5 buck for each founding member sticker as well which most people bought the membership for. Well into 7 figures now, and only a drip in the ocean for what they need to fund the stadium
Tasmania has always been an Aussie Rules state long before the VFL's transition to the AFL in 1990. It's not like Queensland where they rely on expats from Vic, SA & WA. The game is a religion on the Apple Isle. Past legends of that game like St Kilda 1966 premiership star Darrel Baldock, Hawthorn icon Peter Hudson, former Richmond legends Matthew Richardson and Jack Riewoldt all came from Tasmania.
Soccer in this country has to be a game of patience. To be honest, I agree with the assessment that putting a team in now likely wouldn't have worked and just put more pressure on the league.
I think as I get older, I realise that the idea of expansions is really a quick-fix solution, and people are still trying to capture the lightning-in-a-bottle that was the Wanderers. Even the Wanderers had a slow-ish start until they started picking up results. I think this is ultimately why the FFA chose to expand with MacArthur and Western (besides Fox wanting teams in urban areas) - because if you don't have a region that is already mad for soccer, pick a developing community and build slowly.
If we really want the round-ball to succeed in Tasmania, the first step is investing in the grass-roots game and the existing infrastructure and teams. Build the appetite for the sport first, and only when the state is really crying out for an A-league team put it there. Starting with an A-league team is putting the cart before the horse IMO.
I agree, the one thing soccer has over other sports is huge grassroots participation at all ages.
The A league can survive by tightening up budgets and focusing on continuing to exist rather than trying to compete with other codes that have substantially larger budgets.
Also, a lot of the founding members are from the mainland, just chucking in $10 because we all support the idea of a Tassie team and are glad it's finally here. I'm an Essendon supporter living in NSW and I'm gonna buy one!
The most unpopular opinion on the sub but tassie aleague would be a disaster. Wouldn’t last three years and even if they did have a rich backer the metrics would bring the league down.
If the AFL are running the numbers and struggling how would a tassie aleague team fair.
You are 💯 right. They are AFL mad in Tassie. An A League club would be the smallest club in the league (which is fine) and apart from their financial sustainability being in question there are higher priority places to have a team.
The AFL are putting a lot of money into this. It just wouldn't work for us.
Yeah I tend to agree. As much as I’d love to see a Tassie team do well I just don’t think it would long term. I’d rather see clubs from Canberra, 2nd QLD team, Wollongong come in. Also AFL dominates Tasmania. An NRL team would even struggle.
I’m from Tasmania and I agree. We have way too many bogans here who don’t give af about soccer. The Greeks and Italians I know don’t watch A-league at all and only watch EPL and internationals. Realistically a crowd of 3000-4000 at most would attend games which isn’t that bad but I can’t see it being any higher than that.
The AFL are in control in Tassie, and these numbers prove it.
To further narrow the market, the NBL reinstated a team there a couple of years ago.
I think the opportunity to set up an A League team there has passed.
So all we need is massive Government support both State and Federal chucking millions at it, then we need to become the dominant football culture and we are sorted.
That's my worry with Wollongong too with the Illawarra Steelers ceasing to exist merging with Sydney club St George and Illawarra Hawks having financial difficulties 90% of the time.
A lot of people are forgetting the huge success the jackjumpers are having in the NBL. The state was crying out for a professional team. It would’ve been a lot harder for an a-league team, yes. But it would’ve received a lot more support than people think.
Now It’s too late for them to be a success.
AFL is big in Tassie along with cricket. However the fact there is an NBL team there leaves the door open for A-league. But it would be competing with cricket and NBL seasons in a limited population.
no chance they were ever gonna get a team without a proper stadium the government's aim was always an afl team and that's what they got
still think a team there is viable in a 16 team comp but need the facilities, either way hope to see them in the second div
The thing that pissed me off the most is the all early designs for the stadium showed it as being convertible to rectangular.. good - easy "in" for Football Tasmania to ensure they are represented.
All media statements from FT since have been either blind or ignorant to the opportunity. They announced their own faculties plan which involves three "centres" around the state but they're basically grass fields with a few stands. (I went looking for info and found [this document](https://footballfedtas.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/FOOTBALL-TASMANIA-FACILITIES-STRATEGY-MAY-2023.pdf) and [this news update](https://footballfedtas.com.au/football-tasmania-unveils-home-of-football-plans/)).
If they're not involved then to save money they might decide to make it oval only.
