that’ll f*** em

Funny
No other club in the AFL or expansion was required to build a monstrosity in order to play

Adelaide- has a cricket venue, ditto Sydney and Brisbane
GWS and GC have piss ant stadiums barely better than Moorabbin

Perth built a new one
But have two teams playing there plus test cricket, ODI, T20 Big Bash and concerts - and is the richest state in Aus by the length of the Nullarbor

But Hobart
A boutique city - with a population of 200k needs a fkn Marvel Stadium sized ground which it’ll never fill!!!

Ridiculous

]

Bingo!

[nostalgicsaint]

AFL to TAS
“If you want a team build an 800M stadium!”

TAS
“OK - we got the funding!”

AFL
“Oh s***, WTF do we do now?!” Ok

AFL to TAS
“Did I mention it needs a roof?!
It’s going going to be 1,5B now!” - that’ll f*** em

Funny
No other club in the AFL or expansion was required to build a monstrosity in order to play

Adelaide- has a cricket venue, ditto Sydney and Brisbane
GWS and GC have piss ant stadiums barely better than Moorabbin

Perth built a new one
But have two teams playing there plus test cricket, ODI, T20 Big Bash and concerts - and is the richest state in Aus by the length of the Nullarbor

But Hobart
A boutique city - with a population of 200k needs a fkn Marvel Stadium sized ground which it’ll never fill!!!

Ridiculous

]

Bingo!

I think done right they'll fill it relatively often.

I for one will fly down for St Kilda games there and make a weekend of it. Suspect plenty of people will do likewise.

In any case- when was the last time we filled a stadium.

[nostalgicsaint]

Capacity is meant to be 24,000
Average crowd for current games there is around 10,000.

14,000 to go.

On average in 2022 there were 23,000 tourists in tassie each week.

Price and advertise the experience well and you could reasonably expect 10% + of those to attend an AFL game. This is the part where a brand new stadium is important. If the experience is state of the art, well priced and advertised appropriately this number could be a lot higher.

11,700 to go. So before accounting for people who will specifically travel for the games from Melbourne in particular and the increased local support the stadium is more than half full. Not bad.

[Sanctorum]

It's ridiculous to estimate projected attendances for future Tassie Devils home games based on current numbers going to games at Blundstone and UTAS featuring teams from interstate.

There is not the slightest doubt that Taswegians from the north and south will unite behind their own team in the AFL, they are passionate about their footy no less than their mainland cousins!

As was stated in the article I posted, Tasmania will be no different to the South and West Australian teams coming in to the comp, they are traditional AFL footy states (unlike teams in Qld and NSW) and should draw substantial crowds.

[saynta]

"Taswegians from the north and south will unite behind their own team in the AFL"

If they do it will be a first.

[nostalgicsaint]

In the absence of other data points past attendance seems a reasonable starting point. Far from ridiculous.

Personally I'm confident attendance won't be a major issue.

[asiu]

"Taswegians from the north and south will unite behind their own team in the AFL"

If they do it will be a first.

no eye dear