Journalist Brett Stubbs has accused Hawthorn and North Melbourne of giving absolutely nothing back to local Tasmanian football, despite both clubs being long-term tenants of AFL matches in the state.
AFL Tasmania is currently in the midst of a crisis, with two clubs in the Tasmanian State League, Devenport and Burnie, pulling out of the competition at the end of last season, leaving only seven sides to compete in the 2018 season.
A perceived lack of funding from the AFL has forced the competition restrict the salary cap of each side in the TSL to only $80,000 each, well short of local leagues in mainland Australia, and has also likely dented the dreams of potential AFL draftees, with only one player being recruited from Tasmania in the AFL National Draft in the past two years.
However instead of the two clubs that host AFL games in the state handing back some of their match revenue in a bid to help Tasmanian football, the The Mercury sports editor says Hawthorn and North Melbourne take all of the earnings from their matches in Launceston and Hobart respectively.
“It is a very difficult position for clubs and the league to generate their own revenue here,” Stubbs told SEN’s KB and the Doc.
“The AFL content we have here with North Melbourne and Hawthorn games, Tasmanian football doesn’t generate one cent from that.
“Every ticket sale, every corporate sale, every sponsorship on the board, everything that is sold at those grounds and every dollar raised goes back to Hawthorn and North Melbourne.
“Even though it has been a great stimulus to the economy tourism-wise and those kinds of things during the winter, it doesn’t actually help Tasmania football prosper. Tasmanian football has struggled to raise its own money to survive.
“That’s why we need instant revenue input from the AFL…that’s why the salary cap is so small, so clubs don’t get into financial trouble trying to buy players.”
While Stubbs says that the management of AFL Tasmania have not done an adequate job in trying to resurrect football in the state, he says he feels sorry for new CEO Trisha Squires, believing that she was thrust into a tough role with little to no warning.
“She is being put in a middle of a crisis from day one and she has been put in there without a due process,” he said.
“She was appointed without the job being advertised. She might be the person for the job, but we don’t know.”
Squires, who was appointed to the role two weeks ago, today spoke with Andy Maher on SEN Afternoons, stating that she currently doesn’t know what is best for football in the state moving forward.
Listen to Brett Stubbs chatting with Kevin Bartlett and Dr Turf on SEN's KB and The Doc below: