Are all signs pointing to a Tasmanian AFL team?

If you read the tea leaves, there are plenty of signs the question of a Tasmanian AFL team is a case of not "if" — but "when".

On Monday, AFL chief executive Gil McLachlan told Fox Sports AFL 360 "the building blocks are in place" for a Tasmanian team.

While Western Bulldogs president Peter Gordon said it was a matter that "ought to be legitimately canvassed by a future AFL Commission".

Since the early 2000s, the path to a standalone Tasmanian team has been blocked by State Government deals with Hawthorn and North Melbourne, that sees the two clubs play eight games in the state for a combined total of about $7 million a season.

But the recent formation of the Football Tasmania board, the brainchild of Tasmanian Treasurer Peter Gutwein, has suggested those deals may be coming to an end.

One of the State Government-backed board's major tasks is to launch a fresh bid for a Tasmanian team.

How can the State Government back a bid for a standalone team while continuing to fund both the Hawks and Roos?

Both deals will expire in 2021, and as of today, there's no word on whether or not they'll be extended.

If an AFL team is the number-one priority of the State Government, the year 2021 would be the perfect time to cut the cord.

Doing so would coincide with the return of the Tasmanian Devils to the VFL that same year, underpinned by the full-time Devils under-18s male and female teams playing in their respective national competitions.

These are the "building blocks" McLachlan is referring to.

It would create a two-year runway that could see Tasmania launch into the AFL in 2023 — the year the current AFL broadcast rights deal expires.

Fresh negotiations with broadcasters will surely result in more cash and another opportunity to further expand the competition.

The inclusion of an extra team into the league should not faze broadcasters.

It would not change the amount of broadcast games each week, and while Tasmania's entry would create a weekly bye, it would clean up the current mid-season block of three bye rounds.

The year 2023 also signals the expiration date of the current Tasmanian state league license agreements, providing the opportunity to re-shape the premier local competition around a VFL and AFL setup.

Funding would surely flow.

In the day of multinational companies sponsoring AFL teams, the famous "map" jumper would become a highly vaunted piece of Australian sporting real estate.

Add to those sponsorship dollars $14 million from the AFL (the average amount current AFL clubs receive per season) and a further $7 million from the State Government (redirected from Hawthorn and North Melbourne), the club would be well on its way to a target of $40 million per season.

Bargain stadium deals with Bellerive and York Park would only help the case, while Labor has made a campaign promise to provide $25 million to establish the team if elected.

The ability of the state to attract talent is an oft-raised query, but it has never been an issue for the "sleepy hollow" of Geelong.

Would another team see the national talent pool become too shallow?

If the AFL's forays into Gold Coast and Western Sydney succeed, then there should be thousands more playing our game in the coming years.

To produce another 44 players of AFL quality shouldn't be too difficult a task.

Maybe the National Party was onto something when it launched its "T23" website last week, encouraging Tasmanians to get on board a bid for a team.

It is that year, 2023, that is shaping as the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Will the AFL grant the long held wishes of Tasmanian footy fans? Only time will tell.