It's taken just six weeks for the digital campaign for a Tasmanian AFL team to attract 50,000 virtual signatures.

Launched by the Tasmanian AFL taskforce, the 'United We Stand' campaign sought to illustrate the support for Tasmanian entry into the big league by asking supporters to pledge via an online petition.

They are impressive numbers, gathered in good time, and helped along by a social and traditional media marketing blitz that reached its apex during AFL preliminary and grand final weeks.

The petition will no doubt form part of the business case that will be presented to the Tasmanian Government in December, and pointed to as a sure-fire sign of public support for a Tasmanian team.

But what do 50,000 virtual signatures really mean?

Tasmanian AFL taskforce member and former Woolworths CEO Grant O'Brien stands by the validity of the online petition.

"We keep an eye on the entries coming into the database, and we're pleased to say the integrity of the data is strong," he said.

There'd be celebrations in Tasmania if the Hawks were replaced with a truly state team in the AFL. ( AAP: Julian Smith )

Of course, the numbers are probably inflated.

Signing up was free of charge and all that was required was a name and email address.

Even existing AFL clubs offer special 'digital', three-game and budget pet memberships to boost their membership tallies.

An ABC colleague of mine took great delight in signing up their family dog as a supporter of a Tassie team.

It is probably impossible to separate the signatures that are perfectly legitimate from those that have utilised fake email addresses or names of pets.

What can be garnered though, is where the signatures have come from.

"We've had a very strong showing from Tasmania, and the mainland, and not just from Victoria," O'Brien said.

"We've had very strong support from South Australia, Western Australia and New South Wales, virtually in equal quantities."

If the taskforce is to be taken at face value, the numbers have not been bolstered by Russian bots.

Do signatures equal memberships?

The golden question though, is just how many of these virtual signatures will translate into fully fledged memberships should Tasmania be granted an AFL license.

Deloitte economist Paul Liggins is well acquainted with similar studies.

"[The AFL] will probably look at it with a little bit of scepticism. Studies of this sort, the translation between people saying they'll do these things and then actually doing them is a perennial issue for economists," he said.

"I would think if you could get anything between 20 and 50 per cent of the signatures converting into a membership, that would be a good outcome.

"It's certainly better than not having 50,000 signatures."

It could all be elementary though.

Even if the campaign gathered 10 million signatures, the AFL probably would not budge on granting Tasmania the fabled 19th license.

But you cannot accuse the taskforce of not trying.

The word on the street suggests the business case being built will almost certainly impress the powers that be, with the primary focus being on 'adding value' to the AFL.

Hopefully this latest attempt at national inclusion can be the state's last.