This report said the Devils’ stadium shouldn’t be built. Here’s what it missed

The Tasmanian Planning Commission’s report into the Macquarie Point stadium could restart a showdown between factions that would rip Tasmania apart.

With a focus mainly on cost and location, the report, released on Wednesday, advised against building the stadium, in no uncertain terms.

The AFL has made a roofed stadium a condition of entry to the league for the Tasmania Devils, long a point of contention between pro- and anti-stadium factions. Now, this report threatens to reignite the debate; like pulp mill or salmon protests in the past, the rift could cause real harm to social cohesion in the state.

But this is bigger than just construction of a venue.

Rather than taking a binary approach to the stadium that would only lead to a stalemate (and, despite the goodwill towards Tasmania, test the other 18 AFL clubs’ patience), Tasmanians should use this opportunity to see how they can maximise the benefits of the stadium precinct, as well as the economic benefits of the club itself.

It’s not just dollars and cents, bricks and mortar. The economic and social benefits of having the Devils enter the AFL in 2028 cover a range of areas: job creation, tourism and a boost to brand Tasmania on the national and international stage, not to mention the opportunity for sports innovation and technology.

Devils CEO Brendon Gale described it to me as “a powerful, enduring stimulus”.

“I honestly couldn’t think of a more potent sort of mix of government-type policies that could deliver the sort of economic, financial, social, cultural, [and] psychological uplift than a football club participating in the AFL, the whole economy that sits around that, and also the uplift that gives to the state and to our youth,” he said in an interview for Footynomics: The Business of Sport.

Experts in the US have found that American cities have built social and cultural infrastructure in the precincts around stadiums to generate economic activity beyond just the game itself. Gale thinks Tasmania can be ahead of the curve here; a leader, not a laggard in terms of developing a sports ecosystem that is happening globally.

This is about boosting Tasmania’s human capital. It’s already happening, in part, with new TAFE courses in sports technology and management, with new degree programs at the University of Tasmania, and with the Devils providing a stimulus for young Tasmanians wanting a career in sport and sports management without having to go to the mainland. The Devils, themselves, will employ 120 people, from data analysts to graphic designers.

It’s also about “social capital” – how community connections bring stability and strength.

The Devils’ chair, Grant O’Brien, knows this. He told me in an interview in July just how important sport is to the fabric of a community. O’Brien grew up in Penguin, where “1800-odd people in the town ... all emptied into the [footy] ground on a Saturday morning”.

“The guy who was on the gate was a newsagent, the bloke who was plugging in the PA system was the mayor,” he told me.

“And the guys who had white overalls on and a towel around their neck posing as physiotherapists were actually ... chippies and plumbers and electricians. You know, it was all-in.”

Those memories were the reason he came back to help the Devils succeed in the national competition. That’s an example of an investment in social capital that goes hand-in-hand with investing in physical capital – infrastructure such as stadiums, precincts, high-performance centres and upgrades to local ovals and sport facilities.

The Tasmania Devils are as much about human capital and social capital as they are about physical capital. How to maximise the benefits of the new precinct is the big opportunity now.

The stadium should be built, for the benefit of all Tasmanians.

Professor Tim Harcourt is chief economist for the Centre for Sport, Business and Society at University of Technology Sydney and host of Footynomics: The Business of Sport TV series on Ticker News.