Northern Tasmania’s premier football league has launched a marketing campaign to ensure local clubs don’t get overshadowed by the Tasmania Devils entering the VFL.
The NTFA will spend tens of thousands of dollars on advertising throughout the season to keep community football “in the minds of northern Tasmanians”.
“Once the VFL comes to town more people will be talking about football than ever before which is good for the game and for participation,” NTFA President and former premier Peter Gutwein said.
“But we want people to remain switched onto attending local football as well.”
The campaign kicks off this week, promoting Saturday’s Round Zero clash between St Pats and Bridgenorth at Prospect Park.
The campaign will run across all three divisions throughout the season, targeting key fixtures including Good Friday, Anzac Day games and finals.
“The NTFA is in our DNA” serves as the campaign’s catchphrase, developed by Ideas Banq and backed by new sponsor Solstice Energy.
CEO of Solstice Energy Phaedra Deckart said local sport and local footy was in the DNA of their company.
“We want to give back to the communities in which we serve, and our staff live in the north and the south,” she said.
Gutwein said the VFL’s arrival creates unprecedented opportunities for local players, with a direct pathway now available to elite football.
“For the first time in Tasmania, this pathway to the elite level is reachable on any given Saturday,” he said.
“Players in Premier League, Division One or Division Two – if they put in four cracking games, they could get a call up to play on the VFL side.”
The league expects player registrations to grow as football conversation expands statewide.
While some northern clubs lost talent to southern teams this year, Gutwein believes the trend will stabilise.
“If ever there was going to be a year when we would see movement to the south, it was going to be this first year,” he said.
“I don’t think we’ll see the numbers that we’ve seen this year.”
The NTFA is exploring double-header opportunities with VFL games and infrastructure changes to York Park that would allow spectators to attend both local and VFL matches on the same day.
“As the conversation gets larger, when the conversation grows, we want the NTFA to have a loud voice,” Gutwein said.
