Essendon will play in Tasmania for the first time for Premiership points this Sunday after the AFL confirmed it would relocate the clash with Hawthorn to UTAS Stadium.
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Club players and staff will fly in and fly out on the same day in a "COVID-safe manner", restricting contact with the general public.
The match between North Melbourne and Brisbane has also been relocated to Blundstone Arena on Saturday.
Premier Peter Gutwein said it would be a "history making weekend" for AFL in Tasmania.
"The announcement from the AFL this evening, follows positive and constructive conversations throughout this week and across the weekend between the AFL, North Melbourne, Hawthorn and the Tasmanian Government while the COVID-19 situation in metropolitan Melbourne has been monitored," he said.
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"This is a win for Tassie football fans, and will build on the momentum being generated across this week by Dark MOFO which will commence on Wednesday 16 June and run until Tuesday 22 June - making it a week not to be missed in Tassie.
"I'd like to thank the AFL and both Hawthorn and North Melbourne Football Clubs for working so closely and constructively with the Tasmanian Government and our Public Health authorities to ensure these matches can proceed in a safe way in front of what we expect to be very strong crowds in Tasmania."
The decision was made ahead of any Victorian Government announcement on public gathering restrictions for this weekend in order to give organisers time to prepare for the matches.
It comes just over a month before the AFL is expected to deliver its review into the business case for a standalone Tasmanian team.
Crowd figures have fluctuated in Tasmania in the past seven years:
Economist Saul Eslake said having a high profile match - with Essendon's good form and strong supporter base, and Hawthorn coming off an upset win in Sydney - would give Tasmanians the opportunity to show the AFL how well-attended matches could be.
"A truer test of the AFL's bonafides would be for Launceston to host a match like this," he said.
"I would come up to Launceston for it, for a start."
The Hawthorn versus Essendon game will start at 3.20pm Sunday.
Crowd numbers down in 2021, but opportunities ahead
Attendances figures for AFL matches in Tasmania in 2021 have been well below average, but the state government believed this would not impact the push for a Tasmanian team.
UTAS Stadium and Blundstone Arena have hosted two matches each so far in 2021, but attendances have been much lower than previous years, including a record Tasmanian low of 3462 last weekend for North Melbourne versus GWS in Hobart.
Tasmania consistently attracts lower profile matches due to the AFL's business model:
A government spokesperson said there were a range of factors causing the reduced crowd sizes this year, including border restrictions, lower profile clubs playing and an overall decline in attendances nationwide.
"Current crowd numbers at Tasmanian AFL games do not have an impact on our bid for our own team in the AFL," the spokesperson said.
"Crowd numbers can be affected by numerous factors such as reduced notice periods and ability to plan such as what occurred with yesterday's game, respective ladder positions, the specific time of the fixturing, border restrictions which prevent the fans of participating teams from travelling to watch their team, as well as the extent of local following of the visiting team, in this case GWS which does not have a big following in Tasmania."
The AFL's review of Tasmania's business case - conducted by Colin Carter - is expected to be provided to the Tasmanian Government by the end of July.