Western Bulldogs president Peter Gordon calls for league to expand to 19 or 20 teams

[bornadog]

link (https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-2019-western-bulldogs-president-peter-gordon-calls-for-league-to-expand-to-19-or-20-teams/news-story/9ce05cca17dc674ec098842272686cce)

Western Bulldogs president Peter Gordon has called on the AFL to consider expanding the competition by another one or two clubs, with one based in Tasmania.

And AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan believes the right “building blocks are in place” for Tasmania to one day have its own team.

Gordon told the Herald Sun the league could have 19 or 20 teams in the competition, with the 19th team in the Apple Isle and the 20th in either Adelaide or Perth.

“I’d like to see the competition expand again,” Gordon told the Herald Sun.

“In the NFL there are 32 teams and in the NBA and Major League Baseball there are 30. Australian football and the AFL and Tasmania are crying out for a Tasmanian team.”

“I think Adelaide and Perth will both have sufficient scale, population and passion to come under consideration for a third club in the future.

“But the one stand out at the moment is Tasmania. I believe they are entitled to their own team.”

There will be a Tasmanian team in the new Under 18 NAB League this season, while it also has a provisional license to join the VFL in 2021.

McLachlan said it would be a challenge for Tasmanian footy to put a team together, but added that there was suitable process now in place.

“A plan is there for in two or three years time where if they get talent coming through to enter into the VFL (under) one brand, hopefully getting unity and putting a bid together. It’s not going to be in the next couple of years, but at least there’s pathway and a plan now,” McLachlan told Fox Footy’s AFL 360.

“It has to be done where you believe it will be sustainable and work. I think the building blocks are in place.

“If a unified Tasmanian board can develop this new-look under the talent model … that’s the runway where Tasmania can’t be ignored.

“The pathway is there to deliver. If that happens, it’ll be incumbent, whatever the timing is, for the AFL to deliver on that.”

[josie]

Good on you Gordo!! I am not sure of whether Tassie team would be viable (hope it is) but I think if they are I would have a really big soft spot for them and at least they would have a decent following in Apple Isle, as opposed to the horrid manufactured confection that is the Orange Plastics. Feasible too if there are say 20 to 21 teams this would lead to a much fairer draw where each team plays each other once per season.

[FrediKanoute]

Isn't Tassie's problem that fro a population centre perspective, Hobart simply isn't big enough?

[jeemak]

Isn't Tassie's problem that fro a population centre perspective, Hobart simply isn't big enough?

Its problem is it's already an AFL consuming market. There's roughly half a million people in Tassie, many of them have over time found a reason to follow a particular team or other. The AFL feels there's less scope for growth, because the market has already matured.

Every decision the AFL makes in terms of expansion is guided by potential revenue gains. They will exhaust every other avenue for growth via expansion before they consider putting a team in Tasmania. The AFL is not about community, it is about "growing the game".

With the right support in place, an AFL team could easily be sustained sharing its home schedule between Launceston and Hobart, at practically clean stadiums. The AFL just needs to want to do it, but won't.

[Mofra]

Isn't Tassie's problem that fro a population centre perspective, Hobart simply isn't big enough?
Last year there was a lot of chatter on the state of football in Tassie - the biggest roadblock is that in practice it seems to work like two competing states rather than one state with Hobart/Launceston unable to agree on much.
If they were a united state they would be in a far better position.

NBA/MLB/NFL is not a very good example for Gordon to draw from, they are major codes with a population of $250m (and a huge overseas audience) to draw from.
AFL is a domestic game which is only a novelty north of the Murray, competing for the attention of 25m people of which in its heartland it is ubiquitous anyway.

[Ghost Dog]

Never happen. Tassie is divided and their state league is a shambles let alone entering the national comp. Love to see it happen.

NW region without a team in regional comp. (https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/tasmanias-footy-crisis-deepens-with-north-west-coast-region-left-without-a-state-league-team-for-2018/news-story/7773af97512fdf72400b12c49ea501df)

Any money that could be left for Tassie goes to Gold C now.

[Sedat]

The AFEL is a big enough economy to sustain 20 teams, one of which has to go to Tassie - 20 teams, 19 rounds, everybody plays each other once, top 10 play finals and 7-10 play wildcard round in first week of finals. It's completely doable if the AFEL have any vision, which means it will never happen.

[The Adelaide Connection]

After heading over for round 1, this topic came to mind. Specifically, I think there exists a closing window of opportunity to right one of the biggest stains on our league- the desolation of Fitzroy.

Could a Tasmanian team coexist with Fitzroy in a better balance than the Brisbane effort? It could give them a Melbourne supporter base for the 10 ish away games they play there yearly to make them more viable.

There exists, somewhere in the landscape, several generations of Fitzroy fans. Some may have adopted Brisbane or another team, others may have dropped off completely. But if they were to fill the new club with key Fitzroy people would some return? I’d wager yes. As a minimum, some might take on dual support (like supporters of existing VFL/AFL teams when new local teams have been added to the league).

It might just be the romantic in me and more than unlikely to ever happen, but wouldn’t it be great to see one of the biggest wrongs righted as best it possibly could. Actually I’d love to live in a world where Essendon lost their licence for the shit they pulled and the AFL used it as a way to bring them back.

[Doc26]

Many of the old Fitzroy people that I know are now committed Lions supporters. It took some while for the wounds to heal but I hear that Brisbane have done a good job in establishing its Melbourne base, no doubt helped enormously by key identities in Bulldog Murray and Jonathon Brown.

[soupman]

Surely all the Fitzory people that were prepared to support an interstate version of the Lions are Brisbane supporters now. Not sure you win back the rest by giving them another interstate side to attach themselves too, especially one that has even less ties to Fitzroy.

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

Since the AFL took control of Tasmanian football the standard has dropped away dramatically. Hawthorn and North Melbourne reap upwards of 6 million dollars from sponsorship provided by the Tasmanian Government. This is money that should be going back to grass roots football in the Apple Isle. Hawthorn alone receives 3 million dollars for playing 4 games in Launceston and has generated an additional 10,000 members for the Club from Tasmania. There is a move afoot by the AFL to give North Melbourne access to all home games which Jeff Kennett is vigorously defending because of the windfall Hawthorn continues to enjoy. The AFL will simply continue to ignore the possibility of Tasmania entering the AFL competition because of the cosy arrangement it has developed.