The licence has been granted conditional to agreement on funding for the redevelopment of Carrara stadium and the transfer of land for the stadium.
AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou said on Tuesday the Queensland Government had agreed to contribute $60 million towards the stadium redevelopment and to vary the AFL's Gabba agreement to allow Gold Coast to play home games at Carrara.
The Gold Coast City Council had agreed to contribute $20 million and to transfer ownership of the land needed for the stadium to the Queensland Government.
"This is an historic day for the Gold Coast and an historic day for the AFL," Demetriou said.
In a message to the GC17 board, AFL chairman Mike Fitzpatrick said: "This is an historic decision of the AFL Commission and it is only the sixth time since the AFL Commission was established that a licence has been awarded to a new club.
"It is not a decision that the Commission has made lightly and it has been made after a long period of investment in Queensland and a rigorous process over the past two years in which the Gold Coast football, business and wider communities have made clear their support for and ability to sustain an AFL team.
"It is also a decision that we have made after a rigorous process to validate the business model for a Gold Coast Football Club. We are confident that we grant the licence knowing that you have put in place the foundations to build a strong and sustainable club which will serve well the Gold Coast community."
Demetriou praised the work of GC17 and in particular chairman John Witheriff.
"John's interest in an AFL team on the Gold Coast is not because he grew up as a fanatical AFL supporter but because he has spent his life as a fanatical supporter of the Gold Coast and saw the benefits an AFL team could bring to the region," Demetriou said.
"The granting of the conditional licence is also a tribute to his board members – Graeme Downie, Alan "Doc" McKenzie, Bob Gordon and Dale Dickson and the incredible support of the Gold Coast community which has come together to back an AFL team on the Gold Coast."
Demetriou also paid tribute to Queensland Premier Anna Bligh and her government and to the Gold Coast City Council for their contributions to the Carrara redevelopment.
The AFL will contribute $10 million for the stadium while a decision by the Federal Government on the Gold Coast City Council's funding application for the stadium redevelopment is imminent.
"Thank you to Premier Bligh for her support of this team and for the jobs it provides to the Gold Coast community," Demetriou said.
"Her government has firmly backed the stadium redevelopment to allow a Gold Coast team and we will continue to work closely with the Premier and the Gold Coast City Council to finalise these agreements as soon as possible so that the construction of the stadium can begin."
Demetriou said the stadium redevelopment would deliver an estimated 350 construction jobs, while the Gold Coast Football Club would support 440 direct and indirect jobs when it was up and running.
"It will also contribute more than $34 million in annual economic activity to the region, 92 per cent of which will go to benefit non-AFL businesses such as Gold Coast accommodation providers, retail outlets, transport operators, tourism operators, restaurants and cafes and the various services industry."
