Sydney's new stadiums and unicorns.

Discuss stadium news, redevelopment, construction & future stadiums.
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Timbo
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Sydney's new stadiums and unicorns.

Post by Timbo »

Been a while since I posted on here!

So the New South Wales government has backed down on its plans to re-build Stadium Oz and the SFS, with the SFS now getting a rebuild and SA getting a $700m re-furb. The opposition is screaming 'schools and hospitals' like Grandpa Simpson yelling at a cloud, and it seems to have had an effect, with the budget being slashed from $2.5bn to $1.5bn.

Allegedly the SFS is to be knocked down towards the end of the year. I work in education, and the company I partner with works with a few NRL clubs - I was told by someone at a club earlier this year that they were told by the NSW Police that the SFS would not get a new safety certificate when its current one expires. So I suppose that's why the trust is so adamant that they get so much cash for a new stadium.

This just seems to be a massive shouting match between the SCG Trust and the NRL, who would be the primary tenants. The new renders of what the $700m renovation of SA looks like today really makes me wonder if it's going to be $700m well spent at all, with really just minor changes to the gradient of the lower deck (images courtesy of user Quidgybo on LU):

Existing layout:

Image

New layout:

Image

New layout with seating:

Image

These options just seem... not great? I would honestly not be surprised if this is still the trust, playing a very long game. From the beginning of this when Baird was still premier, they wanted a 65-70k stadium to replace the SFS and become Sydney's premier venue again. If you look on LU, people are pissed about this because this is still a badly compromised stadium for rectangular field sports, and this is a once in two decades spend on stadiums in Sydney. If they bugger this up, it'll be this way for a long time. The SFS on the other hand is still getting its full knockdown and re-build, the trust have still got a few months to convince Macquarie street to build it at a higher capacity and I reckon this is exactly what they've been angling for.

Boba Fett
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Re: Sydney's new stadiums and unicorns.

Post by Boba Fett »

I'm still waiting to hear ANYONE justify replacing a 44k capacity stadium with one exactly the same, despite the average crowd figure being less than half that. I don't understand why journalists don't ask this sort of question to the Premier/Sports Minister/SCG Trust...

Should be 20-25k. A really high quality boutique stadium around this capacity would be fantastic. Something like the new Banc of California in Los Angeles would be perfect!

Crow80
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Re: Sydney's new stadiums and unicorns.

Post by Crow80 »

I cant believe how much money the government is going to waste on this. I have not heard one person say anything positive about ANZ since I have been coming to Sydney or since I started living here at the start of the year. Allianz is just as hard to get to and the crowds they have there are small.

There doesn’t seem to be any talk about increasing the ease at which people can get to these places (I do understand that they are building light rail to Allianz but light rail is no where near as efficient as trains). Increasing the ease in getting to ANZ would go a long way to fixing this stadiums problems because it seems that when there is a big crowd there it is an awesome stadium to view sport at and the atmosphere improves greatly.

It seems to me that the government would be better off paying for upgrades to grounds like shark park, leaumeah, Kogarah, Leichhardt, Penrith and a couple of others to get better value for money. Make these grounds hold around the 17500-25000. The difference that fifty million dollars would make to one of these stadiums would be immense. As someone who travels interstate for sport I would rather travel to a stadium like one of these. A stadium that has a feeling and is best suited in regards to size of crowd and fit into its surrounds. They would probably become bucket list items on most sport lovers lists if you can get the atmosphere and setting right.

In regards to a new bigger stadium I think that something radical needs to be done. I’m unsure how or even if it could be done but I understand that in a lot of states and countries around the world people are building over the railway tracks. It might mean losing some park around the area but I think the government should at least look at building a stadium over the railway tracks between Redfern and central train stations. This stadium could hold anywhere between 40,000-60,000 and would be the most accessible stadium in the state if not the country. How easy it would become for anyone to hop on a train for no more then an hour and be right at the door of a world class stadium. I think the ease to get to get to games is what increases crowds. In Adelaide now that the stadium is in the city Port Adelaide now attract at least 30,000 people and regularly attract 40,000. A big difference from footy park where when they were playing well they attracted mid 20’s and high 10’s when playing bad.

