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GWS coach Kevin Sheedy addresses players (L-R) Josh Bruce, Tom Kickett and Adam Flagg before a training session at Blacktown Olympic Park, Rooty Hill, NSW.
The home venue of Team GWS has been a bit of an unanswered question for some time now, but yesterday’s announcement of the move to a re-developed Sydney Showgrounds is a suitable solution from the AFL.
Yesterday the AFL, the NSW state government and Team GWS announced a $60m re-development of the Sydney Showgrounds which would become the new franchise’s home ground when they enter the competition in 2012. There’d been some expectancy about the announcement, but now it is official.
The NSW government will provide the majority of the funding for the project with $45m, while the AFL has committed $10m along with a further $5m from the Royal Agricultural Society.
As a result of the re-development the venue’s capacity will increase from 15,000 to around 30,000. So it’s a significant deal for the AFL, who had few other suitable options to house their Greater Western Sydney club.
Indeed, the AFL have been reluctant to use ANZ Stadium, next door to the Showgrounds, due to its 81,500 capacity which isn’t really ideal for their initial attendance targets in West Sydney of 15,000 to 17,000.
It’s fair to say if the AFL had agreed to see GWS play their home games at ANZ, it would’ve been a bad look and bad for publicity with the majority of the stadium empty. The atmosphere inside the stadium would’ve been awful too.
Also the Blacktown complex was never an option for regular season footy, with its limited seating not ideal for an AFL club trying to attract members.
The AFL may be investing around $200m into their Greater Western Sydney project, but they couldn’t afford to start from scratch with a stadium.
So there’s no doubt the AFL had found itself between a rock and a hard place for sometime finding an ideal home for Team GWS, especially considering former NSW premier Nathan Rees rejected the idea of committing $45m to a Showground upgrade nine months ago, when he said: “We’re not about to give that sort of money to the AFL for a stadium next to an existing stadium. I’d much rather spend the money on hospitals and schools.”
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the proposal also faced opposition from the NRL.
Of course, though, Rees no longer holds his post and the AFL have somehow since convinced the new NSW government to do what he wouldn’t.
And while I don’t profess to know the politics behind the AFL’s manouvering here, it appears they’ve been opportunistic.
Full credit to them for that, though, because the move into a smallish, boutique stadium with lower operating costs which is suited for their expected audience makes sense. There will be those saying Homebush isn’t West Sydney and perhaps that’s worth discussing.
Nevertheless, the AFL’s $10m contribution combined by the fact they say the venue will be used by other sports including cricket, rugby league, rugby union and soccer must have been part of the sell.
The AFL have also been fair in investing in arrangements involving the NSW government and Sydney venues in the past, so that would’ve helped seal the deal.
And it’s a good deal which represents a relatively small portion of the AFL’s $200m investment into Greater Western Sydney so it’s good business.
The AFL have found a good solution here and it’s a deal which makes sense. There’s no doubt it’s another hurdle averted by the AFL and another move forward for Aussie Rules into Greater Western Sydney.
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