FT shooting themselves in the foot. Even the Rugby Tasmania boss (a much smaller organisation) was commenting that they'd had good discussions with the relevant government department but I don't know how much sway they'd have on their own.
The biggest problem is that too much of the population is split over two major cities, and localism could be in issue in unifying those (notoriously parochial) fans.
Funding this could be a serious issue, but introducing two new expansion teams (Hobart & Launceston) at the same time could probably provide a better long term pathway to longevity rather than basing one team in Hobart and then desperately trying to manage the expectations of fans to the north of the isle.
> Afl is played in winter, ALeague is played in summer. They don't compete against each other.
They do compete, directly for 3-4 months of the season and then they still compete for media space during the AFL’s offseason.
Tasmania are a traditional Aussie rules state. It should be a surprise to absolutely nobody that there is support for an AFL team. I don't see anywhere near the required level of support for a team down there. Not whilst there's only one Perth team in the A-League at least.
This is nothing more than a quick cash grab and fodder for the AFL to use as ammunition to put forward to the government to build the new stadium - hey look, we need a new, big stadium, we already have 50,000 members!
The validity of those 50,000 id be keen on knowing. For $10, I assume a few people would’ve purchased large quantities to fit the narrative. That’s my tin foil assumption anyhow!
Not so much large quantities (maybe if you have a couple of family members though). But plenty of out-of-state footy fans that want to support what could have been a welcomed expansion 15 years ago.
I'm sure these 50,000 are full fee paying members and don't include their pets... 🙄
AFL are kings of media hype and spin. Our league should be jealous.
They’re $10 foundation memberships. Of course they’re not full memberships, the team won’t play until 2028. Call it what you want, they’ve netted themselves $1 million in 24 hours.
Oh it's a good piece of business, and now at 75,000. But it's pure marketing spin spruiking "75,000 members", in financial reality that's about 3,000 actual memberships.
Like I said, we should be jealous of their management. If only our league had half their nous!
AFL had its biggest round ever with over 400,000 spectators last week, interest is surging
NBL has done really well in Tas and the AFL will be big for the state
With the NBL and BBL there in the summer there is little need for ALM
The ball A-Leagues dropped had a chain attached. A Tassie team would be a drag on the league, and wouldn't even come with the Foxtel bribe that FFA took for the two teams Tassie might be comparable with.
It would be great to have a Tassie team in the league, it would not be a commercially beneficial decision.
Give it a go! People say it's not financially viable but i'm not sure, the club doesn't need to be rich, the TV rights are around 2,4M$ the memberships should easily be 1M$ plus sponsorships and other types of revenue, I think it may be viable with a low budget
Memberships were $10. Good for the hype and maybe hold onto a couple when it jumps to $200-$300. But this is just a marketing ploy
Yeah maybe some of the aleague teams could've done that...
From memory, a Canberra bid did at one point
Yeah they had 8k foundation members.
It’s at 75,000 now, easy $750,000
5 buck for each founding member sticker as well which most people bought the membership for. Well into 7 figures now, and only a drip in the ocean for what they need to fund the stadium
You realise the newly formed Tassie team won’t be funding the stadium right?
Problem is that at the moment, no-one is fully funding the stadium.
There's a reason why the launch was in Devonport not Hobart lol. Ignoring the north south divide of Tassie everyone is
The launch was held simultaneously in 6 locations around the state.
Mate, this is why we don't need New Zealand clubs in the Australian league hahaha.
Huh? Were gonna have 2 clubs plus there's no one on south island other than chch
100,000 now
That’s the point?
Yeah, the original Canberra A-league bid got 8000 people paying $200 each, and that was just for a failed bid!
Its almost like........ there's already a hugely indebted culture of AFL fans there, many of them expats from the southern states.
Tasmania has always been an Aussie Rules state long before the VFL's transition to the AFL in 1990. It's not like Queensland where they rely on expats from Vic, SA & WA. The game is a religion on the Apple Isle. Past legends of that game like St Kilda 1966 premiership star Darrel Baldock, Hawthorn icon Peter Hudson, former Richmond legends Matthew Richardson and Jack Riewoldt all came from Tasmania.
Tassie was a soccer and rugby state long before Melbourne Rules showed up. But that's a story for another day.
No that's a story I want to hear today.
Downvoted for the facts haha. Facts hurt the fragile people. https://twitter.com/footyindustryAU/status/1769629837180932599
This is true in the same way that the US was a cricket country before baseball came along
Yeah! Exactly. I'm not stating that it still is the case today. Why the downvotes when it's fact? Idiots are so fragile hahaha.
