Sydney Stadiums: The Future

ANZ Stadium’s $350 million redevelopment plan

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A $350 million redevelopment plan for a fully-roofed ANZ Stadium would enable sports fans to sit within five metres of the action, with new grandstands turning Sydney’s biggest venue into a true rectangular ground.

Under the ambitious plan revealed to The Daily Telegraph, the former Olympic stadium would also be surrounded by a dynamic entertainment zone filled with bars, cafes and restaurants.

While the stadium’s *capacity would remain above 80,000, the venue’s top-level seating tiers could be curtained off using a hi-tech lighting system to create a more intimate atmosphere for smaller matches.

The design includes a *retractable roof made of a translucent membrane which allows sunlight through and is capable of closing in 20 minutes. It would weatherproof all events and allow the stadium to attract more big music acts.

ANZ chief executive Daryl Kerry said the plan would give Sydney “one of the greatest sports and entertainment stadiums in the world”.

The stadium’s private-sector owners and operators are lobbying the Baird government for about $250 million to modernise the 15-year-old venue. It is understood the stadium owners, Stadium Australia Group, would be prepared to put in $100 million if its ownership lease is extended beyond 2031 when it is due to hand back the venue to the government.

An artist’s impression of the ANZ Stadium redevelopment / Picture: Supplied
An artist’s impression of the ANZ Stadium redevelopment / Picture: Supplied
The stadium, built as the athletics arena for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, is often criticised for not having enough seats close to the action.

But Mr Kerry said the seating at both ends of the ground would be replaced with double-deck stands, which could be moved to within five metres of the field to create a perfect rectangle for rugby league, rugby union and soccer.

He said fans would be as close, if not closer, to the action behind the goals than they were at Moore Park’s Allianz, Brisbane’s Suncorp and London’s Wembley stadiums. ANZ would still be able to be configured into a circular ground for AFL and cricket or a world athletics meet.

“Sydney’s sporting infrastructure has fallen behind other states and major cities in the Asia-Pacific region,’’ Mr Kerry said. “While ANZ Stadium has served Sydney well, it must undergo a significant redevelopment to ensure it continues to attract major events and meet the expectations of today’s players and fans.”

Bringing more night-life entertainment options to Sydney Olympic Park is also seen as critical to attracting more spectators. The cost of developing the surrounding entertainment precinct shown in the plans — which would allow fans to enter the stadium at different levels on futuristic-looking ramps — is not included in the $350 million price tag.

But Mr Kerry indicated the stadium operators would be prepared to relinquish its commercial rights around the stadium to allow the government to attract private-sector backers to fund “a world-class event destination that has a life 365 days a year”.

A sports stadium battle is set to erupt ahead of the March state election, with the Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust, which operates Allianz, and Parramatta and Penrith stadium bosses lobbying for hundreds of millions of dollars to fund upgrades.

The government’s stadium strategy released in 2012 said future investments in Sydney should be focused on ANZ and Allianz stadiums and suggested a smaller stadium be built to service western Sydney or an existing venue be redeveloped.

Sport Minister Stuart Ayres said sports stadium funding decisions would be guided by the State Infrastructure Strategy, which is expected to be released within weeks.

The Stadium Australia group built the Olympic stadium at a cost of $690 million, of which the government contributed about $100 million.

ANZ Stadium has appointed Australia’s largest privately owned engineering and construction firm, Laing O’Rourke, which acted as program managers for the London 2012 Olympics, to carry out the proposed redevelopment.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/new...32f3f81580b2b1

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Sydney’s two big stadiums in bitter fight for funding

A decision that will shape the way Sydneysiders view sport for decades to come is set to be delivered in as little as six weeks.

Former state Liberal leader John Brogden and former Australian Rugby League boss John Quayle – acting as independent brokers for the NSW government – are locked in high-stakes negotiations with Stadium Australia Group managing director Daryl Kerry and Tony Shepherd, chairman of the Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust.

They are battling over a state government allocation of $600 million designated for sports stadia development, as outlined in the State Infrastructure Strategy Update published by Infrastructure NSW late last year.

There is no official date for the review to be completed but it is understood the parties and the government want an announcement before the NSW election on March 28.

The funding decision will have an enormous bearing on the way Sydneysiders and the city's visitors attend and view sport.

Such is the sensitivity of the negotiations, no one closely involved, including NSW Minister for Sport Stuart Ayres, would comment on the record. But underneath background briefings was a sense that the discussions were not only a critical point in the history of the city's sporting infrastructure, but a focal point for years of pent-up bitterness between the operators of Sydney's two major sporting venues.

In a nutshell, the SCG Trust's dream outcome is that Allianz Stadium receive an overhaul or be entirely rebuilt into a 60,000-plus seat stadium and surrounds, providing Sydney with the modern rectangular-shaped venue most agree it needs.

