There are few things that piss me off more than people who complain about stadium upgrades while citing the lack of funding we have for schools and hospitals.
“I don’t even go to sportsball games,” they smugly declare, showing how clever and funny they are by pretending they don’t know the names of a major sporting code, “why should my tax dollars fund upgrades?”
Real quick, because that’s how tax works.
I haven’t been treated in a public hospital since… maybe ever? And my schooling finished up nearly 20 years ago and my kid isn’t of school age yet. But I’m not asking for a rebate for not getting sick or injured, nor for not using the education system in two decades.
So, people who want to use the argument ‘my tax dollars shouldn’t be wasted on sport infrastructure’ can shut up. It’s ignorant, it’s not constructive, and – while people are obviously allowed to have preferences – anyone who proudly declares their disdain for sport isn’t showing sophistication, they’re showing that they’re a dickhead.
Now, Dominic Perrottet didn’t quite wimp out to that amount last week, but using the floods as an excuse for back flipping on upgrading Sydney’s stadiums (stadia? See above re: not showing sophistication) was pretty close.
Specifically, the Premier of NSW said that upgrading Sydney’s suburban stadiums would be “staged”:
“The government has just received the Floods Inquiry Report, which will likely require a significant cost to the taxpayer and I note right now there are still 1366 people without a home in NSW due to flooding.”
The report he’s talking about, according to its terms of reference, is regarding “the response to major flooding across NSW in 2022”.
Now, a lot has been going on in the last few years, but do you know what happened in NSW in 2021? Floods. Real bloody bad ones.
And in the year before that? Well, the summer of 2019-20 saw the nation burn in some of the most horrific fires in recorded history, with thousands of homes destroyed.
I’m not seeking to diminish in any way the plight of people who were displaced by any of these disasters, but I couldn’t help notice that the NSW Government were seemingly happy to press ahead with their stadium plans after the awful events of ’20 and ‘21.
In fact, according to Peter V’landys, the Premier had twice promised the suburban grounds would be upgraded in the months following this year’s floods.
Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter Vlandys. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
“(When) they use the human tragedy of the floods to spin their way out of why they’re reneging on it, it takes it to another level,” the ARLC chair said last week.
All that said, I do wonder about the wisdom of continued focus on Sydney’s suburban stadiums, which are facilities that service small populations of semi-devoted fans on increasingly rare occasions.
Let’s look at the nine Sydney NRL clubs and their ‘home’ grounds:
Canterbury Bulldogs: Accor Stadium, CommBank Stadium, Belmore Sports Ground
Cronulla Sharks: PointsBet Stadium
Manly Sea Eagles: 4 Pines Park
Parramatta Eels: CommBank Stadium
Penrith Panthers: BlueBet Stadium
South Sydney Rabbitohs: Accor Stadium
St George Illawarra Dragons: Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, WIN Stadium
Sydney Roosters: SCG (SFS in 2023)
Wests Tigers: Leichhardt Oval, Campbelltown Stadium, CommBank Stadium
That’s 11 stadiums for nine teams. Even if we take away Belmore, with its one game a year, we’ve still got more venues than clubs.
Now, of the 11 above, the SFS and CommBank are brand new, and this year Accor had the Great Southern Screen – which is 120m long by 10m high – installed as part of $10 million in digital upgrades.
No, it’s not the $800 million renovation that was previously promised for Sydney’s largest stadium, but it’s not like the Olympic Park venue has just been left to rot. I mean, at Newcastle we’ve got two screens and only one of them works.
(Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, there is a plan for Penrith get an entirely new, $300 million facility.
Sure seems like a lot of money that, doesn’t it? I mean, when Newcastle got a stadium refurb, it cost a total of $80 million or so. It’s hardly chump change, but it represents about a quarter of the cost of Penrith’s proposed upgrade.
And what an upgrade it is, with the Penrith paceway to be bulldozed and turned into a new home for the Panthers, so the reigning premiers can continue to play at their current home ground, then move next door when the brand-new ground is finished.
As for why it’s going to cost $300 million, well in part it’s because the paceway doesn’t just need to be demolished, it also needs to be bought, with the government having announced plans to compulsorily acquire the site.
And no, the current owners are not keen to pack up and leave.
Just to spell it out, we’re living in a rugby league version of The Castle – and guess what Panthers fans, your club’s not the Kerrigans, it’s the Barlow Group.
Then, on top of all that, the NRL wants funding for upgrades at PointsBet, 4 Pines, Leichhardt and apparently McDonald Jones.
Now, while schools, hospitals and disaster relief are separate from stadium funding, stadiums are not.
So $300 million in funding for Penrith – home to the Panthers and zero other national sporting teams – seems like an odd way to spend the limited pot of money, considering you could logically turn the current ground into a modern-day replica of the 33,000-seat Hunter Stadium and have some $200 million left over (and all without being told to “suffer in ya jocks” when the people at the paceway get their heart-warming legal victory).
