Australian rules football in Tasmania

Australian rules football in Tasmania
2008 AFL Season (R10) match at Aurora Stadium in Launceston
Governing body	AFL Tasmania
Representative team	Tasmania
First played	1866; 158 years ago (1866)
Registered players	14,528 (2023)[1]
Clubs	86
Club competitions
List Tasmanian State League North West Football League Northern Tasmanian Football Association Southern Football League Circular Head Football Association Darwin Football Association King Island Football Association Leven Football Association North East Football Union North Western Football Association Oatlands District Football Association Old Scholars Football Association
Audience records
Single match	24,968 (1979). TFL Grand Final Glenorchy v Clarence (North Hobart Oval, Hobart)

Australian rules football has been played in Tasmania since the late 1860s. It draws the largest audience for any football code in the state. A 2018 study of internet traffic showed that 79% of Tasmanians are interested in Australian rules football, the highest rate in the country.^[2]

Tasmania is the only state without an Australian Football League (AFL) club yet. However, after 30 years of campaigning by the state, the league's 18 clubs unanimously approved a 19th license to the state on 1 May 2023, and it is expected to debut in 2028^[3] along with the construction of the new Macquarie Point Stadium to be completed by 2029.^[4][5]

Though the audience for the sport remains significant and population growth has exceeded the national average, participation has been in freefall since 2006. The number of participants halved during the 2000s and has not recovered. Once having the strongest participation per capita,^[6] it has dropped below the national average and is now similar to the sport in the Australian Capital Territory and only marginally higher than that in New South Wales and in Queensland.^[7] In the 21st century it dropped off the top 10 team sports and the most popular team sports are now basketball and soccer.^[8] While the code remains popular in the state's north and Launceston, its popularity has fared much worse in the south and in the state's capital Hobart. With the collapse of numerous clubs and competitions, the sport has undergone numerous restructures over the years. Tasmania has traditionally supplied the AFL with a disproportionately high number of players. Despite efforts to maintain a pathway, in the 2010s and 2020s it began to produce poorly in the AFL Draft and for the first time in history (including 2020 and 2022) Tasmanians missed selection altogether. The general consensus is that the state suffered from being ignored by national governing bodies for decades.^[9][10] This prompted the Government of Australia to launch a Senate inquiry in 2008.^[11]

The Tasmanian state team competed in senior interstate and State of Origin football; it won matches against all other Australian states (including Victoria, firstly in their 1960 match and most recently in their second last encounter in 1990) as well as several second division titles (including 1908 and 1947). Peter Hudson represented Tasmania more times than any other player, with 19 caps. The side played its last senior representative match in 1993. Tasmania continues to field underage sides in the national underage championships as part of a talent pathway to the AFL and remains a successful side with 8 Division two titles, the most recent in 2018. Tasmania has also fielded teams in the VFL (2001–2008), the TAC Cup (1996–2002; 2019-) and defeated a NEAFL representative side in 2013 as the Tasmania Mariners/Devils.

AFL premiership matches have been played every year except 2020 since 2001 with the first held at the North Hobart Oval in 1991. Attendance at these matches, per capita, up to the 2000s and 2010s were the highest in Australia with an average of more than 16,000 per game. Tasmanian Devils VFL home crowds averaged 4,000 a season until the Devils unpopular alignment with AFL club North Melbourne began in 2006. Many viewed it as an AFL attempt at club relocation and as a result average AFL attendances halved after the club began playing home games in Hobart. Tasmanian television audiences for the AFL were also among the highest per capita, consistently drawing bigger ratings than both Queensland and New South Wales; however, they too fell in the 2010s. These factors increased the urgency of the state's bid for an AFL club of its own.

Over 300 Tasmanians have played the game at the highest level, the VFL/AFL. Tasmania has four Australian Football Hall of Fame legends: Darrell Baldock, Peter Hudson, Ian Stewart and Royce Hart.

Matthew Richardson and Jack Riewoldt hold the records for most AFL goals (800) and most AFL games (346) respectively for born and raised Tasmanians. Jess Wuetschner holds both equivalent records for most AFLW games (55) and most AFLW goals (42).