They claim there is a global trend towards building football grounds with a capacity of between 65,000 and 70,000, and cite as an example the home of the recent Super Bowl in the US, the $US455 million ($585 million) University of Phoenix Stadium – with a retractable roof and moveable stands – which opened in 2006.

Such a development at Allianz Stadium would complement last year's opening of a new $197.5 million northern stand at the adjacent SCG, which cost the NSW government $97.5 million, and the federal government and SCG Trust $50 million each. At the least, the trust is hoping for the funds to overhaul Allianz Stadium, Sydney's premier rectangular field since it was opened in 1988, including possibly an underground carpark.

If Stadium Australia Group gets its way, the privately owned ANZ Stadium would receive $250 million from the allocation, understood to be the first time it has received public money since the stadium was built. The grant, added to $100 million of the owner consortium's funds, would pay to build a retractable roof and make the northern and southern stands mobile, like the eastern and western stands, creating a rectangular-shaped arena. It may also build a new retail precinct in the surrounds.

It might seem a straightforward decision. However, when dealing with such major infrastructure, big money and big egos – the list of directors at the SCG Trust, particularly, reads like a who's who of the powerful and influential – many factors come into play and negotiations become complex. Population movements, already commissioned infrastructure projects and long-term planning are among the elements that are being factored into the decision.

Some insiders suggest there is a genuine desire among the parties to find the best solutions for Sydney's needs and ensure the city continues to attract major events, which generate tourism, investment, tax dollars and prestige.

But others describe the competition as a war. Since Stadium Australia opened in 1999, providing a competitor to the SCG and Sydney Football Stadium, most of the battles have been sharp but ultimately a positive contest to entice sporting organisations to bring their product to this place or that. The winners have been the sports, which have brokered better deals for themselves. Yet, in this stoush, there is the spectre of an end game.

The SCG Trust's wish for a rebuilt football stadium would impact heavily on what the Infrastructure Strategy calls the "optimisation of the Sydney Olympic Park precinct and Parramatta Stadium".

It could leave ANZ Stadium isolated, especially with a strong consensus – and pressure from Football Federation Australia – that Parramatta Stadium be expanded from a 20,000 seater to over 30,000 to accommodate the Western Sydney Wanderers. Further adding pressure and complexity, also in the Strategy Update is a recommendation "the government commence long-term planning for building an outer Western Sydney stadium".

The most extreme suggestion has been for ANZ Stadium to be razed and the land sold to build apartments. However this is unlikely to happen, as Premier Mike Baird, whose father Bruce Baird was Minister for Sydney's Olympic bid in the early 1990s, and Opposition Leader Luke Foley have reportedly refused to entertain the idea.

"I couldn't look Cathy Freeman in the eye," Foley was quoting as saying recently, referring to the Olympic stadium's historical significance.

Financially, too, doing away with ANZ Stadium appears fraught. It would mean breaking the government's contract with owners Stadium Australia Group, which runs till 2031 and which the consortium is understood to be considering extending in return for government assistance. Part of that contract is for Allianz Stadium's capacity to stay below 48,000. The amount of compensation the government might have to pay to break the contract is being discussed in the negotiations.

It may seem that ANZ Stadium's relevance is fading, with the Sydney Swans and NSW Waratahs ending their regular season association with the ground. The Swans will play exclusively at the SCG from 2017, the Waratahs at Allianz Stadium from 2016. However, the impact of these decisions might not be as severe as they seem.

Certainly, in a competition where the capital is, essentially, sporting events, the SCG and Allianz Stadium are winning. But, financially, the departure of the Waratahs and Swans is not a big hit, as volume is not as important as quality.

The big money spinners for ANZ Stadium are the rugby league games, such as State of Origin and finals, the rugby Tests including the Bledisloe Cup, and infrequent blockbusters, such as the recent Asian Cup final. Those events, added to the deals with NRL clubs South Sydney, Canterbury, the Tigers and Dragons are adequate to sell memberships, sponsorships, advertising and naming rights which, added to other revenues such as food and beverage – which is owned by the stadium – generate enough profit to cover the stadium's estimated $150 million debt.

"It's a good sustainable business, despite what the Trust people will tell you," one former board member said.

The most likely resolution to the negotiations is that both parties' needs will be met to some degree. The Infrastructure Strategy Update recommended the reconfiguration of ANZ Stadium into a rectangle. It spoke of the need to redevelop Parramatta Stadium and acknowledged the need to renovate Allianz Stadium.

The controversial WestConnex Motorway should better service Parramatta and ANZ Stadiums, while the South-East Light Rail will service the Moore Park precinct. Government money has recently gone into both precincts, building the recently opened $35 million Netball Central and AFL training and administrative facilities at Sydney Olympic Park and the $25 million bridge over Anzac Parade, linking pedestrians from Central Station with the SCG and Allianz Stadium. Both precincts should have a bright future but are in need of a clean-up.

