New AFL Ground in Sydney approved

[Bas]

Fortunately, the current NSW Government clowns have overuled the former Premier and has now given the approval to re-develop the Showground for AFL.

$45m waste of money for a second AFL home

Provides a fantastic venue for local and NSWAFL teams as well.

[Reggi]

Obviously we will never play there in the regular season, but I wonder what the dimensions will be MCG size?

From a distance seems a sensible decision

[Norris Lurker]

Interesting that Sydney will have more AFL grounds than Melbourne. But it's a sensible decision - GWS will play their blockbuster games at ANZ (and I suspect the Swans still will as well), but it's a good choice for their remaining games that will draw much smaller crowds.

[Damien]

Silly decision considering Rugby League play at ANZ with low crowds, there is no valid reason for government money at all. Totalwaste of money for the state but just goes to show that Andrew D knows how to negotiate a deal.

Really is generating negative press here in Sydney and rightly so, but the AFL have been smart to get it all signed off on before the change of government next March. We will have three AFL venues in one city of two teams, 25K, 50K and 80K. Freaking hilarious!!!!

I'm happy, but gee, you know a government is on the way out when they give away 45 million just so the new AFL side doesn't have to deal with lots of empty seats.

[JF_Bay22_SCG]

Interesting that Sydney will have more AFL grounds than Melbourne. But it's a sensible decision - GWS will play their blockbuster games at ANZ (and I suspect the Swans still will as well), but it's a good choice for their remaining games that will draw much smaller crowds.

I don't think it is at all. The Showgrounds is in the Inner West. It is 5 minutes from Strathfield on the train. I'd have much rather put the grandstand all the way around the Doonside ground & developed a REAL ground out there for GWS. Maybe NSW cricket could play Sheffield Shield matches out there as well.

If GWS are to be successful, which I both greatly doubt, they MUST play in Sydney's GREATER WEST as a localised community team. And that means playing Blacktown NOT Homebush.

JF
PS:- I had big arguments with Beaussie on this topic in his dad's car after the game on Sunday.

[Damien]

I don't think it is at all. The Showgrounds is in the Inner West. It is 5 minutes from Strathfield on the train. I'd have much rather put the grandstand all the way around the Doonside ground & developed a REAL ground out there for GWS. Maybe NSW cricket could play Sheffield Shield matches out there as well.

If GWS are to be successful, which I both greatly doubt, they MUST play in Sydney's GREATER WEST as a localised community team. And that means playing Blacktown NOT Homebush.

JF
PS:- I had big arguments with Beaussie on this topic in his dad's car after the game on Sunday.

All the major stations from the South West and the West can quite easily get to Olympic Park, so I don't think it's a major deal and to be honest, the Blacktown ground was never the best location in terms of public transport, and as you know, the problem with being a "western Sydney" side is that you are representing an area that stretches from Campbelltown to Penrith, no matter where you put it, you are potentially making it hard for many people to get to the game. Olympic Park may be more "inner west" than Greater West, but it's a much better hub for these so called 1.8 million people they are trying to reach than Blacktown.

Also, attracting players will be much easier for them if they are training at the Showground and not Blacktown.

[Reggi]

Silly decision considering Rugby League play at ANZ with low crowds, there is no valid reason for government money at all. Totalwaste of money for the state but just goes to show that Andrew D knows how to negotiate a deal.

Really is generating negative press here in Sydney and rightly so, but the AFL have been smart to get it all signed off on before the change of government next March. We will have three AFL venues in one city of two teams, 25K, 50K and 80K. Freaking hilarious!!!!

I'm happy, but gee, you know a government is on the way out when they give away 45 million just so the new AFL side doesn't have to deal with lots of empty seats.

