THE future of AFL football in the south has been secured for the next two seasons.

The Hobart City Council last night voted to provide $300,000 a year for the next two years for three North Melbourne games per year at Blundstone Arena.

The motion passed 10-2, with independent alderman Eva Ruz­icka and the Greens’ Helen Burnet the only opposing voters.

The vote follows weeks of uncertainty after TT-Line committed to fill the void left by RACT which decided not to continue its $250,000-a-game sponsorship of the club.

Aldermen at council’s July 14 meeting voted down a move to debate whether it should continue its original $250,000 contribution to the North Melbourne games.

Hobart aldermen have since been under intense lobbying by the club, fans and businesses to recommit to its AFL sponsorship.

The original three-year sponsorship deal ended on Saturday when North Melbourne played its final Hobart game for the year against the Adelaide Crows.

type_quote_start I believe into the next two years there will be significant and long-lasting benefits not only for greater Hobart and southern Tasmania but for AFL in general type_quote_end

A report provided to a spec­ial council committee meeting earlier yesterday afternoon revealed the city sees a return of $20 for every dollar spent on AFL funding.

Lord Mayor Damon Thomas said the economic benefits extended not just to job creation from the games but also maintaining jobs.

“I believe into the next two years there will be significant and long-lasting benefits not only for greater Hobart and southern Tasmania but for AFL in general,” he said.

The two-year deal brings the North Melbourne sponsorship in to line with the State Government’s deal with Hawthorn.

Alderman Marti Zucco said the new deal was also a way of council putting everyone on notice that in two years’ time others will need to “come to the party”.

“The Hawthorn deal costs $900,000 a game — the NM deal costs $600,000 a game,” he said.

“That is why it is imperative that this council continue its support for the next two years so that when it comes in line with the Hawthorn deal the State Government will be the one that will have to sit down and be the leader in endeavouring to bring as many AFL games into this state.”

Voting against the sponsorship deal, Alderman Helen Burnet labelled the agreement as corporate welfare.

“The community sporting associations are losing out,” she said.

“It’s not just netball, it’s also hockey and soccer. I cannot support more Hobart City Council money going to support a multi-million dollar org­anisation.”

The next AFL games will be played at a fully redeveloped Blundstone Arena with an increased capacity of about 20,000.

Destination Southern Tasmania commended the council commitment to sponsoring AFL games and said research into the impact of past AFL games revealed positive tourism benefits including increased occupancy rates for the majority of Hobart hoteliers.

“The tourism benefits from the three North Melbourne AFL games per year don’t just extend to greater Hobart,” chief executive Melinda Anderson said.

“Port Arthur Historic Site reported over 20 per cent increase in weekend visitation to the attraction in conjunction with the past two AFL games.”