AFL world slams Tasmania Devils jumper reveal after membership announcement
The new club launched their jumper and fans were left divided.
AFL fans have been left divided over the new Tasmania Devils jumper design after it was revealed in a launch on Monday. The developing club announced it would be known as the Tasmania Devils and would wear a traditional green jumper with a yellow island state map as the logo.
Memberships took off with local fans jumping at the opportunity to support the team in a huge day for the code. While the club has started the fanfare, Tasmania's entry into the competition is still contingent on the development of a new 23,000-seat roofed waterfront stadium in Hobart.
This is estimated to cost around $715 million and was signed and backed by the Liberal state government. However, fans were quick to call out the Tasmania Devils jumper and claimed the team missed the opportunity to do something exciting ahead of their inclusion in the AFL.
The green jumper with the Tasmanian map is a foundation replica and will be used sparingly throughout the season. Though fans were surprised the Tasmanian Devil was not part of the jumper with many fans praising the design of the club logo. The jumper is a nod to history with the 'T' in the state outline used before.
This didn't sit well with many new fans who agreed the Tasmanian map on the logo was 'old fashioned'. While others found the throwback to some historic jumpers worn in the past was the right move.
There seems to be a lot of footy fans who aren’t aware of the long history of the map of Tassie on the state rep jumper.
It’s over 100 years old, & the much-loved iconic one that’s been modernised for the AFL club has been around since at least the 1940s.#Tasmania #Football pic.twitter.com/Sf7Puoc5xe— Shmick ‘24 🇦🇺 (@ShmickThird) March 18, 2024
Tassie jumper a little underwhelming, I like the dark green but would love to see an away/clash lit with fluoro green.
— the_real_ryan (@rkw82) March 18, 2024
Love the name and the logo. Think the jumper is too old fashioned. But it's more for the people of Tassie to decide than others. https://t.co/41PWT4dh7w
— Karen Lyon (@klioness) March 18, 2024
How many millions of dollars were spent on some gronk chucking the map of Tassie on a green jumper? I’ve seen about half a dozen better ones floating around on Twitter that people are making for free
— Mitchell Kermath (@mitchykerm) March 18, 2024
The Tassie Devils is naturally the perfect name for them, but the logo is junk and the colours and jumper are completely unimaginative and lacking in creativity.. Given they obvious name I would have liked to see them be a bit better on the rest
— Shane (@_Willo_) March 18, 2024
Massive congrats to the Tassie people on their new Devils team.
Still unsure whether the state jumper was the best choice, but it certainly represents it’s people well.
Had this design sent to me. Would’ve loved to have seen something like this.. A traditional-looking footy… pic.twitter.com/6AHtJC8Oxx— Sam Tugwell (@samtugwell_15) March 18, 2024
The map of Tasmania does not look appropriate on the guernsey .. just saying #TassieDevils #AFL
— 𝓙𝓾𝓼𝓽𝓔𝓭🐴 (@SaintEd61) March 18, 2024
Lots of hate for this jumper, but I love it, and was expecting it to be the one they used.
Lots of history, and it united north and south Tassie.
It is all it needs to be. https://t.co/YMd1PMc2At— Amos Rojter (@AmosRojter) March 18, 2024
Tasmania Devils flooded after smart membership move
Fans of the Tasmanian Devils were offered a $10 foundation membership. This offered fans an ID membership card, stickers and access to yet-to-be-released merchandise. The welcoming package prompted more than 40,000 memberships in just two hours after going live.
The membership numbers leave the other recently joined franchises behind. Expansion clubs Greater Western Sydney and the Gold Coast had 33,036 and 23,359 members respectively at the end of 2023.
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There were also free tickets to the club's launch - held across multiple venues in the state - with a strong showing. "Your club has been blown away by the community support shown," Tasmania Football Club chair Grant O'Brien said.
"It has been a truly special moment in our state's football history with thousands of Tasmanians joining in the cheers and tears." The liberal government is up for re-election this Saturday. The stadium has been a divisive point. Labor opposition leader Rebecca White labelled the stadium the wrong priority for the state. She called for the state to renegotiate the deal, but AFL CEO Andrew Dillon has not budged.