Empty seats probably have very little to do with it. Smaller grounds have lower operating costs. I think the Swans have said they need almost double the crowd at ANZ compared to SCG to breakeven, so GWS could probably never make money at ANZ, will at the new stadium, considering the life of the asset it probably made financial sense to develop the new ground, plus the AFL wouldhave presumably some control or preferential rights over the asset

So probably a smart decision, being opposed by parochialism - and Melbourne invested far more in the Slug/ caterpiller stadium without screaming it was the end of the world, there is far more interest in AFL in Sydney than Soccer and Rugby in Melbourne

[floppinab]

Silly decision considering Rugby League play at ANZ with low crowds, there is no valid reason for government money at all. Totalwaste of money for the state but just goes to show that Andrew D knows how to negotiate a deal.

I've said this many times before, ANZ does not have the bandwidth to support ten more fixtures on it's calendar during winter. The surface is struggling now given the traffic from SoO, Canterbury, Souths and the other odd RL game, rugby internationals, the occasional soccer international, there is no question GWS had to have an alternative home venue the only question is where.

If GWS are to be successful, which I both greatly doubt, they MUST play in Sydney's GREATER WEST as a localised community team. And that means playing Blacktown NOT Homebush.

Don't necessarily disagree with you there JF, but the question is where??? There is no location in the GW that is anywhere near as accessible than Homebush. Not to mention the comparative cost of upgrading the Doonside ground (and that would include a new train station/other public transport facilities, carparking) or doing something somewhere else from scratch, the only realistic option was going to be the Showground.

That said, it hasn't stopped the Federal Govt for stumping umpteen millions for the sexy soccer ground up the road from Blacktown if we get the World Cup

[Reggi]

Empty seats are 90% of this.

Sorry but this is simply not true. Demitriou even said it yesterday that their financial modelling said they needed a small stadium to be financially viable

[Damien]

Empty seats probably have very little to do with it. Smaller grounds have lower operating costs. I think the Swans have said they need almost double the crowd at ANZ compared to SCG to breakeven, so GWS could probably never make money at ANZ, will at the new stadium, considering the life of the asset it probably made financial sense to develop the new ground, plus the AFL wouldhave presumably some control or preferential rights over the asset

So probably a smart decision, being opposed by parochialism - and Melbourne invested far more in the Slug/ caterpiller stadium without screaming it was the end of the world, there is far more interest in AFL in Sydney than Soccer and Rugby in Melbourne

Empty seats are 90% of this. It's been confirmed that AFL research believes that GWS are likely to get RL style crowds of 15-17K, which at ANZ is going to look reasonably horrible and take away from the atmospheric experience that AFL boasts about (and one can argue that has been the Swans biggest point of difference with other codes in Sydney). Hard to grow support and crowds when a stadium is empty and contains no atmosphere. The smaller stadium is likely to provide what the AFL is after, especially from a TV point of view.

The other reasoning, which has been discussed a bit in the Sydney media is that attracting players to a club that trains so far out of the "IT" suburbs in Sydney in Blacktown was going to be very difficult, so having a training base at Homebush is going to be a huge bonus for them when talking with players over the next twelve months.

As for the ANZ situation, it was a problem for the first few years due an 11 game agreement the AFL signed in the late 90s, which was reduced to 3 games however the minimum crowd requirement was changed to a quite significant number, totally changed now and ANZ are more than happy to pay clubs that get small crowds to actually play there. Souths get around 100K guaranteed a game for example.

The Melbourne situation is a lot different, there was not a high class ground at all in Melbourne for Soccer, Rugby or League and next year you will have three teams play out of AAMI Park, it will be used a lot and gives Melbourne a dedicated rectangular stadium, I think there would have been much less angst in Sydney if this wasn't being built next to an existing stadium, if another 45 Million went into Blacktown, it may have been ignored, but we are talking about a new stadium being built for 8 games a year for a team not even in the competition yet.

Like I said, I'm happy that we have got another ground in Sydney and as a dedicated AFL stadium should make for a great experience, but it really wasn't needed and taxpayer money most certainly shouldn't have gone towards it.

(as for interest, we got 50K viewers on TV for our game on Sunday, thrashed in the ratings continually, we have massive issues in this city for AFL, I would suggest League has more general interest in Melbourne than AFL here.....)