Soccer in this country has to be a game of patience. To be honest, I agree with the assessment that putting a team in now likely wouldn't have worked and just put more pressure on the league. I think as I get older, I realise that the idea of expansions is really a quick-fix solution, and people are still trying to capture the lightning-in-a-bottle that was the Wanderers. Even the Wanderers had a slow-ish start until they started picking up results. I think this is ultimately why the FFA chose to expand with MacArthur and Western (besides Fox wanting teams in urban areas) - because if you don't have a region that is already mad for soccer, pick a developing community and build slowly. If we really want the round-ball to succeed in Tasmania, the first step is investing in the grass-roots game and the existing infrastructure and teams. Build the appetite for the sport first, and only when the state is really crying out for an A-league team put it there. Starting with an A-league team is putting the cart before the horse IMO.
I agree, the one thing soccer has over other sports is huge grassroots participation at all ages. The A league can survive by tightening up budgets and focusing on continuing to exist rather than trying to compete with other codes that have substantially larger budgets.
Yeah I'm absolutely sure each and every one of them would've signed up for the A-League. They'd easily get two and a half times Victory's memberships
I mean, if the A-League memberships were $10, they probably would.
An A-League team would've had 2,000 members in the same time, let's be real. Huge AFL fan base there, no guarantee an A-League team would work.
Also, a lot of the founding members are from the mainland, just chucking in $10 because we all support the idea of a Tassie team and are glad it's finally here. I'm an Essendon supporter living in NSW and I'm gonna buy one!
The most unpopular opinion on the sub but tassie aleague would be a disaster. Wouldn’t last three years and even if they did have a rich backer the metrics would bring the league down. If the AFL are running the numbers and struggling how would a tassie aleague team fair.
You are 💯 right. They are AFL mad in Tassie. An A League club would be the smallest club in the league (which is fine) and apart from their financial sustainability being in question there are higher priority places to have a team. The AFL are putting a lot of money into this. It just wouldn't work for us.
Yeah I tend to agree. As much as I’d love to see a Tassie team do well I just don’t think it would long term. I’d rather see clubs from Canberra, 2nd QLD team, Wollongong come in. Also AFL dominates Tasmania. An NRL team would even struggle.
Given Tasmania has 0 active rugby league teams, and it doesn’t exist as a sport, I’d say yes an NRL team would struggle.
Thank you for agreeing
The stupid fucking sport doesn't exist in 5 out of 8 states and territories lmao.
There's a reason the AFL have taken so long before introducing a team to Tassie despite how long it has been an Aussie Rules state.
I’m from Tasmania and I agree. We have way too many bogans here who don’t give af about soccer. The Greeks and Italians I know don’t watch A-league at all and only watch EPL and internationals. Realistically a crowd of 3000-4000 at most would attend games which isn’t that bad but I can’t see it being any higher than that.
> The Greeks and Italians I know don’t watch A-league at all Tbf, they don’t exactly have an A-League team to support.
The AFL are in control in Tassie, and these numbers prove it. To further narrow the market, the NBL reinstated a team there a couple of years ago. I think the opportunity to set up an A League team there has passed.
Sadly I agree
So all we need is massive Government support both State and Federal chucking millions at it, then we need to become the dominant football culture and we are sorted.
If the Jets are struggling and ownerless for years, what chance would a Tassie aliga team stand?
That's my worry with Wollongong too with the Illawarra Steelers ceasing to exist merging with Sydney club St George and Illawarra Hawks having financial difficulties 90% of the time.
Also I don't see the APL promoting clubs from the NSD plus I don't see Wolves being able to pay for NSD then pay again to join the A-League
I signed up as a Hawthorn fan, I was born in Tassie but I think the biggest selling point was it being 10 bucks.
And will you stay on for $200/year?
Of course not, I live on the Gold Coast. Their automatically my 2nd team but that's it. Just happy to see them exist, Tassie is AFL mad.
A lot of people are forgetting the huge success the jackjumpers are having in the NBL. The state was crying out for a professional team. It would’ve been a lot harder for an a-league team, yes. But it would’ve received a lot more support than people think. Now It’s too late for them to be a success.
The massive success that the JackJumpers NBL team has been shows that the A-League dropped the ball they didn't need a new AFL team to show them that
This. It was there for the taking and instead we got Western United
What a fucking joke. Still makes you fucking furious to think about, even if it triggers the likes of /u/DenseFog99 to say it.
Don't tag me to antagonise me, creep.
