On Easter Monday, we get our first look at the new Western Sydney Stadium – sorry, ‘Bankwest’ Stadium – when Parramatta and the Wests Tigers play out a Round 6 game.
The stadium is a fantastic-looking piece of architecture which is going to make football, rugby union and most importantly rugby league games a sensational viewing experience.
It’s one of those ‘boutique’ venues you’ve heard about that puts 30,000 people in a seating design that gets fans close to the action, not dissimilar to the setup at Melbourne’s fantastic AAMI Park.
I haven’t seen Bankwest Stadium yet, not many have, but those who were able to get along and go through the facility at the open day last Sunday had nothing but superlatives to say about it.
Assuming it isn’t afflicted by those very Sydney things – like running out of beer and bottled water before halftime, randomly closing off half the bathrooms or two-hour queues at the gates meaning no one gets in until after kickoff – it will be the premier place to watch games until the new Football Stadium is built.
This new stadium is the first of a rollout of new venues, with one and a half more coming – a new, 45,000-capacity Sydney Football Stadium at Moore Park and redevelopment works happening at the Olympic Stadium in Homebush to fix the outdated ‘bowl’ seating plan and bring spectators closer to what’s going on out on the field.
From next season, the North Queensland Cowboys will run out onto a new, 25,000-seat venue if work goes to schedule.
A new stadium for Canberra is a constant talking point in the community, which is desperately needed to house the Raiders, Brumbies and a potential A-League side. But the Territory government is too enamoured with throwing millions of dollars at the Greater Western Sydney AFL team, so they’ll keep paying the capital a token amount of attention.
(Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)
So what does this mean for the suburban ground?
It doesn’t look good, I’ll tell you that. And to be honest, it’s probably for the best.
People don’t buy a club membership to sit out in the open at a public park and get rained on, or stand on grassed areas freezing their arses off in the winter months.
They want a decent seat, ideally undercover, with a decent view and easy access to facilities, beer and food.
Major sponsors and corporate partners don’t want to spend premium dollars to sit in an open-air box among the punters or in a musty old dining room. They don’t want ‘gritty’. They don’t want suburban.
And neither should the NRL. If you’re serious about growing the game, you need your elite competition playing its games in the best available venues.
NRL CEO Todd Greenberg nailed it in May of last year after St George Illawarra beat Melbourne at Kogarah Oval (currently Netstrata Jubilee Stadium). Asked on radio about the NRL’s vision for games at suburban venues, he said:
“For me, it’s about trying to find a balance, and this is not easy to do, to play the big games in the big stadiums with the big crowds, and then fill those suburban venues on occasion during the year.
“The reality is this: I love suburban grounds like everybody else… but the real true test is are new people, new fans, casual fans who want to turn up to a game with their kids and their wives going to stand on the hill at Kogarah? The answer is no.”
Before muscle memory kicks in and you all start to tee off on Greenberg, remember it was his predecessor, David Smith, who launched the NRL’s stadium strategy in 2015. This strategy will eventually see Sydney clubs sharing the three major venues, while their suburban home bases become ‘high performance centres’ (we used to call these ‘training grounds’) with maybe a regular season game here and there.
Brookvale Oval
There are strong arguments that more games should be played at suburban venues like Kogarah, Brookvale Oval, Leichardt Oval, Campbelltown Stadium or Cronulla’s recently rebranded ‘Pointsbet Stadium’. But these grounds aren’t up to scratch with what fans are looking for or, frankly, what they should get for the cash they’re spending.
The operating costs alone at suburban grounds also make it a far less enticing proposition than the guaranteed revenue and opportunities to generate more income that come with playing at the bigger venues.
Put simply, a crowd of 10,000 at ANZ stadium is usually worth more money to St George Illawarra than a crowd of 15,000 at Kogarah.
In any event, is all this demand for suburban games coming from the right place? Is it because watching a game at Brookvale Oval is a genuinely enjoyable day out, or is the game’s tendency to cling on desperately to the past?
Venues like the new Western Sydney Stadium are going to bring people to NRL games who haven’t been to one for a long time or haven’t come before.
For every person who wants their team to play out of their ‘spiritual home’, there are many more who would be willing to give a game a chance at a better, purpose-built venue.
If you can get to a game at a suburban venue, do it in the next couple of years because they’re not going to be hosting games for much longer.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
I agree Canberra would be looking for a BBL team, but there is zero chance of an AFL team in Canberra, zero chance.
rudy
Guest
Bankwest should have been 40000, Allianz 25,000
rudy
Guest
A few more, but not double or anything like that.
rudy
Guest
Not with my tax dollars. Sydney doesn't need this many suburban grounds.
Tiger
Guest
Anybody who thinks people want modern stadiums just doesn't get it. If you want atmosphere Leichhardt Oval is the place to be. There is no better place to be than at Leichhardt on a Sunday afternoon. As for sitting in the rain, unless you are well back in any stadium you will get wet because the the roof s by definition too high to prevent the rain coming in.
