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According to AAP wired today (12.12.080:
"Tasmania has officially become a player in the AFL expansion game after presenting a bid labelled "first-class" by league chief executive Andrew Demetriou.
While Demetriou reiterated the AFL's preferred points for expansion in the short-term were the Gold Coast and western Sydney, he said the Tasmanian bid was comprehensive and ticked all the boxes.
Tasmanian Premier David Bartlett presented the bid to the league in Melbourne on Friday.
But the state has been seen previously as a fallback option at best, as the AFL commits to extra teams in Queensland and NSW first as part of its planned expansion to 18 clubs.
"The amount of work and research is comprehensive and first-class. We were incredibly impressed by the level of detail in the submission," Demetriou said.
Bartlett said Tasmania already had 60 per cent of corporate sponsorship required for an AFL club, would easily meet the required target of 25,000 members and projected stadium revenues would put them in the top four performing stadia in the league.
"The commitment Andrew's given me today is he'll take the business case we've provided very seriously," Bartlett said.
"We're mapping out a pathway so when opportunities arise in the AFL in the future, the AFL Commission will understand Tasmania is ready, willing and able to provide a market for an AFL franchise."
The AFL has already committed to a Gold Coast team joining the competition in 2011, with a western Sydney team slated for 2012."
For my two cents worth, I can't see why Hawthorn doesn't consider a partial relocation to Tasmania, playing 4 home games in Launceston, 4 home games
in Hobart, (probably at Bellrieve Oval), and 3 home games in Melbourne. There would be an additional 7 away games in Melbourne, meaning a total of 10 games in Melbourne. Hawthorn could also offer package deals with their Melbourne based fans to get really cheap discounted air tickets to Tassie.
"Tasmania has officially become a player in the AFL expansion game after presenting a bid labelled "first-class" by league chief executive Andrew Demetriou.
While Demetriou reiterated the AFL's preferred points for expansion in the short-term were the Gold Coast and western Sydney, he said the Tasmanian bid was comprehensive and ticked all the boxes.
Tasmanian Premier David Bartlett presented the bid to the league in Melbourne on Friday.
But the state has been seen previously as a fallback option at best, as the AFL commits to extra teams in Queensland and NSW first as part of its planned expansion to 18 clubs.
"The amount of work and research is comprehensive and first-class. We were incredibly impressed by the level of detail in the submission," Demetriou said.
Bartlett said Tasmania already had 60 per cent of corporate sponsorship required for an AFL club, would easily meet the required target of 25,000 members and projected stadium revenues would put them in the top four performing stadia in the league.
"The commitment Andrew's given me today is he'll take the business case we've provided very seriously," Bartlett said.
"We're mapping out a pathway so when opportunities arise in the AFL in the future, the AFL Commission will understand Tasmania is ready, willing and able to provide a market for an AFL franchise."
The AFL has already committed to a Gold Coast team joining the competition in 2011, with a western Sydney team slated for 2012."
For my two cents worth, I can't see why Hawthorn doesn't consider a partial relocation to Tasmania, playing 4 home games in Launceston, 4 home games
in Hobart, (probably at Bellrieve Oval), and 3 home games in Melbourne. There would be an additional 7 away games in Melbourne, meaning a total of 10 games in Melbourne. Hawthorn could also offer package deals with their Melbourne based fans to get really cheap discounted air tickets to Tassie.
I only support one team: The 
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