Hawks, Kangas could be kicked out of Tassie as state ramps up expansion demands

How much money did Tas give NMFC last year, and the year before, and the year before that?

Open your eyes !!..Tasmania will have its own football team and North or Hawthorn will relocate..guaranteed!

Comparing Hawthorn to St Kilda? I rest my case.

Sorry to take so long, I don’t logon every day. Clubs are able to turn their finances around pretty quickly with good management. The hawks or hawthorn Demons as they nearly were are proof of this. North Melbourne is a very multicultural area with many new Aussies yet to become familiar with our great game. Developing a facility that brings these people to Arden St for education & leadership & fun & not using NMFC money for it, can only help in introducing them to the game and the Club. It has already led to increased membership. It is the smart foresight that NMFC have lacked for some time.

No other in the club in the country is as self sufficient as West Coast. Perth has only 2 clubs, a 2M population & no other real competition. Can't get a better wicket to bat on than that. The Sydney teams definitely needed help to get going, but the AFL is reaping the rewards with increased TV, Foxtel & National sponsorship deals. The likes they would never have enjoyed if they didn't expand to the traditional non AFL states like NSW & Qld.

COLA was Goneski back in 2017. Not covered in the The West Australian?? https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/jun/04/afl-cost-of-living-allowance-will-be-abolished-in-2017#:~:text=The%20AFL%20has%20confirmed%20the,seasons%20and%20abolished%20in%202017.

The AFL still funds Sydney (obviously GWS too) to this day. A farcical “cost of living” bonus money is given out, so the Sydney teams can prop up their players’ pay, to help them remain competitive. The Swans & GWS will never have to be self sufficient the way that sides like West Coast had to be.

Keep in mind that is what many people said about the Swans. Without any AFL history, they enjoy the highest average crowd attendance of any team in any sport in NSW. Even bigger than Carlton recently. There is no reason that can't be replicated in Western Sydney in the years to come with a 2.5M population. AFL has taken off in Sydney due to South Melbourne being brave enough to relocate. You don't always need a home ground advantage to win!! I'm sure if the Tassie Govt & Hobart Footy came up with a self funding package the AFL would be interested. But if they require the AFL to bank roll & set up all the logistics, unfortunately they are going to have to wait.

Actually Geelong FC have a history further back significantly more than that: 1859: making them the second oldest Australian Football club in existence. Yes I'm aware of all that, and that's actually my point: the success of having Geelong in the national league in the locals' favoured footy code drives the local economy in and of itself, something that could happen in Tassie if given the opportunity. Let's remember that Tassie is supposed to be home territory for this code...something it'll NEVER be in west Sydney or the Gold Coast!

Geelong football club has a history dating back to 1897 with a current membership of over 60K. Unlike Hobart, a huge % of Geelong residents have grown up supporting no other club except their local team. A lot of ex Geelong residents live in Melb now for better job opportunities. They have the luxury of having an AFL mad city with a population of 5M less than an hour up the freeway. When they play the other major clubs, they have to play at the MCG because Kardinia Park only has a capacity of 45K. They don't have the expense of having to travel every 2nd week & the AFL doesn't have to spend $1.00 in setting them up. In 2018 they received the 4th lowest AFL funding of the 18 teams. As I have said previously, I'm not against having a Tassie based side. But at the moment, dollars are very tight & over the last 10 years the other clubs are sick of having to forgo early draft picks so a new team can be established like Gold Coast & GWS.

On that basis of small population, presumably you’d want Geelong axed then, because Geelong probably isn’t much bigger than Hobart. (Guarantee you won’t though! Actually maybe you do. :silly: ) Geelong are now such a cultural feature that the stadium there is getting upgrades seemingly constantly over the past decade. I think that stadium in Geelong is at nearly 40,000 capacity now! The side in Tassie will grow with Tasmania, the way Geelong grow with Geelong.

It would be great to have a better stadium in Hobart for the cricket & the A-League. AFL is going to the tricky one as there are so many sides in the comp already & they are very expensive to run. Every second week they have to fly & accomodate about 40 people around the country over a long 22nd round comp. The $13M salary cap is quite big as well.

200K population in Hobart. 2.5M poulation in Western Sydney. Foxtel income has been the biggest % increase in revenue for the AFL in the last 10 years. National sponsors like Toyota & Foxtel want a presence in Western Sydney like they would in SA, WA & Qld. I am not against a team in Tassie, but I think a 19 team competition is a big number with extra travel commitments/costs. Melb clubs have shown clearly over the last 40 years they do not want to merge. No clubs feel like they should be the one to relocate, it should be one of the other teams. So what is the answer? There is no simple one that is going keep the majority of people happy.

Apparently the Tassie government is seriously thinking about investing in a stadium and facilities to entice the A League to offer a license for a Tassie based soccer side. Apparently they're pessimistic that the AFL will ever offer a license for a Tassie based side to join the comp, and think the A League bid might be successful.

The difference is Canberra has fierce competition there, with all four footy codes quite popular there. Apparently people are turning their back on footy in Tasmania now, and some think it has to do with the lack of a local AFL side. Why does “Greater Western Sydney”( :laughing: ) deserve a place ahead of Tassie?

Hang on, they were sponsoring North Melbourne too weren't they? Who was funding NM's Hobart games?

Obviously they'll be away teams.

They'll be an away team, hence the tourism factor coming in from the convenience factor of a ferry ride or short plane ride for a game in Tassie, and a short getaway for sightseeing, or just enjoying pub grub and beers and chatting with the locals.

Mick I doubt very much that the Tassie Govt is sponsoring the Hawks out of the goodness of their heart & to make a generous donation to the AFL competition. They sponsoring the Hawks to promote Tassie Tourism. Tassie stadiums only have a capacity of about 18K. For the AFL to dictate to teams like the Dons, Geelong, Carlton, Pies, Ricmond etc must play a game each in Tasmania, I think these clubs are going to want large $$ payouts to compensate for smaller crowds & travelling costs. Like most entities, the AFL have to justify these major expenses. At the moment they have 8 games being played in Tassie each year so they have left it as. Hobart only has a 200K population, do you believe they deserve a club based there? Canberra has a poulation of 450K?.

I literally elaborated on all this before. Why do you insist on making me repeat myself all the time, and also ignoring previous comments and points I’ve made to you? Again…if the AFL had a shred of respect for Tasmania’s huge financial investment in their comp (a private business), they would’ve fixtured in Victorian team opposition for the Tasmanian games on a regular basis to help promote the tourism aspect on Tasmania’s behalf. Not once were any Vic teams, and especially high profile clubs like Collingwood, Carlton or Richmond, scheduled to play any games there…teams with presumably substantial supporter bases in Tassie.