How will a WC affect Sydney ?

[cos789]

All the talk about a soccer WC has centred around Melbourne .
Can someone answer me some questions .


Would the SCG be available for AFL ?
Any developments on Blacktown or Showgrounds ?
Will Aussie Rules get anything out of a WC ?
Will the changes to Homebush prevent AFL from being played .
What will the GWS be doing ?

.

[Auntie.Gerald]

it will be brilliant ! Sydney kids will soon realise they have double the chance to play footy for a sydney team !!

[BSA5]

it will be brilliant ! Sydney kids will soon realise they have double the chance to play footy for a sydney team !!

This is the World Cup, not West Sydney.

[mcs]

This is the World Cup, not West Sydney.

Won't have any affect at all I wouldn't think except for putting ANZ stadium out of action. If Sydney is to have 2 venues, it will surely be ANZ stadium and the SFS. SCG would be next, but I'm sure cities can only have 2 stadiums in them for the WC.

[Triple B]

Already been stated by World Cup committee, SCG is NOT a venue in the bid.

[laughingnome]

Would the SCG be available for AFL?

Yes. The SCG is not part of FFA's bid for the World Cup.

Any developments on Blacktown or Showgrounds ?

Possibly. The FFA raised the idea of a third stadium being built in Campbelltown for the WC with the West Tigers to use it after the two years are over. The other option is Blacktown.

Will Aussie Rules get anything out of a WC?

Depends on the premise of the question. In terms of stadiums and grounds, no. It is possible there will be an influx of country support if games are farmed out to Bendigo, the Riverina, etc. I wouldn't read much into clubs asking for $100 million each in compensation, that's a threat that probably won't happen. Probably.

Will the changes to Homebush prevent AFL from being played?

Again, the devil is in the detail. Homebush would certainly require a major refit that would see it out of action for one year, plus the Confederations Cup in 2017 or 2021 and then the World Cup the following year. After that it could be restructured like it was after the Olympics. This remains in the Administrators best interest, naturally, but remember the ground surface has only just come up to scratch in the last couple of years. There could be years of problems with ANZ.

What will the GWS be doing?

Probably playing games at the SCG, but maybe Blacktown if the FFA decide to build at Campbelltown instead.


There are a lot of questions unanswered or unanswerable at this time. The FFA seems to have the MO of "get the bid in, worry about it later", which is naturally worrying to the AFL, NRL, SCG Trust, MCG, Docklands as well as the many State and regional based leagues. For example, if the FFA want the WACA and the ground that replaces Subiaco, West Coast, Fremantle and the WAFL could have a crisis on their hands. If they want TIO Stadium or Traeger Park (or both) then football in the Nothern Territory will be forced to stop all together.

The Melbourne Cup stops the nation for three minutes. The AFL and NRL Grand Finals for an afternoon. The FFA wants everything to stop for at least 4 weeks, and almost certainly more then 8. It's like trying to stuff an dugong down the kitchen sink.

[Primmy]

It's like trying to stuff an dugong down the kitchen sink.

B rilliant metiphor, I am going to take it and run.

As the for soccer.....apparently to the mob who want the wc (an appropriate name..) played in Australia have no idea that there is more than one game played in AUSTRALIA (this is the crux of the matter) and that there is a vast majority who are
a) not particularly interested,
b) don't think it appropriate that one game should take over the running of every other games' year because some jumped up organisation think because its soccer its more important than any other game, and
c) do they really think they are going to get it?

In Australia, the game is just not that important. It tries to be, but lets be honest, its not.

I suppose I should not say that frankly it bores me to death, I have tried, really I have, but all that excitement about not very much, etc, just doesn't cut it with me.

However I concede that not everyone loves AFL. Nor League, Nor Union. I also concede that there are some that like soccer - not many mind you, when you look at the stadiums during their games, but some. But can you honestly see any other mob trying to take over the major venues of these codes just because they want them for the day? Week? Months? to the detriment of all the established local codes!!! All of us would be told to get stuffed. So.....

[royboy42]

I'm not anti any sport. Soccer just doesn't quite cut it with me though. Put it this way...if the world cup final was at the SFS and the Swans were playing Freo at the SCG I'd be in the Brewongle. Of course I may not get out of the carpark till the next day. I better add that if Oz was in the WC final, I may change my mind, but let's deal with the real world here.

[Captain]

Will the changes to Homebush prevent AFL from being played .

One can only hope

[10Totti10]

All the talk about a soccer WC has centred around Melbourne .
Can someone answer me some questions .


Would the SCG be available for AFL ?
Any developments on Blacktown or Showgrounds ?
Will Aussie Rules get anything out of a WC ?
Will the changes to Homebush prevent AFL from being played .
What will the GWS be doing ?

.