JJ
Guest
Except no one went when it was the northern eagles , central coast is a grave yard just like the Gold Coast. And I don't go for the it's not a local team , the aleague team never packed out that small ground even with all the juniors up there and fact no other professional sport in region
Sammy
Guest
There are 4 tiers of Rectangular Football Stadiums: Tier 1 : Internationals, State of Origin, Grand Finals, Semi-Finals... and Brisbane Broncos. Capacity to be 50,000+, eg ANZ (Sydney) and Suncorp (Brisbane) Tier 2: Shared by multiple NRL, Super Rugby and A-League Clubs. Capacity to be 30,000-42,000, eg Bankwest (Parramatta), New Allianz (Sydney), AAMI (Melbourne), New Civic (Canberra). Tier 3: High Class Suburban and Regional - single NRL Club, Capacity to be 21,000 to 29,000, eg Panthers (Penrith), Shark Park (Cronulla) and Brookvale (Manly) in Sydney Metro, plus Newcastle, Wollongong, Gold Coast, Townsville and Gosford. Tier 4: Heritage NRL, NSW / Qld Cup, Regional Cities, Capacity to be 10,000 to 20,000, eg Henson Park, North Sydney Oval, Leichhardt, Belmore, Kogarah, Campbelltown, Bathurst, Tamworth. The challenge for the Tier 3 - High Class Suburban and Regional Stadiums in Manly, Penrith and Cronulla is to develop entertainment precincts around their stadiums, which requires negotiating with the Local Councils.
Maximus Insight
Guest
The Storm have averaged about 14.5K at AAMI since moving there. They averaged a touch under 12K in their last three years at the olympic stadium So an uptick of 20% is probably the high water mark of attendance uplift if you build a state of the art stadium in the same place of an old stadium given it would be hard to conceive of a bigger variance in stadium quality
Sammy
Guest
I think there are 4 tiers of Rectangular Football Stadiums: Tier 1 : Internationals, State of Origin, Grand Finals, Semi-Finals... and Brisbane Broncos. Capacity to be 50,000+, eg ANZ (Sydney) and Suncorp (Brisbane) Tier 2: Shared by multiple NRL, Super Rugby and A-League Clubs. Capacity to be 30,000-42,000, eg Bankwest (Parramatta), New Allianz (Sydney), AAMI (Melbourne), New Civic (Canberra). Tier 3: High Class Suburban and Regional - single NRL Club, Capacity to be 21,000 to 29,000, eg Panthers (Penrith), Shark Park (Cronulla) and Brookvale (Manly) in Sydney Metro, plus Newcastle, Wollongong, Gold Coast, Townsville and Gosford. Tier 4: Heritage NRL, NSW / Qld Cup, Regional Cities, Capacity to be 10,000 to 20,000, eg Henson Park, North Sydney Oval, Leichhardt, Belmore, Kogarah, Campbelltown, Bathurst, Tamworth. The challenge for the Tier 3 - High Class Suburban and Regional Stadiums in Manly, Penrith and Cronulla is to develop entertainment precincts around their stadiums, which requires negotiating with the Local Councils.
Nick
Roar Guru
Lol. The old Parramatta stadium consistently brought in the big crowds....for Parramatta. And no arguments that that won't continue. The old Parramatta stadium brought in great crowds for WSW too. But, it won't be bringing in the great crowds for Bulldogs and Wests games. And that is the problem.
AJ Mithen
Expert
Fair call Markus
AJ Mithen
Expert
Apologies for the spacing- no idea what’s happened there!
AJ Mithen
Expert
Hi Spruce- City’s crowds are diabolical but they’re a manufactured team that have no roots in Melbourne. The Rebels average a tick over 10k I think The Storm average around 18-20k I think Melbourne Victory are around the 20k mark too. Sure they don’t fill AAMI Park, but on the other hand not one of those teams or their fans are calling for a return to the good old Olympic Park days. Sydney’s PT is a known problem, yet the old Parra stadium used to bring in consistently big crowds. What’s changed?
Markus
Roar Rookie
Nor have Canberra fans to be honest. For all the complaints about the current Canberra stadium, it is quite easily accessible (can access from multiple directions, plenty of parking, the government runs free buses from/to all 5 major Canberra hubs), there aren't really any bad seats for visibility and the facilities are reasonable, far better than the SFS at least. I certainly have never missed 1/3 of a game waiting for a beer in Canberra stadium, even with a packed house. It does remain exposed to the elements in winter, but crowds for the Raiders and Brumbies are still poor even on days with perfect conditions.
Marco
Guest
It's a good chance the ACT are lobbying behind the scenes for their own AFL team , just like Tasmania is doing. Cricket will be pushing hard for a Manuka oval upgrade using the dual purpose for Cricket and AFL use. League and Rugby also want stadium upgrades . Don't know if there's enough money to go around.
AJ Mithen
Expert
Fair enough. If memory serves, I think they’re about to build new stadiums in Ipswich for league and Aussie rules. Maybe that can work.
Paul
Roar Guru
hi AJ, just on the Broncos, I'm not suggesting they need to do what other Sydney teams do, but a game at Ipswich or Toowoomba, assuming they have grounds that can hold 20,000 would not hurt them. I think they have a responsibility to spread both the NRL & Broncos brand away from Brisbane and in my view, they're falling down in this area.
BA Sports
Roar Guru
Never been to Wrigley Field but the Rickkets have done 100's of millions in renovations to it since about 2014. Good old private investment!
Ad-O
Guest
I find all this talk of govt spending money on playgrounds for millionaires to be offensive. Contrary to popular belief, the NRL doesnt actually "need" fancy new stadiums as neither ANZ nor Allianz are ever full apart from Origin and the GF. The NRL, if anything, should be going back to suburban grounds not moving away from them. That's what the fans want if anyone ever bothers to listen to them. And dont give me this BS argument about weather and parking and transport. I've seen games played in blizzards in the US and Europe and they got no problem selling out their stadiums. In fact they got a 20 year waiting list for fans to stand in a polar vortex up at the Green Bay Packers. The problem with the NRL isnt the stadiums, it's something between the product and the fans.
Tom H
Guest
I’ve been saying it for years... if you make it increasingly hard for people to attend they won’t ... there’s way too many other competitive opportunities for people these days . The supposed allure of a new stadium only works until the novelty wears off and the inconvenience overwhelms.. it’s basic event marketing. The NRL sadly has the marketing acumen of a flea