Former AFL chief executive Wayne Jackson has implored the league to look at relocating a Victorian team interstate - or even abroad, as part of a bold international expansion plan.

Jackson, the AFL boss between 1996 and 2003, believes the current set-up which involves 10 Victorian clubs is unsustainable and the league should look at uprooting one or two from footy's heartland to uncharted territory.

The 73-year-old, who's now a farmer in rural South Australia, said the Northern Territory and Tasmania were prosperous footy bases and ideal places to develop and expand the game.

"I'd like the AFL to continue to work with a team to move out of Melbourne into another state of Australia, like the Northern Territory, or Tasmania," Jackson told ESPN.

"Tassie has been starved of footy and has proven to have the appetite to hold an AFL team.

"I just think in 20 years' time, we can't keep running with the same structured competition we've got now.

"In that time we'll be asking ourselves whether there's a team on the west coast of the United States or in New Zealand, or coming out of Asia. Who knows? If we do that, we need to be talking about relocation or co-location (of a Victorian team)."

Former AFL CEO Wayne Jackson and Andrew Demetriou speak to the media in 2002. Mark Dadswell/Getty Images

The AFL will play its second game in China next season, between Port Adelaide and Gold Coast, as it looks to also stage a home and away match in New Delhi, India in the near future.

Jackson said the newly devised concept AFLX could further strengthen the AFL's international ambitions and could help unearth new talent.

"I love the idea of [AFLX], particularly when you go into areas in Sydney and the eastern coast where there a lot more smaller grounds," he said.

"I think it's a great idea in principle. It's something that can be adopted overseas if you wanted to."