A new stadium and Tasmania's AFL dream are inextricably tied to politics, with the state's election delivering more unkind bounces.
Construction of a 23,000-seat roofed venue at Macquarie Point in Hobart is a condition of the Devils' licence to enter the league in 2028.
The project is backed by the incumbent Liberals and Labor opposition which both fell short of the 18 seats needed for majority government at Saturday's snap poll.
Liberal leader Jeremy Rockliff and Labor leader Dean Winter have started courting four crossbench independents, three of whom campaigned on an anti-stadium platform.
Labor is expected to finish with 10 seats behind the Liberals' 14, meaning in order to govern it would need support of the five-seat Greens who are vehemently anti-stadium.
Mr Rockliff and Mr Winter have both declared the stadium is not up for negotiation.
"My very firm commitment was for our very own Tassie AFL and AFLW team. I'm very proud of securing the deal," Mr Rockliff said.
Talks with the cross bench will likely span weeks, with the three undecided seats potentially not determined until August 2.
Two pathways exist for approving the stadium, both of which require a vote of both houses of parliament.
The initial method was an assessment under Tasmania's project of state significance process.
But tight timelines and financial penalties if the stadium isn't finished for the 2029 season prompted Mr Rockliff to change course and put forward fast-track approval legislation.
Debate on that legislation was delayed by the snap election, which was sparked by a Labor-led no-confidence motion against Mr Rockliff.
Despite Greens and cross bench stadium opposition, the legislation, with Liberal and Labor numbers, will pass the lower house.
"What the vote said is that two-thirds of Tasmanians voted for pro-Tassie Devils and pro-stadium candidates. That is resounding," Mr Rockliff said.
The stadium, however, faces a trickier path through the 15-member upper house where neither the Liberals nor Labor have the numbers.
AFL CEO Andrew Dillon maintained he was confident of the club's 2028 start date.
"I'm not a builder but what we need to do is work with the government of the day to get the planning permission ... and basically just get on with it," he told reporters on Monday.
The Devils stand ready to work with the incoming Tasmanian government.
"We are focused on entering the AFL and AFLW by 2028, in order to do that we have several time frames that must be met," the club said in a statement.
"We are very eager to work with the government to realise these."
