'Out of a job': Tasmania warned AFL licence will 'never happen again' if 'precarious' vote on stadium fails

If the Tasmanian state government doesn't vote to approve a brand new 23,000 seat roofed stadium in July, its provisional AFL licence will be ripped up and dreams of the Devils entering the competition in 2028 will die on the spot.

CEO of the Tassie AFL team Brendon Gale couldn't have put it more bluntly on Friday, as the decision draws closer.

And Nine journalist Sam McClure believes things are looking "precarious".

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Tasmania generally has campaigned for an AFL team for decades and had fallen short at every turn, until one last big push under premier Peter Gutwein.

The AFL under chief Gillon McLachlan finally relented in 2023 and granted them a provisional license, but under the proviso that the state or federal government funds a brand new roofed stadium for the team.

Gale remains hopeful that the Tasmanian government won't now fumble what he describes as an opportunity that will "never happen again".

"I'll let the process run its course, and our job is to build a team and build an organisation to back that team," Gale told SEN.

"It's a compelling opportunity for the state of Tasmania. It's a once in a generation opportunity that will never happen again.

"On that basis, I'm confident.

"The condition of this team is the delivery of the stadium and if the stadium isn't delivered, there's no team - it's as simple as that.

"It's a relatively uncontroversial comment, it's been the case since day one. The consequences are real and they're real for everyone to see."

McClure outlined his reaction to Gale's comments in the media today, saying it has always been as simple as no stadium, no team - and it has the potential to make a lot of powerful people look quite silly.

"I can see why people would be surprised by it. It didn't necessarily surprise me," McClure told 3AW.

"I was in Launceston a few weeks ago interviewing the premier Jeremy Rockliff with his minority government and he has a state planning commission that essentially in its six month report said 'hey look, we think there are some major problems with this thing. We're not sure about the stadium'.

"So (Rockliff) has circumvented the planning submission and said 'we're going to do it, I'm going to expedite this and take it to parliament straight away'.

"In July it's going to go through both houses of parliament and it either passes or it doesn't, and the AFL has been very clear here that if there is no stadium, there is no team.

"I asked Gale today what happens if it doesn't pass and he said 'well, we're all out of a job'.

"It paints a pretty clear picture of just how precariously positioned this Tasmanian team and its stadium is.

"It would be an embarrassing situation (if it was voted out). Having said that, the AFL are very good at swinging things.

"If it didn't go through, they would simply say 'we went to 18 clubs, the deal was based on the government funding a billion dollar, 23,000 seat roofed stadium, so it's not our fault the team has folded, we gave them a provisional license on the basis that the stadium gets built, we can't control governments,' that's what the AFL would say."

The vote will be held in early July and needs to pass both houses of parliament.

It is expected to pass the lower house, with the upper house being where it could get tight.

Former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley is expected to be pursued as the club's first head coach.

While there have been reports of Cricket Australia's unrest with the stadium's roof, Nine chief AFL reporter Tom Morris has stated that without the AFL's tick of approval, the stadium simply won't exist at all.

"If they suddenly decide to not have a roof, the AFL will just walk away. It's as simple as that. So there's not going to be any argument (with Cricket Australia)," Morris told WWOS.