Tasmania's time "has finally come", Premier Jeremy Rockliff says, after the AFL officially awarded the state the league's 19th team licence.
AFL boss Gillon McLachlan, Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles and other game dignitaries flew into Hobart on Wednesday for the announcement.
"Yesterday afternoon at the meeting of the AFL Commission, where all commissioners were present, the AFL Commission resolved to award a licence based on conditions to a Tasmanian club, a decision that will finally make our national competition truly national, McLachlan announced at North Hobart Oval.