[Damien]

Sorry but this is simply not true. Demitriou even said it yesterday that their financial modelling said they needed a small stadium to be financially viable

That's a load of crap from Andrew D. Souths moved to ANZ to be viable and they certainly don't average anywhere near the Swans, the AFL wanted a small boutique stadium because it suited what their support was, allowed them to have their base at Homebush instead of Blacktown and is of course going to be an atmospheric experience, with ANZ next door for Swans and Collingwood games.

[KirkysSocks]

(as for interest, we got 50K viewers on TV for our game on Sunday, thrashed in the ratings continually, we have massive issues in this city for AFL, I would suggest League has more general interest in Melbourne than AFL here.....)

This is a HUGE concern as our ratings keep dropping and dropping. These figures make it hard for the stations broadcasting the games to put non swans games on live. Wasn't a game a few weeks ago involving non swans only 80k?

Major concerns which seemed to be over looked in the AFLs propaganda campiagn.

[KirkysSocks]

That's a load of crap from Andrew D. Souths moved to ANZ to be viable and they certainly don't average anywhere near the Swans, the AFL wanted a small boutique stadium because it suited what their support was, allowed them to have their base at Homebush instead of Blacktown and is of course going to be an atmospheric experience, with ANZ next door for Swans and Collingwood games.

Thats right. The AFL is all about creating illusions and perceptions. They are very very sensitive about the image of the game, hence why we have the 3 strike rule, the way player behaviour is mostly swept under the rug and the way umpires are not even touched let alone criticised.

[Bas]

As a RAS member, I received the following email today from the RAS. It provides more details on the upgrade.



I am pleased to announce the Main Arena at Sydney Showground will be undergoing a considerable upgrade, thanks to a new partnership between the NSW Government; the Sydney Olympic Park Authority; the AFL; and the RAS.

This is significant news for the RAS, and offers exciting opportunities to generate new income streams, host new events and offer more to our Members.
As a Member of the RAS, you can be pleased that you are part of a growing and vibrant organisation. We are forming a variety of new partnerships which will open the door to new opportunities for the RAS and our ability to invest in our core agricultural activities.

The Main Arena upgrade will include:
New, covered grandstands on the South East and North East sections of the Main Arena, increasing permanent seating capacity from 13,000 to 25,000
Upgraded corporate hospitality, bars, function space
Refurbishment of existing grandstand area
New media facilities, plus the addition of a large video scoreboard and stadium sound system
Reconfiguration of the shape and surface of the Main Arena
Security fencing
The upgrade represents a long-term investment for the RAS that will provide alternative revenue streams and a strong financial platform for the future.

The revenue generated by the upgrade will create additional opportunities for investment in core RAS values - agriculture, competitions, education, youth and regional NSW.
Our upgraded arena will provide the home ground for ?Team GWS? games, and we expect this investment will help the RAS attract and retain major sporting and leisure events well into the future and allow it to diversify income streams beyond two or three major events a year.

The upgrade will also generate significant economic and community activity in Western Sydney and enable us to make better use of the government-owned Sydney Showground assets managed by the RAS.
We are also working on partnerships with two significant sporting franchises which will create further opportunities to use our venue and facilities and greater exposure to a wider range of events.
The new partnerships created through this development will also mean that RAS Members are likely to have greater access to a range of sporting events including AFL, soccer, cricket and more.
We expect the upgrade to commence later this year and be complete in 2012. The construction project planning will take into account the need to operate events, including the Sydney Royal Easter Show, throughout the development and will ensure there is minimal disruption to events held in Sydney Showground.

We will keep you updated with information about the upgrade on our Sydney Showground website Sydney Showground - The Dream Venue and in the next edition of RAS Times.
If you have any further questions, please don?t hesitate to contact your Membership Team by phone on (02) 9704 1144 or email at [email protected]
Sincerely,
Peter King
Chief Executive

[Damien]

^ Sounds good and sold well by RAS. I think they might have been better off having RAS announce it in the first place, rather than the AFL being so involved in the announcement. Would have been a much stronger announcement if GWS simply benefited from the upgrade as opposed to it being just for AFL (which it is haha)