Allianz could then be turned into a boutique 12,500-17,500 stadium or demolished altogether turning it into a training ground for the roosters, Waratahs and sky blues.

bazza
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Re: Sydney's new stadiums and unicorns.

Post by bazza »

Crow80 wrote: Tue Jul 17, 2018 9:18 am There doesn’t seem to be any talk about increasing the ease at which people can get to these places (I do understand that they are building light rail to Allianz but light rail is no where near as efficient as trains). Increasing the ease in getting to ANZ would go a long way to fixing this stadiums problems because it seems that when there is a big crowd there it is an awesome stadium to view sport at and the atmosphere improves greatly.

It seems to me that the government would be better off paying for upgrades to grounds like shark park, leaumeah, Kogarah, Leichhardt, Penrith and a couple of others to get better value for money. Make these grounds hold around the 17500-25000. The difference that fifty million dollars would make to one of these stadiums would be immense. As someone who travels interstate for sport I would rather travel to a stadium like one of these. A stadium that has a feeling and is best suited in regards to size of crowd and fit into its surrounds. They would probably become bucket list items on most sport lovers lists if you can get the atmosphere and setting right.
In terms of access, there is a plan to build a metro west (maybe 10+ years off) that would have stops at Parramatta and Homebush bay. There are als plans for an eastern extension that could go close to the SFS (maybe Surry hills or Oxford st)

Also stage 2 of the planned Parramatta light rail would go to Homebush as well

https://www.sydneymetro.info/west/project-overview

http://www.parramattalightrail.nsw.gov.au/stage-2

I think something like a 30 - 40k stadium with great amenities and a roof would be able to increase attendance at the SFS by 10 - 20% for the current tenants while the odd big match would be catered for by a 70k odd stadium at Homebush

I think the ARU are the main agitators for a bigger stadium at Moore Park as they don't want their fans to go west of the CBD

Crow80
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Re: Sydney's new stadiums and unicorns.

Post by Crow80 »

I think that the metro they are building looks very bloody impressive. The tram comes from one direction and might take a while to get to the stadium. Hopefully these additions will add to the ease of people getting to the games increasing crowds and atmosphere. I also like that the light rail will go straight past the SFS. Having said this it is a pity that you cant have the stadium that bit closer to central to benefit all.

It is also sad that some iconic stadiums and grounds will get nothing. Would be incredible for these other grounds to get some funding (I do understand the contradiction of that statement)

On a Side note I would love for them to build a path of legends on the way to Parramatta stadium from the train station. With statues of greats that played at the ground or for the teams of those that played at the ground.

Crow80
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Re: Sydney's new stadiums and unicorns.

Post by Crow80 »

Just another side notem why does parramatta stadium that could be busier then the SFS stadium cost around $300 million and they are predicting the SFS will cost triple that at $900!!!

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the crow
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Re: Sydney's new stadiums and unicorns.

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cam
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Re: Sydney's new stadiums and unicorns.

Post by cam »

The new Sydney Football Stadium looks good. 45k I think is the right capacity, however I remember in some previous proposals there was some way to 'hide' the top level to make it look less empty. This doesn't appear to be in the confirmed design which is unfortunate given the average crowd sizes at the current venue.

Can someone in Sydney confirm when the Light Rail will be extended to Moore Park?

Image

Read more: https://www.austadiums.com/news/news.php?id=616

bazza
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Re: Sydney's new stadiums and unicorns.

Post by bazza »

Light rail may be finished in 2019
It could be .a race between the light rail and the new stadium to see who finishes first

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Dan
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Re: Sydney's new stadiums and unicorns.

Post by Dan »

Was up in Sydney last week.
Amazing construction happening up there
Light rail will be extended to Moore Park.
Light rail,new freeways,new Metro rail system and of course,new stadiums.
Parramatta looks great
SFS rebuild has stated
and we await the final plans for Homebush.
My preference
Image

Complete bowl reconstruction,retractable roof,but keeping the original roofline and concept.
It also has the unique push out stands for football(soccer) eliminating the Rugby league dead ball areas.

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