AFL expansion twist: ‘Territory Lightning’ target 20th license as WA opens door for third club

Details of a potential Darwin-based 20th AFL club have emerged but, in a potential twist in the looming expansion race, WA heavyweights now seem willing to consider hosting a third club.

The Tasmania Devils are set to join the league in 2028, even if this weekend’s state election and delays to the Hobart stadium build have thrown some minor doubt over the club’s existence.

Assuming the Devils go ahead, the AFL will inevitably look to add a 20th club so it can balance out the fixture and play a lucrative 10th game each weekend.

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The emotional favourite to host the club is the Northern Territory, though Darwin’s small population, lack of corporate dollars and likely need for a new stadium will make that difficult to get over the line without government funding.

Ceremony and dancing for the opening of SDNR during the 2025 AFL Round 10 match between the Gold Coast Suns and the Hawthorn Hawks at TIO Stadium on May 15, 2025 in Darwin, Australia. (Photo by James Wiltshire/AFL Photos via Getty Images) Source: Getty Images

With Canberra seemingly out of the question because the league views the region as GWS territory, a third team in Western Australia or South Australia is the most financially sound option, as the new club would add games in a footy-hungry market and could play at their state capital’s existing high-quality venue.

WA has the strongest case of the pair, with Joondalup in Perth’s northern suburbs and Bunbury in the southwest (where North Melbourne ‘hosted’ West Coast earlier this season) the two leading contenders to host the side which would also play bigger games at Optus Stadium.

But last year the WA Football Commission, which is all-powerful and owns both West Coast and Fremantle’s licenses, surprisingly denied any interest in hosting a third club and breaking up the duopoly.

The Herald Sun reported the team would need to regularly fill 80 per cent of the 60,000-seat Optus Stadium and sign 60,000 members to give the WAFC any interest.

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However on Tuesday WAFC CEO Michael Roberts clearly softened his language around the wealthy state’s willingness to take the 20th licence, telling Code Sports: “it’s positive that a third WA team is being spoken about ahead of potential options interstate.

“We need to make sure the clubs here in WA aren’t like some of the clubs in Victoria who are putting their hands out or struggling for members.

“We need to understand what is viable, and I think there’s still a lot of work to do to see if a third club would be supported here in WA.

“Any future arrangement would also require a review in how community football would be funded given the two local AFL clubs assist in funding local community football.

“We look forward to future discussions with the AFL and state government.”

Harry Edwards and Liam Baker of the Eagles celebrate a goal with Tom Cole during the round 13 AFL match between North Melbourne Kangaroos and West Coast Eagles at Hands Oval, on June 08, 2025, in Bunbury, Australia. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images) Source: Getty Images

Speaking on Fox Footy’s Midweek Tackle, Herald Sun reporter Jon Ralph explained the comments were a major step towards a third WA club.

“I keep thinking about the WA Government and how desperate they are to get events there. They paid 8 million bucks for two Coldplay concerts last year. I know there were a lot of people who flew in from different states and overseas for that as well,” he explained.

“But the goodwill there (in those comments) is massive. We know the finances are there. And if you look at the AFL, if they do have a team, maybe in somewhere like Northern Territory, it’s a $30 million a year enterprise.

“Whereas if you put in a team in somewhere like WA who can wash their own face in their finances, maybe it gets down to a $10 million investment a year. That’s a $20 million saving. So they’ve always been a pretty hard no, for them to even be considering that overture now is a huge story.”

The Northern Territory, meanwhile, is incredibly keen to host a team with AFLNT chair and co-chair of the team taskforce Sean Bowden telling Code Sports they’re aiming to enter the league by 2032 and “if we can do it earlier, we will”.

A potential team would be called the Territory Lightning, wearing the state colours of black, white and ochre (deep orange).

They would play the first two to four games of each year in Alice Springs, when Darwin is having its rainy season, before playing the rest of the campaign at a new top-end stadium.

Renders of the proposed AFL Stadium in Darwin. Source: Supplied

“We stand 110 per cent behind the Tassie Devils footy club and with Tasmania having the 19th (team) opens the opportunity for the Territory to have the 20th,” Bowden said.

“I want to see this future where these two proud states play each other in the national competition.

“We’ve got to do the work and keep doing it and keep presenting, keep believing in the dream so to speak.”

Former AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou is part of the NT team taskforce and wants to see the league go truly national.

“Of all the things that worry me about a 20th licence, it wont be the financial support that the NT 20th licence gets,” Demetriou said.

“There is a long way to go but it’s certainly worth the investment and the time required to invest in a 20th licence.

“People probably will argue that maybe WA could service a third team, maybe the northern states with what is happening with the NRL: do you need a team in Cairns for example? Really an NT team with the right build and the right patience would be a very good stand-alone proposition I would have thought.”

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