The development of the Tasmanian Devils Football Club is in full swing as they approach their welcome to the AFL in 2028.
SportFM spoke to CEO Brendon Gale this morning to get some insight on how the development process is coming along.
“It’s been a challenging year, but ultimately a rewarding year,” he said.
“The Tasmanian Football Club license was conditional upon delivery of a stadium, and that stadium required a parliamentary approval process… so almost by extension it became quite politicised and that debate became quite politicised which was challenging to manage.”
“Pleasingly that got through and we’ve had great affection and support and now we can get on with what we describe as the real business of building a footy club.”
Gale mentioned the importance of stadium economics and the survival of a football club in the current AFL environment.
“It’s stadium economics and finances that underpin the financial performance of football clubs and ultimately the on-field performance.”
“You can look at West Coast and Fremantle, particularly Fremantle and how Optus Stadium has transformed the trajectory of that footy club.”
“This is where the sports business is moving. It’s about stadiums, the economics of stadiums and for us to create a really strong financial platform, a stadium was deemed to be a conditional requirement by the AFL.”
The Devils are returning to VFL footy in 2026 to prepare them as a club to enter the AFL.
The CEO said two years was essential to allow the club to grow before 2028, also having the adverse effect of blowing up participation in Auskick 40% and 38% over the past two years.
“We just felt that we needed to enter the VFL as soon as possible to give that runway similar to what the Giants and Suns had,” he said.
“We have three regional competitions and so for those young players who haven’t been drafted, who want to continue to aspire to stay in the pathway, they tend to leave the state. They go to South Australia, they go to the VFL and WA.”
“What the VFL team firstly provides is a pathway and a place for those types of players to continue to play and grow and develop and aspire, it fills that void. But secondly, I think we need two years to transition to an elite program, which is the AFL. We need to put our club under pressure, we need to build our football program and raise standards.”
As far as their list goes, no key marquee players have been identified and local talent already in the AFL has not been named.
Gale said he wants to keep it that way in order to build a club centred around passion and pride for Tasmania.
“We’re in the process of finalising our list strategy, I guess the strategy which is going to inform the way we develop our list and the way we want to play. So once we finalise that, it will inform the sort of players who would love to come down and be a part of our club.”
“I think young athletes are looking for something more now. They’re interested in more holistic development and growth and I think Tasmania offers some really compelling lifestyle benefits. With Hobart, it’s got all the cosmopolitan benefits of a big capital city, but you don’t get peak hour traffic and you’ve got housing affordability and you’ve got access to services and schools and all these sorts of things.”
“We want good players. It doesn’t matter where they come from. Good players who want to come to Tasmania for the right reasons on the right terms. They’re the sorts of players we want.”
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