That $200 million would go a long way to upgrading the facilities at Cronulla, Manly and Leichhardt.
I wouldn’t argue with a lick of paint in the Hunter, but the plan is actually for a total redevelopment of the precinct, which has been on the cards since 2017 and therefore isn’t part of any deal with the NSW Government to keep the grand final in Sydney (which, why would Novocastrians care – our team’s not playing, our city’s not benefiting – take it to Brisbane, makes no difference to us).
Logically, Sydney could have four decent ground upgrades with the current money on offer for Penrith. At which point, I would suggest the NRL shut up for a bit.
Two brand new stadiums and four with upgrades that make them fit for their highly limited purposes in suburbia is more than fair for a city with nine teams.
I reckon there’s definitely still an argument for a big upgrade of Stadium Australia but that’s a fight the NRL should bring Rugby Australia and Football Australia in on as well, creating a shock and awe campaign that ensures Sydney’s biggest, most geographically central stadium becomes a palace dedicated to sports played on a rectangular pitch – one that makes even the famous Lang Park doff its proverbial cap.
But just as you’ve got to be a dickhead to say sport doesn’t deserve funding, you show yourself to be a selfish prat if you think you deserve hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrade every venue you’re vaguely associated with, in a competition that rarely has more than four games being played in an entire city on any given weekend for half a calendar year.
Chris
Guest
You’re absolutely correct. How did Manly feel about being the Northern Eagles? That worked well. Playing here , there & everywhere doesn’t do much for the Tigers either. No Penrith supporter wants to go to Parramatta to watch home games . That’s Parramatta’s home ground. It’s nothing to do with Penrith , or West’s for that matter. I’m sure South’s supporters don’t really want to go regularly to what will really be the Roosters home ground either. They just won’t have a lot of choice.
Westie
Guest
Despite Melbourne getting most of its players from Queensland , Sydney, Newcastle & the central west. Rugby League participation in Victoria is very much on the up , at a junior level. Thanks to the Storm. Great success by them was bound to bring that. Sydney already had its own Aussie Rules competition, before the Swans. So that made it a bit easier for them . Especially with some success. The AFL still needs the Swans to do consistently well. As Sydney is very fickle with its sports following, without any success. The AFL needs the presence of a successful team in one of the two biggest cities in Australia, Sydney. As it’s all but, an Australian only game. The West Sydney Giants have a ground near Doonside built by the AFL. They don’t even play there. They’ve moved east & become almost irrelevant.
Ad-O
Guest
If Sydney had a music scene then you may become distracted from feeding your pay cheque into the nearest pokie machine. The Govt can't have that now can it? They got their financial backers at the gaming industry to please.
Ad-O
Guest
That's part of the problem, no? NRL doesn't have to provide a satisfactory product to match going fans because they get their stadiums given to them by the Govt. If they had their own money invested they would be doing more to appeal to their customers. Hasn't the failure of communism taught us anything?
Ad-O
Guest
That's a blatantly ridiculous position. We pay tax to fund hospitals and schools which educate and treat people that cannot afford it otherwise. We don't pay tax to fund pro sports leagues with billion dollar TV deals that have plenty enough money to finance their own infrastructure. Especially when they then turn around and charge us for tickets and TV subscriptions after we went and fronted up for their white elephants which only 1% of the population go to. Only Australians are still stupid enough to put up with this socialism for the rich. Sporting organisations have always had to build their own stadiums in the UK, and American cities and states are waking up to the scam of publicly funded stadiums now too. Owning you're own stadium is also a great investment for the business. Unless, of course, the leasing arrangement between the Govt and the NRL is so favourable that the taxpayer is getting screwed. Which seems likely enough knowing the state of governance in our country.
Randy
Roar Rookie
yeah but I doubt all Collingwood's fans live in Collingwood nor Richmond fans in Richmond.
Rossi
Roar Rookie
I think if Penrith were struggling on the field rather than dominating people would have a different opinion. I'm all for a new stadium there, as I'm from the Central West it's the easiest stadium for us country people to get to.
Panthers
Guest
The Penrith Rugby League Club & Panthers are 2 different things. Panthers is a club . That has restaurants, night venues, shops, bars , water golf & other things. It has the new units & will get a community centre on its land. That’s quite separate to the Penrith Rugby League Club. Panthers is obviously a major sponsor of the Penrith Rugby League Club, but is limited in the amount, of how much it can sponsor the Rugby League Club. Panthers/ Penrith also stumped up for the $20 million, for its centre of excellence. Where as every other club has had the NRL pay for theirs . Penrith also pays a lease for the use of a stadium. Which doesn’t belong to the Rugby League Club , or Panthers. It’s government owned. From what I’ve read here. Neither Parramatta or the Roosters , pay any lease amount for the new stadiums that they use as their home grounds , or soon to be home ground of the Roosters. The Parramatta club also only paid part of the amount of cost to the government, for its new training ground & rugby league club building. So I guess Penrith paying a lease for the use of the stadium they use now , or any new stadium. Sure outdoes the other clubs mentioned to start with.
