Tasmania officially bids to field own AFL team

[one-eyed]

Tasmania stakes claim to field own AFL team
Caroline Wilson | April 16, 2008

TASMANIA will officially bid for one of the two new AFL licences, with Premier Paul Lennon holding talks in Melbourne today with AFL boss Andrew Demetriou.

In a bid that has the cautious support of Hawthorn, the Lennon Government will take its first official stand on the issue, believing that the national competition has shunned the traditional football state by focusing its attention on developing markets in the west of Sydney and the Gold Coast.

Lennon, who brandished his No. 1 Tasmanian Devils ticket at the VFL club's first home game last Saturday and vowed to present a petition to the AFL, has taken his intention one step further and will play an active role in competing with Sydney's west for the 18th licence, or welcoming a relocated Victorian club.

Full article at:
http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/tasmania-stakes-claim-to-field-team/2008/04/15/1208025192814.html

[one-eyed]

AFL could put Tassie on the map
Herald-Sun
Greg Barns
May 12, 2008

WHY is the AFL so reluctant to seriously entertain the prospect of an AFL team based in Tasmania rather than western Sydney or the Gold Coast?

Tasmania, with a population of 500,000, is twice the size of Geelong, and its people are passionate about Australian rules football.

Not only is Tasmania wedded solidly to AFL, but it has produced, and continues to produce, some of the greatest AFL players of all time such as St Kilda champion Daryl Baldock, triple Brownlow medallist Ian Stewart and modern day stars like Richmond's Matthew Richardson and Melbourne's Russell Robertson.

It was only after relentless public pressure from the media and the Tasmanian Premier Paul Lennon in recent months that the AFL decided to allow Tasmania to put a bid on the table for one of the next two licences on offer.

But one gets a sense that AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou is simply paying lip service to Tasmania's lobbying, and is instead fully focused on the next two AFL teams coming from Sydney and the Gold Coast.

If the AFL is not taking Tasmania's bid for an AFL side seriously, it should be because to the average football supporter, it seems that the choice for the AFL is either take a big risk in banking on growing support in western Sydney and the Gold Coast on the one hand, or heading down the low-risk path of basing a team in a community that is already loyal to this brand of football.

In business terms, that choice can be put like this: build on the strength of your brand by expanding further into your established market, or throw caution to the wind and attempt to flog your product in a market already saturated with rival products.

The Swans have in part been able to establish a comfortable niche in Sydney.

With a population of almost two million, western Sydney is a different proposition.

This is the epicentre of rugby league, and soccer and rugby union are already gearing up to compete in this market. Rugby league teams like Penrith, Parramatta and West Tigers have firm roots in western Sydney.

Rugby union officials are looking at playing a Super 14 team out of Parramatta, and the A-League soccer competition is well down the path of establishing a team in western Sydney.

In short, the AFL has a real battle on its hands to get support in what is already a crowded sporting market.

Similar arguments could be made about the Gold Coast where all three codes of football compete in a market that is fast growing, but which still only has a population of less than a million people.

Contrast the positions of western Sydney and the Gold Coast with that of Tasmania.

The AFL is damned lucky that it has a virtual monopoly on football in Tasmania.

An AFL team based in Tasmania has a ready-made supporter base and does not have to worry about other football codes seeking to chip away at that base year in and year out.

The risk for the AFL if it does not take Tasmania seriously is that it will in fact be seen to have taken the Tasmanian AFL supporter for granted for too long.

Such a climate would prove fertile territory for soccer to take hold in the state.

Already A-League soccer, sensing the AFL's arrogant disdain for its Tasmanian followers, is making noises about inviting Tasmania to enter a team in the A-League.

Tasmania deserves to be rewarded for its unstinting support for AFL football.

If the AFL ignores this argument, it risks losing the cradle of so much of its talent.

- Greg Barns is a Tasmanian-based commentator

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23682725-5000117,00.html

[Tigermonk]

l would hope the AFL seriously look at putting a team in Tasmania, they have a great stadium down there in Launceston which they can build onto if needed,  would often get full capacity to games & even Victorian based supporters can get on the boat with thier cars & go watch a game & make a weekend out of it with some travel on a island which has lots to offer. it sounds alot better than having another team based out of Sydney where most people hate Aussie rules footy

[mightytiges]

The problem for Tassie is the AFL only see this in terms of possible new $$$ from tv rights and new major sponsors. Taswegians already watch so there's no huge growth potential.  The big money is in Sydney. 70% of major companies are based in the harbour city. NRL survives thanks to it. It sure couldn't survive on gate receipts. The AFL now wants a larger piece of the Sydney pie. It's all about making more $$$ and only making more $$$.

