D2.0
Years ago
Tassie Govt pushes for AFL Licence
The Tasmanian Government is pushing for an AFL Licence:
https://www.afl.com.au/news/2019-08-30/ ... aflw-teams
Footy Legend Nick Riewoldt is onboard, as is former Carlton Coach Brendon Bolton:
https://www.afl.com.au/news/2019-06-26/ ... n-tasmania
Now governments rarely do anything without a predetermined outcome. So either they have no chance and this is just a cynical political stunt to drum up voter support, or
they have the inside gos that such a bid is likely to be successful.
Obviously there are two possibilities: Either the league continues to expand, or they relocate an existing team.
Hard to know which direction the AFL will take.
The big question for mine, is how this impacts LK's bid to expand the NBL back to Tassie??
To the extent that he wants Government money, it may be a downer, but he wasn't asking for that much.
In regards to his stated goal of making BBball the number-one sport in Tassie, well that takes a battering, but it was always a stretch.
For families contemplating the purchase of season tickets, the presence of two national franchises might be a conundrum.
On the other hand, the surge of state-based pride can benefit both.
I would say that's what happened in Perth in the late 80's & early 90's, and paved the way for other sports such as Baseball and Soccer.
Another interesting take, if the AFL team is based at Bellerive, maybe there's an argument to base the NBL team out of Launceston???
(Which yes, would scrap his current plans.)
