AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan delivered the below keynote speech at a tourism and business lunch in Hobart.
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For better or worse I have been at the AFL for 20 years and talk of a team in Tasmania has been a constant in that time.
For a variety of reasons, put starkly it has never been a possibility.
We had expansion over a decade ago.
Tassie was knocked back on key strategic grounds and not considered.
It deeply hurt Tasmanians.
Coming into my 10th season as CEO, I haven’t been able to walk into any setting without being asked ‘when is Tassie getting a team?’
Well….. finally…. Maybe in 2023.
It’s not because of a business case or strategic imperative, it’s because its core to our purpose.
It’s about being truly national.
Every Australian seeing themselves in our national game.
Having our code vibrant in this state.
We are here through absolute grunt and drive of Peter Gutwein and Premier Jeremy Rockcliff, and because of that we are now unbelievably close.
So close you can almost touch it.
But in order for it to happen – frankly the only way it can happen – is to have a stadium.
A world class facility that will be the epicentre of a broader urban renewal development at Mac Point.
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.
But it's more than the business case.
The stadium will provide a halo for club recruiters when talking to the best footy players in the country, and they are able to say we have the best facilities for you to come play, and the best venue that will be packed out each week with passion from the fans that is unmatched.
A destination venue for when visitors or footy fans map out their calendars for the year and they have a choice between the other states around the country - Tasmania needs to be the choice.
And when you are talking to the promotors of the world’s biggest musical acts in the world – the stadium is the critical part of that decision making.
I have been around long enough to know change is hard. And is almost always opposed…
It is not a new concept. And not confined to football where – over the last 150 years – we have seen some significant changes.
Changes that at the time were at times vigorously opposed….. Just look at when we make rule changes….
But ultimately change has led to the game being what it is today – a national game with premiership matches played in every state and territory, a game with hundreds of thousands of girls, boys, women and men playing.
A national game played in world class infrastructure away from traditional suburban venues of the 80’s.
A game that connects community from the grassroots right through to AFL and AFLW.
A game that brings jobs. Opportunities. Pride. Connection.
As I said we know change is controversial, and stadium development are hard. We have been through this process before in Adelaide, Perth, the Gold Coast, Docklands, Western Sydney over the last 10 years.
In Adelaide, we had to drive to meetings in Hertz rent a cars because the taxi drivers were leaking information against us.
It was actively opposed by both football and the SACA members and now it’s the pride of South Australia.
I pitched to the Gold Coast City council for the stadium over 20 times.
In WA, the Burswood location was not popular and after a six- or seven-year journey, now Optus is universally loved and benchmark of all stadiums the country.
ALL these projects were opposed and now ALL are completely embraced and celebration 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.
It is why so much work has been done between the AFL and the State Government to ensure not just a team for Tasmania but a destination club, playing in a destination stadium, in a destination state.
A stadium that players want to move to Tasmania play in. Where coaches want to come to work in and where thousands of more interstate supporters want to come and experience it, and the rest of Tasmania.
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.
Without the stadium, there is no team.
The Commission and AFL Clubs have made that clear. The stadium is THE LAST key requirement.
We have a moment in time here that is decades in the making.
A moment to have a strong Tasmanian team and a sustainable club that is part of a thriving roofed stadium eco-system in a wider entertainment and sporting precinct at Macquarie Point.
And that redevelopment is itself part of a wider urban renewal vision that can play a part in transforming the city and the state and provide wider social benefits for the Tasmanian community.
I want now to revisit Adelaide Oval and revisit some of the parallels.
John Olsen who is chair of the Adelaide Crows knows all about the benefits of transformational change.
The Adelaide Oval redevelopment has transformed the city and the state but John, a former SA Premier also admits that his political party opposed ANY change to Adelaide Oval at that time.
They weren’t alone. I was part of those talks and almost every major stakeholder group opposed the redevelopment of the Adelaide Oval. It took time to get it up – almost two years - and every step of the journey was opposed.
But the hard work and the time it took was worth it.
Developing something that changed the city and changed the state was ultimately worth it. Ensuring Adelaide could host major events – like this year’s Gather Round – was worth it.
155,000 tickets sold, 45,000 fans from interstate flying in.
As John puts it, international musical acts previously flew over Adelaide. When the stadium opened, Rolling Stones flew in and rocked the new venue.
Today musical acts don’t fly over Adelaide oval, they play there.
South Australians don’t fly to NSW and Victoria for major international acts. They go to Adelaide Oval. Their own stadium.
People from overseas and interstate fly to Adelaide for international acts like Guns N’ Roses, and Ed Sheeran.
Adelaide Oval hosts anywhere from 80-140 other events each month, including providing more space for conferences and conventions.
Visitors to the State for Events at Adelaide Oval & employment associated with it nearly double since the redevelopment. Economic impact in the CBD has risen by more than 200%.