[one-eyed]

Tasmania bid picks up steam
Dan Silkstone | June 14, 2008

TASMANIA'S audacious AFL bid is gathering pace, with several high-impact announcements scheduled for coming weeks, as the Apple Isle tries to convince the AFL it is serious about joining an expanded competition.

Sources inside the bid said negotiations were advanced with a potential naming-rights sponsor — a household corporate name — willing to back the bid and keen to sponsor a future Tasmanian AFL side. At least two second-tier sponsors are also being negotiated with.

The sources said a six-person taskforce would be appointed within a fortnight to run the process of applying for a new licence when the AFL expands the competition.

The group will comprise a mixture of mainland and Tasmanian business people and professionals with skills across finance, marketing and politics.

The news comes after ANZ chief economist Saul Eslake told The Age that AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou was the greatest obstacle to the state winning a berth in the league. Eslake is closely affiliated with the Tasmanian Government-backed bid and is quoted on the bid website but said he had no official role.

"Attitudes at AFL headquarters and Andrew Demetriou himself is somewhere between patronising and contemptuous," he said.

"It will never happen as long as Demetriou has any say in it. His contempt is so obvious."

But Eslake said the state could clearly raise the sponsorship needed and had sufficient population to support an AFL team.

Rest of article at:
http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/tasmania-bid-picks-up-steam/2008/06/13/1213321624840.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

[Darth Tiger]

Is this a media beat-up ??  What's Saul Eslake got to do with this, he is not even a member of the 6 person taskforce !  Vlad has always been a head-strong negotiator and its no way to create a positive impression & open negotiations. Saul might be looking for a bargaining position if the AFL enters into negotiations to purchase the Sydney Olympic Stadium as I understand that the ANZ has a large chunk of equity/debt in it.

Perhaps Tasmania should focus on building a competitive (and stable) VFL team before graduating to AFL.

You would think that Tassie's best opportunity would be a relocated side.

Perhaps it could acquire shares in a club from some disgruntled shareholders to get a seat in the big game ??

[one-eyed]

Tassie poll support fails to sway Demetriou
Dan Silkstone | June 26, 2008

SUPPORTERS of Tasmania's AFL bid have warned the league not to take them for granted as the Tasmanian Government yesterday released market research showing strong support for a team.

According to the poll, 48% of Tasmanians — almost 250,000 people — would support an AFL club based on the island.

The survey also found that 41% of Tasmanians would attend games and 23% — more than 100,000 people — would consider buying a membership. If accurate, the poll would most likely give a Tasmanian team a larger pool of potential members than those on the Gold Coast and Western Sydney, areas the AFL has said it favours for expansion.

AFL chief Andrew Demetriou yesterday dismissed as nonsense suggestions from some close to the bid that he is the chief obstacle to Tasmania's dream becoming reality.

"I just find that a completely ridiculous and emotional response," he said.

"I have helped drive AFL football in Tasmania through Hawthorn and St Kilda." Demetriou said Tasmania was not being ignored or taken for granted and that the state's bid would be considered. But the league boss also had a blunt message.

"We have made the decision we are going into the Gold Coast and Western Sydney … If you're asking me whether they'll replace one of those two I doubt it very much."

Demetriou said Tasmania could be part of a future second phase of expansion but said all the AFL's research indicated it was vital to establish new teams in the eastern states soon or risk losing ground to rival codes.

Former Tasmanian premier and 1968 Melbourne best and fairest winner Ray Groom said his state deserved a team.

"We are being taken for granted by the AFL, we are seen as not a new marketplace and as being an already existing marketplace," Groom said.

"But there is a danger. Unless the AFL embraces Tasmania and gives us support we may well find soccer or one of the other codes growing in popularity in Tasmania."

Groom said he was very worried that the sport would suffer a backlash in Tasmania if the bid was not properly considered.

"We don't feel part of it and we feel that we are left off the football map. There is a frustration down here."

Former St Kilda champion Darrel Baldock said an AFL team would be enormous for his home state.

"People say we are not big enough. Do you think Geelong is big enough?" he said. "We have got a perfect ground in Launceston and the level of support would not be a question. There's no doubt it would be dangerous for the AFL to take Tasmania for granted."

Baldock said that St Kilda was a cautionary example — the club having lost the widespread Tasmanian support it once enjoyed by half committing to games in the state and then pulling out.

