With all the drama going on at the moment, there may no be a Tigers team to play next season.
If the Tigers can't capitalise on the Melbourne (and Vic) market, then something is seriously wrong with the marketing and promotion. From what I understand their ticket prices are pretty much the highest in the NBL as are sponsorship deals. Financially, they should be in a very strong position.
I would suggest that the benefit that the Hawthorn Football Club is seeing is mainly in crowd numbers and sponsorship. It is my understanding that a footy club can sell a home game for around $500K and with Tourism Tasmania seemingly footing the bill so as to promote the great state of Tasmania, the HFC is reaping in the financial reward. The other alternative seems to be playing home games in Melbourne which do not seem to be as financially attractive. One only needs to be reminded of the Port Power situation and AAMI stadium.
In the AFL, merchandising sales are a significant part of a team's income stream, but the NBL does not have a history of strong merchandise sales. Any perceived support of the Tigers must be converted to $ to be of any benefit to holding a home game in Tasmania.
I therefore question why the TIgers would see the need to play games in Tasmania.