While the team will play the majority of its matches in Hobart, the deal also details that it will play a number of matches in Launceston, which will help create a truly Tasmanian NBL team.

NBL owner and executive chairman Larry Kestelman and Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein announced on Friday that the 10th licence would return to Tasmania for the 2021-22 season.

The news was released on Friday on the same day that Collingwood and Netball Tasmania confirm they will continue their Super Netball deal.

These signings are a significant step forward for two sports that have huge fan bases in the state and prove that the governing bodies have faith in the viability of these partnerships and teams.

It shows that there are sports that value Tasmania's contribution and see it as an exciting new market in which to grow.

It shows confidence in the state's economy and also its people, that it will be a positive outcome for everyone.

The good sense of these agreements is in stark contrast to the glacier-pace of AFL House, which, despite receiving a report from the Tasmanian AFL taskforce on the viability of a Tasmanian team, have yet to announce any decision or support for the team. The AFL has consistently said that the perceived "North-south divide" in Tasmania would work against any such Tasmanian team, but the new NBL deal flies in the face of that assumption.

A team that splits its time between Tasmania's largest centres will garner its own support in both of those locations.

There is a choice that can be made here - that a proactive decision can be made, or we sit here in the status quo, that does nothing to help anyone, not the AFL, nor Tasmania, nor the players and supporters who have made this state a proud AFL state for many years. AFL House is considering its response to the task force report, the football is literally in their court - we are awaiting your decision.