"Each of Greater Sydney's Tier 1 stadia," the Infrastructure Update said, "requires substantial investment not only in the stadium itself, but also in the surrounding food, entertainment and transport hubs to bring the stadium offering up to the standard of comparable venues interstate, particularly in Melbourne.

"Making these investments will ensure that Sydney and NSW continue to offer ... facilities that will help to attract visitors, new residents and investors to NSW."

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/sydneys-...14-13e2nq.html

Sydney Football Stadium October 2021 Construction Progress Update SFS
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Sydney Football Stadium October 2021 Construction Progress Update SFS
https://www.zerotackle.com/new-south...upport-111357/

New home for the Bulldogs and Tigers: NRL plans to build its own Western Sydney stadium
https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl...rl/news-story/

The NRL is planning to build its own stadium in south-west Sydney, with the new facility to looking to be built in Liverpool or Rossmore near Western Sydney airport.

Officials have made preliminary enquiries about the potential build and have approached the Wests Tigers and Bulldogs to see if they would be interested in playing out of the new stadium.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, ARLC chairman Peter V’landys and NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo want to own an asset similar to the AFL’s ownership of Marvel Stadium in Melbourne.

The two potential new locations are the former Oasis site in Liverpool owned by Canterbury Leagues, or a vacant block near the airport in Rossmore.

The NRL is reportedly set to close a new free-to-air broadcast deal with Nine Entertainment Co worth between $550-600 million after recording an $80 million profit in 2021.

The league has approached the NSW state government about funding for the stadium, but has been met with resistance with Penrith, Brookvale and Sydney Olympic Park set to be announced as the $800 million investment pledge into Sydney’s stadiums.

If the plan goes ahead, the NRL would purchase land to build the stadium which would be rented out to clubs, other codes and the entertainment industry.

“The Bulldogs are open to hearing proposals and have the good of the game in our thinking,” Bulldogs chairman John Khoury said.

“But at the moment we have not received any formal proposals.”

While the Tigers are itching to find a permanent home after playing out of multiple venues for two decades - with their main preference being a full refurbishment of their part-time stadium in Campbelltown.

But if the NRL was to build a stadium, the Tigers could be on board.

“I’ve made it very well known that I believe the greatest challenge facing the Wests Tigers is securing a permanent home in the short to medium term,” Tigers chairman Lee Hagipantelis told the Sydney Morning Herald.

“I have also made it publicly known that the future of the Wests Tigers lies in the south-west of Sydney, while also maintaining a connection with our traditional roots in the inner-west.

“We are very excited by the prospect of a stadium in either Liverpool or Campbelltown and are very much open to consult with all stakeholders to ensure the best possible outcome for the Wests Tigers.”

The NSW government is set to commit to a new $300 million, 25,000 seat stadium in Penrith which will begin construction after the 2022 season.

$200 million will also go towards upgrading Brookvale Oval, which could see the suburban hill be replaced with a grandstand.

Roosters to Officially Open Allianz Stadium
https://www.roosters.com.au/news/202...lianz-stadium/

The Sydney Roosters will officially open the brand-new Allianz Stadium in the Round 25 match against the South Sydney Rabbitohs on Friday, September 2 in the final game of the regular season.

The NSW Government has confirmed the opening schedule of events at Allianz Stadium, which will begin with a free community day on August 27, before Rugby League’s oldest and fiercest rivalry adds another chapter on the eve of the NRL’s finals series.

In the 250th total meeting between the two clubs since Rugby League’s founding season in 1908, Roosters Members and supporters will be able to experience everything that the 42,500-seat stadium has to offer, including:

• A 360-degree open concourse inside and outside of the venue
• Steep seating angles providing unrivalled views of the field
• Merivale's best food and beverage offers
• Wide community spaces to explore through and world-class player facilities

The honour of hosting the inaugural event to be held at our home, the new Allianz Stadium, is one of which we are most proud. We have a deep connection to the precinct dating back to our foundation in 1908.

Tickets will be on sale for the General Public from 10:00am on Friday, June 24.

Sydney Roosters Members should keep an eye on their email inbox for important Membership and ticketing information for our Round 25 Allianz Stadium opening event.

Sydney Roosters CEO Joe Kelly was thrilled to see the Red, White and Blue host the first event at the Club’s brand-new home.

“The honour of hosting the inaugural event to be held at our home, the new Allianz Stadium, is one of which we are most proud. We have a deep connection to the precinct dating back to our foundation in 1908,” Mr Kelly said.

“Our Members and fans will have the very first opportunity to experience the new world-class facility and we would like to extend our thanks to the NSW Government for this addition to our Club’s rich history.

“The Roosters hosted the final event at the ground before it was demolished in 2018 and it is quite fitting that our return fixture will be against the same team, the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

The 42,500 spectators there for the game will be able to reflect on being a part of history on what is sure to be an unforgettable event.”