Your Board Update June 2025

Dear Members,

From our formation, the Tasmania Football Club has been committed to working with all sides of politics to make Tasmania’s dream of playing in the AFL a reality.

It is no secret that the political events of the past fortnight and the early election now called for July 19 have, understandably, been the subject of great discussion across the community. However, we acknowledge, and are grateful for the continued bipartisan support of both the Liberal Party and Labor Party (along with many other parliamentarians), for the Macquarie Point Stadium – which will deliver a world-class precinct for sport, culture and community. This commitment reflects a shared belief in the future of our Club, and a bold vision for Tasmania and the opportunities that lie ahead.

I want to assure you that the Tasmania Football Club is playing on. We always anticipated the road to securing our AFL and AFLW teams would have a few twists and turns, and we are more than up for the challenge.

We stand ready to work with the next Tasmanian Parliament to ensure Tasmania’s long-term dream of playing on the national stage is realised.

The Macquarie Point Stadium remains a key prerequisite of our licence and the long-term financial stability of the club – that is not a political statement, it is a statement of fact.

It is also a fact that the 23,000-seat new stadium and the redevelopments at UTAS Stadium and Dial Park give Tasmanians the best chance of seeing their teams play at home. Without the significant additional capacity of the new stadium, more fans will quite literally be left out in the cold. (Fun fact - did you know that Ninja Stadium in Hobart has only 12,500 seats with capacity for another 5000 spectators in unseated areas. It’s clear that demand for seats will significantly outstrip the supply of current stadia and that a new Stadium is needed to ensure as many of our fans and members can get to watch their Devils play).

The Club is a force for unity, not division. It is an opportunity to celebrate what makes us Tasmanian and in doing so generate financial and social opportunities for current and future generations.

Yesterday we held our 19th Board meeting in Launceston and we certainly were 'playing on' with the size of the agenda.

The meeting saw us cover a range of matters including:

• Progress against our Build Chapter Business Plan
• Update on the build of our Football Department and key enablers to see us take the field as scheduled
• Progress on our Training and Administration Base
• Process that we will undertake in developing our strategic plan
• Other governance items, including finance, risk and audit matters

I remind you to check our Fact Sheet here if you have any questions about the Club that you would like answers to.

Before I finish, I want to recognise Mason Downie from Lauderdale Auskick Centre. Six year old Mason was last week announced as AFL Auskick's eight AFL recruit and will be heading to the AFL Grand Final, what a thrill. In the interview that Mason gave on Friday night in Launceston here he said he wanted to play for 'Tassie Devils' - we have instructed the talent scouts and recruiters to be on the lookout, and we cannot wait for young boys and girls like Mason to be on our list.

Thanks again for your ongoing support of our Club, it means a lot to us all.

We play on.
Go Devils.

Grant.