The push for a 19th AFL license has grown significantly in the last 18 months from Tasmania, while the Northern Territory has also put their hand up.
However, Gold Coast president Tony Cochrane believes the motion for further expansion will not get past the existing 18 club presidents, saying the vast majority will give a thumbs down when asked.
When the league pushed to add the Suns and Giants to the competition, they received the approval of the club presidents in March of 2008 to do so.
Cochrane said he has nothing against Tasmania or the Northern Territory, but he is staunchly against expansion beyond 18 teams.
“I’m well and truly on the public record, and before the Tasmanians start sending me love letters, my issue here isn’t with it being in Tasmania or the Northern Territory or Wagga Wagga or Broome or West Heidelberg, my issue is with a 19th franchise,” Cochrane told SEN SA Breakfast.
“We cannot as a sport and an industry afford a 19th franchise under any circumstances.
“The money is not there. The depth of playing group is not there. The challenges across the system are not there. What I mean by that is you’ve got the AFL 10 years into the experiment of two new sides … both in huge growth corridors of people.
“Our market for example is in South-East Queensland which is the third biggest advertising market in Australia. It means a whole lot to media companies.
“That will not be the case in a market like Tasmania, which is the 12th market in Australia for advertising and media.
“We’ve got these two existing franchises being GWS and the Gold Coast Suns well established. We cannot afford to be spreading the money so thin that instead of having one or two that are struggling we end up with three or four that are struggling.
“From a business point of view that would be insanity. From a pure fanbase point of view it would be nuts.
“It’s not something personal against Tasmania, we just cannot afford a 19th franchise.
“At the end of the day, thank god that decision has to go through the 18 existing presidents and I’m here to tell you there will be anybody who will move the motion.
“At best there might be someone who moves the motion and seconds it. It will not get more than three votes out of 18. It will not get up.”
The AFL through Colin Carter are currently reviewing the Tasmanian bid for an AFL license, with an answer expected at the end of 2021 or early in 2022.