"Had they wanted to they would have had all of Tasmania supporting St Kilda, they could have taken what Hawthorn now has," he said.

Groom said Tasmania was now big enough to support a team. "We have half a million people, we have strong resources and big industry now," he said. "We have the capacity to finance a team as well as a great love for football. There would be a lot of support, companies and people would get behind us. But we can't do anything if the AFL won't acknowledge us."

Meanwhile, the winning bidder for the right to prepare Tasmania's case for entry could be announced as early as this week.

The announcement may take place in Melbourne — part of an apparent bid to bypass Demetriou and appeal directly to the football public and the AFL Commission.

http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/tassie-poll-support-fails-to-sway-demetriou/2008/06/25/1214073341397.html

[one-eyed]

Tassie push into the AFL gains clout
Mike Sheahan | July 09, 2008

FOR the first time in all the years Tasmania and her displaced sons have been pushing for an AFL berth, there seems to be belief in the dream. There's an impressive level of vigour attached to the current campaign.

Perhaps it's energy born of the overwhelming public support in the recent Herald Sun Footy Fans Survey for Tasmania's inclusion in the next phase of the AFL's expansion plan.

Perhaps it is yesterday's announcement in Melbourne of the appointment of the high-powered gemba group to prepare Tasmania's bid for an AFL licence.

Gemba, whose directors include former Essendon captain James Hird, is a consultancy with a broad experience in the Australian sports market, including an involvement with eight AFL clubs.
 
Hird and fellow directors, Ben Crowe and CEO Rob Mills, attended yesterday's announcement by Tasmania's Minister for Economic Development and Tourism, Paula Wriedt. As usual, the function was attended by several expatriate Tasmanians with profiles in Victoria.

They included AFL and Hawthorn legend Peter Hudson; former Melbourne champion Stuart Spencer, who quit the AFL at 24 to move to Tasmania, where he became a local legend; Collingwood premiership ruckman James Manson; broadcaster Tim Lane; and retired journalists John Sorell and Geoff Poulter.

Current AFL players, Matthew Richardson (Richmond) and Brad Green (Melbourne), were apologies, apparently due to training commitments.

Minister Wriedt said: "This is a very historic opportunity for Tasmania . . . and we intend to do it justice."

Bold words delivered boldly.

She was wearing two hats: that of a member of the Tasmanian Government, the other of a mother. "Our young footballers should have the opportunity to aspire to play for their own home state," she said.

Wriedt wheeled out familiar lines about a "truly national competition" and "the contribution we've made to the game", with one or two new ones.

Like "there's never been this much momentum", and it wasn't just rhetoric.

Her government is on board. It currently injects $3 million into an AFL presence in Tasmania, underwriting Hawthorn's involvement at Aurora Stadium in Launceston.

State Government contributions and AFL dividends would provide roughly one-third of the $30 million a Tasmanian club would require annually.

Wriedt said the net economic benefit was huge, with up to 5000 people travelling to the state for each of Hawthorn's official fixtures.

It's a clear winner for the government. Apart from the tourism dollars, something to deflect attention from wood-chipping issue, too.

Gemba has six weeks to turn passion, interest, hope and emerging corporate interest into a compelling submission, one that might yet convince the AFL Commission to include the forgotten state in the national competition.

"You ignore home base at your peril," former Premier Paul Lennon said in April.

What gemba and the steering committee must do now is co-ordinate the forces, sell the story of Tasmania's football passion - Hawthorn has more than 4000 members in the state - hammer the AFL with the message that Tassie is ready when Sydney's west clearly isn't, and mobilise the big guns.

Bring them all together: Huddo, Stewie, Lynchy, Royce, the Doc, Verdun, Richo, Roachy . . . "Punter" Ponting. Turn them into evangelists, all of them.

Tassie must make a noise. Often. To quote Chris Judd on another matter: "You feed the barking dog."

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,23991528-19742,00.html

[one-eyed]

Billionaire backs Tasmania's bid
Dan Silkstone | July 13, 2008

TASMANIA'S AFL bid team is in sponsorship negotiations with corporate giants believed to include Australia's richest man.

While no deal has been done and bid officials refuse to discuss negotiations, The Sunday Age understands that one of the corporate entities talking to Tasmania is Toll Holdings and its multi-millionaire chief executive Paul Little. Toll is a Melbourne-based freight and logistics giant that controls major shipping interests between the mainland and Tasmania.

Other strong interest is believed to come from resources heavyweights in Western Australia, including Andrew Forrest, named this year by Business Review Weekly magazine as Australia's richest man. One source told yesterday that Forrest had approached the Tasmanian bid team expressing an interest in sponsorship.

Forrest is the founder of mining giant Fortescue Metals. In May, BRW estimated his personal fortune — on paper — at $10.4 billion.

http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/billionaire-backs-tasmanias-bid/2008/07/12/1215658206389.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

[one-eyed]

Tassie out but not dead
Dan Silkstone | July 26, 2008

THE Tasmanian Government has admitted defeat in its bid to win the licence for the AFL's 18th team.

After meeting with league commission chief Mike Fitzpatrick on Thursday, bid leader and Tasmanian Minister for Economic Development Paula Wriedt said the AFL had made up its mind on admitting the Gold Coast and Western Sydney as the 17th and 18th teams.

But Tasmania's audacious bid to host an AFL team is not dead.

Instead, the State Government has turned its focus towards attracting a Melbourne team to relocate or filling a vacancy arising from a team folding or merging.

"What we are saying to the commission is, 'This isn't about us necessarily knocking off Western Sydney or the Gold Coast'." Wriedt said. "This is us saying, 'Whatever happens in the future, we are here and if the business case stacks up … we are ready'."

Wriedt said the recent loss of sponsors by clubs such as the Western Bulldogs, Richmond and St Kilda left the door ajar for a Tasmanian team.

"If you look at developments just within the past week of teams losing major sponsors, it really says that it is becoming really difficult in Victoria to sustain a club," she said.

"I think everyone associated with football acknowledges that there is going to be some changes over time … we want to be in the space that whatever happens, we are the next people considered."

Wriedt was open-minded about whether a Tasmanian team was relocated from Melbourne or was a new entity. But she said the Government was not interested in another co-location agreement — such as the one with Hawthorn — while the deal with the Hawks was still running.

The Government is proceeding with the proposal being prepared by sports consultants Gemba and to be presented to the AFL in October. It will also make the information about the strength of support for a Tasmanian team available to Melbourne clubs.

The Tasmanian Government will now focus on convincing the AFL Commission to declare the state ready to host a team and assign it official status as next in line for an AFL franchise.

Wriedt said that if the bid proposal showed a Tasmanian team was workable, the AFL should put up financial incentives for a Melbourne team to relocate there.

"Given how deep the AFL is prepared to dig into their pockets for these other two bids, where money seems no object, I would've thought that if they do believe we have a case, they would enter into discussions about how they can assist financially," she said.

Wriedt said the bid team's intention had never been to supplant Western Sydney or the Gold Coast but few doubt that the bid had focused on winning a place in an 18-team league.

She had not put a timetable on when she wanted to have a new or relocated Tasmanian team in place but thought it could happen in the short term.

"The reality is, particularly with developments this week in relation to sponsorships being lost, that it wouldn't be such a long wait," she said.

She said a major sponsor for the non-existent team, as well as a second-tier sponsor, would be announced soon, probably next week. She admits it sounds strange but adds: "My glass is always half-full. If every team was in a strong financial position and there weren't talks about potential mergers and sponsorships falling over … the reality of the situation now, as opposed to five years ago, means there is light on the horizon."

Wriedt said she was disappointed by the AFL's negativity towards the bid early in the process but detected a greater willingness to listen in recent weeks.

But she was proud the bid had generated massive momentum and won "hearts and minds" in Tasmania and Victoria.

http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/tassie-out-but-not-dead/2008/07/25/1216492737913.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

[the_boy_jake]

What will they call the Father-Son rule in Tassie?

The Uncle-Grandson-Brother-Father-Fifth Cousin Twice Removed-Son Rule?

 

[wayne]

What will they call the Father-Son rule in Tassie?

The Uncle-Grandson-Brother-Father-Fifth Cousin Twice Removed-Son Rule?

 

The Tasmania Guernsey

[mightytiges]

What will they call the Father-Son rule in Tassie?

The Uncle-Grandson-Brother-Father-Fifth Cousin Twice Removed-Son Rule?

 

The Tasmania Guernsey

 

The only good thing about Tassie not getting their own side is Jack won't be going anywhere.

[Fishfinger]

Would be hard for them to make a profit from gate takings if most get in on the one family ticket.

[one-eyed]

Mars is sponsoring the non-existent Tassie side $4 million over 3 years. Every Mars bar in September will be re-labelled with the word "believe".