End to suburban ground funding

Austadiums • Sunday 13th July 2014
Brookvale Oval

The New South Wales state government says it’ll no longer invest in suburban NRL venues and instead poor money into major stadiums such as ANZ Stadium and Allianz Stadium.

Sports Minister Stuart Ayres said the government would no longer invest in the district venues where rugby league has been played for more than a century. Instead, money would be poured into major upgrades at Allianz and ANZ stadiums, including a ­retractable roof over the Homebush Olympic venue.

Mr Ayres insisted all future government spending would be restricted to the bigger facilities, ANZ and Allianz, plus a third, as yet undetermined, venue in Sydney’s west.

That puts the future of current suburban NRL venues at risk including Brookvale Oval, Leichhardt Oval, Jubilee Oval and Shark Park.

Parramatta Stadium in Sydney’s west is due for a minor redevelopment in the near future with $29 million of federal and state money committed which will see capacity increase by just 4,000 seats.

It’s unknown where Sydney’s third major stadium will be located – it may be a major upgrade of Parramatta Stadium or a new venue elsewhere.

The move from suburban to major venues is similar to what occurred in Melbourne during the 1980’s and ‘90’s with AFL clubs abandoning venues such as Victoria Park, Windy Hill, Western Oval and Punt Road Oval in favour of the MCG and Etihad Stadium.

The majority of those grounds now serve as training and administration bases and it appears that’s what the future holds for Sydney suburban grounds also.

The move in Melbourne has seen AFL grounds skyrocket with overall attendance averaging around 32,500 while the NRL is currently averaging just over 16,000 this season.

Determining if moving games from traditional venues to major stadiums in Sydney will dramatically boost attendances remains to be seen.

What are your thoughts - should suburban grounds stay or go? Have your say below or on our Facebook Page.

More News

The New South Wales state government says it'll no longer invest in suburban NRL venues and instead poor money into major stadiums such as ANZ Stadium and Allianz Stadium.
The Austadiums website is made possible by displaying some advertisements to our visitors.
Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker, whitelist us, or DONATE TO US