The Gold Coast is confident of claiming the AFL's 17th licence after making a final plea before the AFL Commission today.
The GC17 bid team submitted a 170-page application outlining its case for inclusion in the AFL by season 2011 today, which will be picked over by the league's bigwigs in the coming weeks before a final decision is made.
Bid team leader John Witheriff said the criteria set out by the AFL had not only been fulfilled but exceeded.
GC17 were given six months to prove their mettle, asked to "sign up" 20,000 would-be members, 110 business sponsors as well as a major naming rights sponsor.
"We got 43,000 (members) in the end," said Witheriff, who confirmed a total 124 business had committed to the club.
"That is what gives me the greatest level of comfort because I thought that was going to be our toughest challenge, but it turned out that, not only did we hit the 20,000, but we hit the 40,000 and we continue to grow."
A nationally recognised company has signed up for the club's naming rights.
Joined by coach Guy McKenna in the board room, Witheriff said the submission had been well received by the commission.
"We walked through the strategy, our case basically, and told them why they should invest tens of millions of dollars in our new team," he said.
"It was exceptionally well received, but they've got to do their homework now and work out whether our assumptions are valid or otherwise.
"But we're pretty confident about that."
The AFL Commission is expected to release its final verdict in the coming weeks.
"We'll be on the edge of our seats for the next couple of weeks," Witheriff said.
"I'm at the point where I need a holiday, but if we are able to secure (the licence), this is an incredible investment in this city at a time when we absolutely need it, so it's something that's worth making an effort."
He said, if successful, his priorities would be to secure a chief executive and the club's administrative team before finalising a player list for the TAC Cup's 2009 season.
