Tasmania will have an AFL team after the 18 club presidents unaminously backed the 19th licence and the league's commission endorsed the vote.
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Those developments on Tuesday prompted a brief AFL statement, quoting outgoing chief executive Gillon McLachlan.
"See you in Tassie tomorrow," McLachlan said.
After Saturday's announcement of federal government funding for a new waterfront stadium in Hobart, presidents of the existing clubs met on Tuesday and ticked off Tasmania's entry into the league.
The commission's decision was then a formality, paving the way for McLachlan to be in Tasmania on Wednesday to confirm the state - until now frozen out of the national competition - has finally been granted a licence.
Tasmania will be the first expansion team since Greater Western Sydney were awarded a licence in 2010 and entered the AFL in 2012.
With the new Hobart stadium to be the expansion club's home, attention will next turn to the logistics around the team entering the league, along with the proposed name and colours.
AFL chief executive-elect Andrew Dillon said on Monday all the "building blocks" were in place for a Tasmanian expansion club.
"It's a really exciting time and there's some key decisions probably to be had in the next potentially day or coming days and coming weeks about Tasmania," Dillon said.
"But all the building blocks are in place and we're really looking forward. It's exciting."
The AFL has committed $360 million over a decade towards a team, including $90 million in game development and $33 million for player talent academies.
It is expected the side would enter the league in 2027 and play at Hobart's Blundstone Arena and University of Tasmania (UTAS) Stadium in Launceston before the new facility is finished in 2028-29.
The team will play four matches a season at UTAS Stadium, due to be upgraded.
Tasmania has long pushed for entry into the national competition.
It has produced four Australian football Hall of Fame legends - Darrel Baldock, Peter Hudson, Ian Stewart and Royce Hart - as well as more recent stars including Matthew Richardson and Jack Riewoldt.
The state government, which spearheaded the bid, will contribute $12 million per year over 12 years towards a team, plus $60 million for a high-performance centre.
It will chip in $375 million for the new $715 million 23,000-seat roofed stadium at Macquarie Point, which opponents have labelled a waste of money amid a housing and health crisis.
The federal government is contributing $240 million and the AFL $15 million.
Australian Associated Press
