The Tasmania Devils have fired back at Nine journalist Sam McClure after he suggested the absence of a new stadium in Hobart could drive up footy membership prices and streaming costs across the league.
McClure made the comments on Channel Nine’s Footy Classified on Monday night, questioning whether the club should be granted a full licence amid reports of a cost blowout at the planned Macquarie Point stadium.
“Until Andrew Dillon stands up in front of a camera and is shaking hands with Brendan Gale, saying I am granting the Tasmanian Devils a full licence, I’m going to continue to ask questions about this, and so will some of the 18 club presidents when they meet Andrew Dillon face-to-face tomorrow, [Tuesday]” McClure said.
He said the AFL had “rushed this thing from day one” and claimed several club bosses shared his concerns.
“They are going to push this thing through without the guarantee of a multi-billion dollar asset, which scares a lot of people, and everyone sitting at home going, it doesn’t affect me yet,” he said.
“It will affect you if this asset doesn’t get built, and your Kayo subscriptions are going to go up, your memberships are going up, going to the footy and buying a pint is going to go up.”
“That’s when people will start caring.”
The Devils didn’t hold back in their response, posting a dig at the reporter on social media on Tuesday morning.
The club shared an edited version of the Universal Studios film intro, with the word “Universal” swapped out for “no one cares”.
The post was titled “Sam McClure reports:”.
The Instagram caption read “they won’t pick him Mitch”, a pointed reference to McClure’s widely mocked prediction about Harley Reid ahead of the 2024 National Draft.
It is not the first time the Devils have had to fend off doubts from Nine’s football coverage.
In March, Eddie McGuire used the same Footy Classified platform to urge the AFL to consider delaying Tasmania’s entry over stadium concerns.
“There is a real worry that the Tasmanian stadium has been pushed out to 2032,” McGuire said.
“There’s a worry that tomorrow never comes.”
“If the world economy goes the way the world economy is going … there’s a worry about whether people will lose the appetite to build this stadium.”
Devils boss Brendan Gale rejected those calls, saying the club remained focused “more than ever” on entering the AFL and AFLW in 2028 “as planned”.
“The journey to get this far has been full of twists and turns, but one thing that has not changed is our focus and commitment to realising 2028,” Gale told Pulse at the time.
“Everything we do is planning us for 2028 entry.”
