- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
This week’s Roar and Against debate is on the enormous popularity of the Adelaide Oval since its redevelopment and whether it should now be considered the country’s premier sporting venue.
Each week two writers will go head-to-head, and will only have 250 words to get their point across in the debate.
It will be up to you, in the comments section, to decide the winner. That winner will stay on and take on a new challenger and new topic. That challenger can be anyone, including any commenters who throw their hat in the ring.
To debate this week’s topic, Roar editor Josh Elliott is the challenger to take on Roar guru Riley Pettigrew, who won last week’s debate.
AGREE
Riley Pettigrew (Roar Guru)
She may not be located in the sporting capital of the world like her Melbourne cousin the MCG, but the crown jewel of the ‘City of Churches’ is notorious for hosting a good event and since her recent redevelopment, has become the best sporting venue in Australia.
You only have to look back to last year’s day-night Test match when Australia took on New Zealand to see why. The nation was captivated by the match with non-cricket fans even taking interest as Australia recorded a three-wicket win.
More than 120,000 fans turned out over three days making the pink-ball test one of the most memorable sporting events held on our shores in 2015.
50,119 turned out for this year’s A-League grand final leaving the Western Sydney Wanderers quaking in their boots earlier this month as Isaías helped Adelaide United climb to a 3-1 victory, their first ever premiership.
Since moving over from Football Park in 2014, the Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide Power have highlighted the ground’s brilliance with average crowds of around 45,000 turning up week in, week out and providing incredible atmosphere.
The Adelaide Strikers have done much the same breaking the record for highest attendance at a non-finals Big Bash League match with 49,115 fans showing up against the Hurricanes last year.
The ground provides the perfect mixture of old and new as Gerard Whateley nicely sums up, “[it’s] the most perfect piece of modern architecture because it’s a thoroughly contemporary stadium with all the character that it’s had in the past.”
Adelaide Oval is the premier sporting venue in Australia and there is no denying it.
DISAGREE
Josh Elliott (Roar Editor)
Don’t get me wrong, the Adelaide Oval is a fantastic sporting venue. It’s both visually stunning and produces a reliably good atmosphere. But it’s not Australia’s best sporting venue, and I need only one word to tell you why: capacity.
In a credit to the good people of Adelaide, one can usually rely on a solid crowd at Adelaide Oval, such is the city’s passion for sport. The 53,500-seat stadium is regularly filled up to at least 80 or 90 per cent of its capacity.
This means a good time is close to guaranteed at the venue regardless of what you came to see, whether it’s Test cricket, AFL, or anything between, and that reliability is to be commended.
However, a crowd that tops out not far past the 50,000 mark simply cannot compare to the experience of being packed in at the MCG, part of a six-digit swarm of humanity, enjoying the very best there that sport has to offer.
MCG crowds can be a bit less reliable without a doubt – I’ve sat through AFL games at the ground that would feel empty if you had them in your living room. But I’ve also been to capacity crowds in September, and simply put, it’s an atmosphere that can’t be beat.
Adelaide Oval is a fine stadium, and a very fitting No.2. But some times in life bigger really is better, and that’s why the MCG has to be the winner here.
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.