Im not sure, correct me if im wrong, but according to fifa rules, no other sport can be active during the WC. Therefore, it wouldnt affect Sydney in anyway possible. They would have to start the season earlier, season would be finished by the world cup. Um also AFL might get a slight boost, but it would be very minor. I mean there wouldn't be any major cash boost, but might see a very small increase in popularity.

[AnnieH]

Im not sure, correct me if im wrong, but according to fifa rules, no other sport can be active during the WC. Therefore, it wouldnt affect Sydney in anyway possible. They would have to start the season earlier, season would be finished by the world cup. Um also AFL might get a slight boost, but it would be very minor. I mean there wouldn't be any major cash boost, but might see a very small increase in popularity.

They're joking, right?
They can get stuffed.

[Asterix]

Annie and Primmy - you really have your heads buried a long way in the sand don't you? The AFL is a great game, and I enjoy watching the Swans a lot, as do thousands of other sports fans. However football (soccer to you) is the most popular game in the world and the most popular at junior level in this country. A recent poll on the Herald Sun found that a clear majority of its readers counted soccer as their favourite football code. That's the Herald Sun, the most rabid AFL paper around.

Whether Australia gets the World Cup or not is a moot point, but if we did there would be thousands of tourists here that the AFL could target to go and see a game as well - you know, cultural diversity and all that.

The World Cup won't take over all of Sydney. The SCG will be available for AFL. Blacktown could be used as a training venue but that's unlikely, as there are plenty of football grounds around that could be done up.

The latest on ANZ / Homebush is that they are looking to upgrade it so that it can be made properly rectangular for football, league and union, and more oval for AFL and cricket.

Up to $200m to upgrade stadium for World Cup . . . out of whose pocket? | The Australian

Finally, if we are lucky enough to win it, we will certainly be lobbying FIFA to change some of its restrictions on other sporting events, in a similar way to the Americans in 1994.

The World Cup would be a once in a lifetime opportunity - let those of us who want it enjoy it.

[RED RAG]

Won't have any affect at all I wouldn't think except for putting ANZ stadium out of action. If Sydney is to have 2 venues, it will surely be ANZ stadium and the SFS. SCG would be next, but I'm sure cities can only have 2 stadiums in them for the WC.

Thats right except FIFA takes over as if it the Government. Can order changes to hotel hours, airport closing times etc. and order road closures with police in attendance, all these things paid for by the taxpayers. All profits from ticket sales etc go straight to FIFA HQ in Switzerland.
Apart from a lot of young kids playing soccer until they get bored with it at about age 15, soccer is not large in Aus.
Keep it in Europe where it belongs.

[desredandwhite]

Im not sure, correct me if im wrong, but according to fifa rules, no other sport can be active during the WC. Therefore, it wouldnt affect Sydney in anyway possible. They would have to start the season earlier, season would be finished by the world cup.

It'd be a very early start indeed to accomodate the traditional WC time of June/July....

I would love to see the World Cup come to Australia, but I do recognise that the AFL, NRL and other sports have a right to ask "what's in it for me" and request compensation for any additional costs incurred.

What we know:

- A World Cup would comandeer at least 12 stadia with a minimum capacity of 40,000.
- Each of these Stadia would need to be cleaned of all advertising and replaced with FIFA sponsors (at whose cost?)
- Each of these stadia needs to be used exclusively by the World Cup for the 4 weeks of the tournament AND unused for 4 weeks prior.
- FIFA does not want other major sporting events being held for the length of the tournament in cities where World Cup matches are played. Perhaps some wiggle room here.

From a rival sport's perspective, a World Cup would affect the following:

- TV rights
- Stadium contracts - negotiating with existing and replacement stadia
- Employment contracts - governing bodies, clubs, venue, media
- Other contracts - catering, supply, transport
- Additional costs incurred in labour / management
- Lack of media exposure in the leadup and duration of the World Cup
- Loss in viewing figures and attendences

How much? Who knows.

I think in the end, sanity will prevail and we will submit the bid with tentative cooperation from all parties. One can't help but wonder though... if FIFA will just decide that it'll be easier to award the cup to another venue where they won't have to bother making ANY concessions.

[laughingnome]

One can't help but wonder though... if FIFA will just decide that it'll be easier to award the cup to another venue where they won't have to bother making ANY concessions.

Association Football (abbrev: Soccer (yes, that's where the name comes from) was codified in 1866. England had the 1966 World Cup as it marked 100 years of the sport. Does anyone really think FIFA and England would pass up 2018 and the chance to use it to flog 150 years of the sport? Then it will be 28 years since the Cup has been in North America, a place that has regularly held World Cups in Mexico and the US. I don't mind discussing the "what if's" about Australia's 'bid' (if it can be called that), but I think it's all but assured where the World Cups will be. The only thing that could change that would be a truckload of money.

Hmm.. Frank Lowy's pretty rich...