How the Hobart stadium spend is a game-changer in Australian sport

On a bracing Hobart morning in autumn, many Tasmanians were greeted with the news that they had been waiting years to hear.

On the cusp of delivering his government’s second budget, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has committed $240 million to building a stadium at Hobart’s Macquarie Point site, pending the AFL granting Tasmania a licence for a league team.

“The Commonwealth will be providing, in the budget in 10 days time, $240 million of funding for this site and $65 million for the upgrade of UTAS stadium in Launceston as well,” Mr Albanese stated.

“We want to make sure that the benefits of having an AFL team based here in Tasmania means that they can play both in Hobart and in Launceston, as well to develop to deliver the economic benefits for the whole state of Tasmania.”

The $240m promised is a historic figure, the largest a federal government has ever promised to spend on a football stadium.

The budget promise ticked off the last of 12 “workstreams” the AFL articulated for the entry of a standalone Tasmanian team into the AFL competitions.

It is expected in the coming days that the 18 AFL club presidents will vote to grant Tasmania the 19th AFL licence.

The proposed Tasmanian stadium spending adds to the billions of dollars spent on football stadiums across the country in recent years.

Importantly, the spend on the new Hobart stadium breaks new ground for federal government involvement in spending on football stadiums in Australia.

The spending on Macquarie Point may change the relationship between governments and spending on major sporting infrastructure.

Size of the spend

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