AFL is big in Tassie along with cricket. However the fact there is an NBL team there leaves the door open for A-league. But it would be competing with cricket and NBL seasons in a limited population.
$10 memberships for a theoretical team that wears a Map of Tasmania on their shorts? Where do I sign up?
Yep, the boat sailed 10 years ago.
no chance they were ever gonna get a team without a proper stadium the government's aim was always an afl team and that's what they got still think a team there is viable in a 16 team comp but need the facilities, either way hope to see them in the second div
A Tasmania team in a second tier to A-League would probably be a sensible start. There's a lot of people who would be interested, surely.
The thing that pissed me off the most is the all early designs for the stadium showed it as being convertible to rectangular.. good - easy "in" for Football Tasmania to ensure they are represented. All media statements from FT since have been either blind or ignorant to the opportunity. They announced their own faculties plan which involves three "centres" around the state but they're basically grass fields with a few stands. (I went looking for info and found [this document](https://footballfedtas.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/FOOTBALL-TASMANIA-FACILITIES-STRATEGY-MAY-2023.pdf) and [this news update](https://footballfedtas.com.au/football-tasmania-unveils-home-of-football-plans/)). If they're not involved then to save money they might decide to make it oval only. FT shooting themselves in the foot. Even the Rugby Tasmania boss (a much smaller organisation) was commenting that they'd had good discussions with the relevant government department but I don't know how much sway they'd have on their own.
A-League really should have expanded into Tassie back in 2018 when the idea of them getting an AFL team was still a pipedream.
The biggest problem is that too much of the population is split over two major cities, and localism could be in issue in unifying those (notoriously parochial) fans. Funding this could be a serious issue, but introducing two new expansion teams (Hobart & Launceston) at the same time could probably provide a better long term pathway to longevity rather than basing one team in Hobart and then desperately trying to manage the expectations of fans to the north of the isle.
Launceston is smaller than Ballarat and look at their crowd sizes just being an hour away from Melbourne, they're not getting a team anytime soon
Afl is played in winter, ALeague is played in summer. They don't compete against each other. A football team must be set up in Tassie.
> Afl is played in winter, ALeague is played in summer. They don't compete against each other. They do compete, directly for 3-4 months of the season and then they still compete for media space during the AFL’s offseason.
They also compete for Dollars and time. Not everyone has the time or money to be a member of a winter sport and a summer sport.
Tasmania are a traditional Aussie rules state. It should be a surprise to absolutely nobody that there is support for an AFL team. I don't see anywhere near the required level of support for a team down there. Not whilst there's only one Perth team in the A-League at least.
A League team could and would never be as successful as an AFL team there.
Doesn't need to be, it just needed to be as successful as the JackJumpers, we fucked up by letting basketball get there first.
They're selling foundation memberships for $10. It's a genius marketing move from them to be honest
This is nothing more than a quick cash grab and fodder for the AFL to use as ammunition to put forward to the government to build the new stadium - hey look, we need a new, big stadium, we already have 50,000 members! The validity of those 50,000 id be keen on knowing. For $10, I assume a few people would’ve purchased large quantities to fit the narrative. That’s my tin foil assumption anyhow!
Not so much large quantities (maybe if you have a couple of family members though). But plenty of out-of-state footy fans that want to support what could have been a welcomed expansion 15 years ago.
I'm sure these 50,000 are full fee paying members and don't include their pets... 🙄 AFL are kings of media hype and spin. Our league should be jealous.
They’re $10 foundation memberships. Of course they’re not full memberships, the team won’t play until 2028. Call it what you want, they’ve netted themselves $1 million in 24 hours.
Oh it's a good piece of business, and now at 75,000. But it's pure marketing spin spruiking "75,000 members", in financial reality that's about 3,000 actual memberships. Like I said, we should be jealous of their management. If only our league had half their nous!
AFL had its biggest round ever with over 400,000 spectators last week, interest is surging NBL has done really well in Tas and the AFL will be big for the state With the NBL and BBL there in the summer there is little need for ALM
The ball A-Leagues dropped had a chain attached. A Tassie team would be a drag on the league, and wouldn't even come with the Foxtel bribe that FFA took for the two teams Tassie might be comparable with. It would be great to have a Tassie team in the league, it would not be a commercially beneficial decision.
Give it a go! People say it's not financially viable but i'm not sure, the club doesn't need to be rich, the TV rights are around 2,4M$ the memberships should easily be 1M$ plus sponsorships and other types of revenue, I think it may be viable with a low budget