Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast

Gold Coast Stadium at Carrara will officially be known as Metricon Stadium following a naming rights agreement with Australia's leading home builder.

The state of the art $144.2 million venue will be known as 'Metricon Stadium' and is set to welcome its first full house when the GC SUNS take to the field on May 28 against Geelong.

GC SUNS Chairman, John Witheriff, said the Gold Coast SUNS are delighted with the partnership.

"We are extremely excited and proud to launch our partnership with Metricon and can't wait to play our first match at Metricon Stadium on May 28."

"Through sharing similar values and with a genuine focus to embrace and engage the Gold Coast Community, I am confident this partnership will not only be of great benefit to both organizations, but also to our City."

Metricon's Managing Director Ross Palazzesi said that Metricon sees the Gold Coast and the wider Queensland region as an area that is synonymous with a great family lifestyle and is core to the Metricon business.

"We build more than 500 hundreds homes in Queensland each year and see 2011 as a great time to further support this fantastic State. We think it is fitting that what will become an iconic Queensland home, Metricon Stadium, is named after an iconic home building company.

"We are extremely excited and proud to launch our sponsorship of Metricon Stadium. GC SUNS, the AFL and Metricon share many of the same community values and aspirations, making the partnership a perfect fit for our businesses.

"Through our sponsorships we focus on contributing to the communities in which we operate and the Metricon Stadium sponsorship, helps contribute to this objective. Metricon have been building dream homes for more than 35 years and we strive to ensure all our customers truly 'love where they live' and we are sure that this will indeed be the case for the team and all the fans that will enjoy this great new venue, Metricon Stadium.

"Metricon Stadium will become a key area for the community to congregate, not only during the AFL season, but in hosting a range of sporting, cultural and community events throughout the year, Metricon Stadium will be a truly community centric venue",

"Naming rights of Metricon stadium is the first of its kind in the home building industry and we're proud and excited about what we know will be a fantastic era for the GC SUNS and Metricon as we both strive for success," concluded Ross.

Gold Coast SUNS CEO Travis Auld said the Metricon announcement is another glowing endorsement for AFL on the Gold Coast.

"We have been absolutely humbled by the support our organisation has received from the corporate sector since being granted the League's seventeenth license. Like the Gold Coast Community who have shown their support through almost twelve thousand membership packages, we are also equally proud of the Corporate support we have received from established and proven businesses such as Virgin Blue, Host Plus and now our Stadium naming rights partner, Metricon."

While Metricon Stadium, will be home to the countries most exciting AFL footballers between March and October each year, the Gold Coast Community can also look forward to hosting many other sporting events and concerts from the cities premier sporting facility with Sports Minister Phil Reeves acknowledging the Bligh Governments commitment to investing in the development of world class sports infrastructure on the Gold Coast.

"Events based tourism, particularly sports tourism, is vitally important to our economy," Mr Reeves said.

"From May, the GC SUNS and the new Metricon Stadium will be the next 'must-do' attraction for locals and many tourists."

"This stadium will be great for fans, great for tourism and will kick goals for the local economy."

"The redevelopment has generated more than 1,100 jobs during construction and once operational, it will create 700 jobs per event, and contribute an estimated $340 million to the economy over the next decade."

The Gold Coast SUNS will make their debut appearance at Metricon Stadium in Round 10 of the AFL season however the Gold Coast Public will receive an opportunity to inspect the venue at a scheduled peoples day on Sunday 22nd of May.

Metricon Stadium Facts:

• At 8.5 metres high x 23 metres in width, the high-Definition LED scoreboard is one of the largest in Australia
• The stadium has been fitted with 450 metres of solar panelling which is already producing solar energy
• The installation of solar panelling will generate approximately 275,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity per annum, or approximately twenty per cent of the stadium's total electricity needs
• There are currently 200 workers onsite, while up to 1,100 will have been employed throughout the construction phase.
• Up to 700 jobs will be created per event at Metricon Stadium when operational.
• Metricon Stadium 25,000 capacity comprising 23,500 seats and 1,500 standing room. With the addition of a permanent roof for the Southern Stand, over 75% of seats will be undercover.
• Total cost of stadium re-development is $144.2 million. This funding is made up of: State Government $71.9m, GCCC $23m and AFL $13.3m.