KenW
Roar Rookie
they tried this for a few seasons with a few teams and it failed miserably because there was less crowds, I question that it was found to have failed? I already pointed out that Souths did it successfully, the Dogs also. The Dragons and Tigers were doing it until they gained upgrades Jubilee, WIN & Campbelltown - although the Tigers still play some home games at Commbank & ANZ regardless. In terms of travelling, I agree Sydney is not Melbourne. But like Melbourne, support for football teams is diverse. Sure you're going to see more yellow and blue jerseys in Parramatta city, and red/white on the streets of Kogarah, but the fans coming to games are coming from everywhere. The current suburban grounds are generally worse for travel to than these big stadiums with bigger transport links. As noted above, fans never had trouble getting to the match of the day at the SCG in decades past.
Osman Asmar
Roar Rookie
Sydney is not like Melbourne where docklands and the MCG is walking distance from Hawthorn, Richmond, Carlton and Collingwood. You're not going to have Manly, Sharks and Dragons fans travelling to the SFS from the South Coast, Northern Beaches and the Shire, and you're not going to have Penrith fans travelling to Parramatta to watch their team play a home game. Gallop when he was NRL CEO proposed a 2 stadium solution where teams play out of the SFS and and Stadium Australia, they tried this for a few seasons with a few teams and it failed miserably because there was less crowds, and fans were not willing to travel to these 2 stadiums from their area.
zonecadet
Roar Rookie
Sellouts of less than 20,000 in almost every case though, not the sort of numbers a 100+ year old league could be drawing IF they were as relevant as they claim to be. I get the trouble it takes to get around Sydney, hell, I went from Liverpool to Cronulla one godforsaken Sunday back in the 70's to watch a game, never again. The AFL, roughly as old as the NRL (and it's previous incarnations) is in the top 10 leagues in the world for average attendance and the NRL is not. Same country, different passion and spread of teams. I'm not an AFL fan at all though, just drawing the comparison.
KenW
Roar Rookie
No, there was a mixing of stats there between Sydney and NSW. NSW currently has a population of 8.2m people.
KenW
Roar Rookie
But I'm advocating exactly the opposite of keeping Leichardt as an NRL venue? And I'm keen to have teams in Adelaide and Perth. However RL has the fortunate position of being the number 1 sport in the largest, wealthiest and most influential spot in this corner of the world. Expand where you can, but you don't trade away that position for a smaller share of smaller markets. The other pro sports would love us to close down some more teams here. We've seen what happens when teams are shut-down, there's a reason the Northern suburbs (North Shore through to the Hills) is where AFL is strongest in Sydney.
Maxtruck
Roar Rookie
So the Penrith Panthers Rugby Leagues Club can commit $64mill for 150 room hotel but can not stump up for a redo of the RUGBY LEAGUE ground ?
Don
Roar Rookie
Brookie never stacked up for a refurb outside of the facilities becoming so run dow they could potentially cause a public health and safety risk. Without having seen any proposal or budget, I think Leichardt could likely be a reasonable business case. Stadium Australia will get its upgrade. The RWC in Australia will see to that.
andyfnq
Roar Rookie
Sydney might be bigger, but all those areas I listed are new markets for NRL. That means you actually increase the number of viewers. Does anyone think that followers of the Dolphins will be new to Rugby League? You are just cannibalising an audience you already had. And as to where the players come from, pretty sure a big share of them come from Pacific Island countries more than the places you listed. And if you grow the game properly at grass level and you'll start go get a smaller yet significant number of local players. The Sydney swans do all right for NSW talent, and there are some great AFL players from QLD. If the NRL can't get players from beyond 2 states, it's an inditement on their ability to grow the game.
zonecadet
Roar Rookie
agree with you 100% on Leichhardt, how a professional league can pretend it is a pr-standard stadium is beyond me.
Rellum
Roar Guru
I have walked through all the teams suburbs and it didn't even take two hours and I was not going fast. It is not about the stretch of the fan base, the AFL teams can't have a tribal area, an area they own like in Sydney. They rely on family passing down the fandom. People talk about how Sydney people don't go to local grounds but they don't turn up to the big ones either. I would say I have seen more sellouts of suburban grounds than any big crowds at Homebush or the old SFS. If you have good grounds I am sure the fans will be more drawn to them than some generic stadium that is harder to get too
zonecadet
Roar Rookie
Assuming they all love Rugba League.
zonecadet
Roar Rookie
Looking at how hard it is for the Warriors to entice Australian players to move their I struggle to see how a Port Moresby team would do it. Not sure there are enough pro-ready talent in PNG.