I would note that new or fully redeveloped stadiums WERE a pre-requisite for Gold Coast SUNS and GWS GIANTS prior to entry in the AFL competition. To be clear this is not and has never been just a Tasmanian requirement.
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.
I want to outline what the AFL is committing to.
From now through to the first decade in the life of a new Tasmanian club, representing Tasmania, featuring Tassie talent, the AFL will invest around $360m in the State.
$360m invested in Tasmania to support football and a Tasmania team. Representing all parts, the North, South, East and West from grassroots to the elite.
We will invest:
* Minimum of $15 million in the stadium in the Arts and Entertainment precinct
* $10m in the Clubs Training & Administration facility
* $93m in game development that I will outline further
* $33m to develop young male and female talent in Tasmania
* $209 m in distributions to the new club over the first 10 years to cover base funding, variable funding, AFLW funding and special list establishment funding to ensure a strong team from the start.
Having a stadium that can sustain a successful team will see hundreds of millions of dollars flow into the state. Extra dollars.
5,000 tourists per game for AFL and 123,000 per year people from interstate and overseas for events. Or the social and community benefits offered by a wider precinct renewal project that the Government is working on.
The AFL investment also represents a top to bottom revitalisation of football across the state to ensure Australia’s game remains Tasmania’s game.
A Tasmanian team will deliver your own Club - both AFL and AFLW teams – something distinctly Tasmanian for you to own. A beacon of state pride and will boast.
Every team in Australia playing here in Tasmania in front of a ferocious home crowd – a fortress where the most powerful clubs - Collingwood and Richmond - will fear to come.
Games played in both the North and the South – at redeveloped UTAS and new Hobart Stadium – one state, one team, united.
Home grown talent – Tassie boys and girls representing your State on the national stage.
The new Club with list concessions including priority access to local players to keep them here – no longer will Tasmanians have to cross Bass Strait to realise their AFL dream.
Kids developed by an end-to-end talent pathway equal to any in the country, Academies starting from U/12 in all 3 regions of the State – the same as Northern market academies, think Callum Mills and Isaac Heeney from the Swans Academy, now representing the Swans on the national stage
The most complete player pathway. Equal to anywhere in the country. With regional academies that give equal opportunity to the rich football regions in Tasmania. Whether you are from Smithton, St Helens or Snug you can play locally, be identified into an academy, and strive to be part of this Tasmanian team.
To be clear, the entire State will benefit, not just in the South but also in the North and Northwest.
There will be:
* New Academies in the North (Launceston) and North West of the State (based in Penguin) for both boys and girls
* Investment in Infrastructure including redevelopments of UTAS in Launceston and Dial Park in Penguin
* AFL and AFLW elite matches in Hobart and Launceston - not North or Hawthorn, but your own team, involving your own boys and girls on the national stage.
* Locally-based AFL and AFLW players in the local communities– not Fly in Fly out as it is today.
To support Talent pathways, we need to build the grassroots. This has been made loud and clear by our Head of AFL Tasmania Damian Gill, and a decision to have a team in Tasmania will be complimented by a step change in grassroots investment in the State.
Our vision is to take a quantum leap across community football:
* Double participation by the end of the decade
* Access to and upgrade of 70 new ovals across the state to accommodate the demand.
* New programs and Competitions in 100% of Schools across the State
* A footy in every child’s hand, a footy in every home
* Major investment in participation programs, community coaches, volunteers, umpiring, critical to drive the next wave of talented players and administrators
Through the 10% enshrined percentage of revenue, the AFL has pre-approved significant additional resources to ensure this opportunity to grow game in Tasmania will not be missed.
Tasmania has been an incredible contributor to our game and we want to secure its future as Tasmania’s game, an opportunity we cannot miss.
As I said we are close, but we also understand that any major infrastructure project takes time. And it requires support.
I wish to close by acknowledging the enormous persistence and massive commitment from Premier Rockliff and the Tasmanian State Government, and the work of the Tasmanian AFL Taskforce to bring this bid to life to what it is today.
And we also acknowledge the many people before them, who prosecuted the case over the last 40 years in pursuit of the Tasmanian AFL dream.
The AFL Commission is supportive, and the AFL Clubs are very close – we aren’t quite there yet - but we are confident of having their support.
And we are working closely with the Commonwealth Government.
The Prime Minister has said publicly any project is broader than a Stadium, or a precinct, it’s about urban renewal and development and that is something the Premier and State Government support.
We have had constructive discussions with the Commonwealth and given there is a budget in May we would not expect any decisions before then.
These things are always hard and always take time.
A team that unites Tasmania is worth the hard work and worth the time.
A team that makes Tasmania a better destination for all is worth the hard work and the time.
We are really close, but we need to grasp this moment in time.
Unite behind the team.
Envision the opportunity a new stadium presents.
And be excited for everything a Tasmanian license can bring to every person and every part of this great state.
I look forward to your support.
