Launceston will host the lion's share of blockbuster matches should a Tasmanian team find its way into the AFL.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Released on Friday, the Tasmanian AFL Taskforce's business plan puts UTAS Stadium in line for an upgrade that would see its seating capacity raised from 21,000 to 27,500.
Hobart's 20,000 capacity Bellerive Oval, which would likely act as the home base for any Tasmanian team, would be drawn to host less well-supported clubs until a boutique stadium can be built at Macquarie Point.
Taskforce chairman Brett Godfrey said UTAS Stadium's upgrade would cost about $80 million but was clearly the best option.
"At the end of the day the economics of our work suggest that's the way forward," Godfrey said.
"There are capacity limitations at [Bellerive] which means that it will not be, in our view, for the long term a viable option for the management of that club to maximise their revenue opportunities and therefore mitigate their taxpayer exposure.
"That's why we were pretty clear that the great opportunity is for the North to initially have those bigger games where they can fill this stadium and more easily develop than you can at Bellerive."
The Taskforce findings include a "longer-term aspiration" to build a $300 million, 27,000 capacity stadium at Macquarie Point.
Loosely based on Adelaide Oval, the roofed multi-purpose facility would offer a significantly less challenging transport environment than Bellerive and enable the South to share AFL content with Launceston.
ELSEWHERE IN SPORT
In acknowledging plans for a boutique stadium, Premier Peter Gutwein stressed such a project would not take place in the near future.
"The immediate challenge with our stadiums will be to do some augmentation to [UTAS Stadium] to ensure we can hold larger crowds here," Gutwein said.
"In terms of our aspiration for an AFL team, let's deal with that first and then in terms of the longer-term aspiration for better sporting facilities, let's deal with that second.
"We need some augmentation but we can quite comfortably meet the needs of the team moving forward in the first instance with the stadiums we've got.
"Then we can have a broader discussion to do some longer-term planning in terms of a standalone stadium."