Suns to host AFL games in Darwin
The Gold Coast Suns will play one Toyota AFL Premiership game at TIO Stadium per season for the next four years starting in 2020.
The Suns announced the new partnership with the Northern Territory Government and AFL NT on Wednesday, which also sees Darwin as a Talent Academy Zone for the AFL club.
Darwin’s TIO Stadium, formerly known as Marrara Stadium, opened in 1991 and first hosted an AFL Premiership Season game in 2004. The venue has been redeveloped over time and currently has a capacity of 12,500.
The Melbourne Football Club had hosted a home game in Darwin each year for the past decade and will now take that home game to the MCG as of the 2020 season. The club will continue to play a home game in Alice Springs for at least the next four years.
The Suns will no longer play a game in North Queensland, with all remaining home games to be played at Metricon Stadium, with CEO Mark Evans saying the club was unable to secure a commercial deal to take a game to the region.
Gold Coast has played nine home and away matches in North Queensland since entering the AFL competition in 2011 – this year at Riverway Stadium in Townsville and previously at Cazaly’s Stadium in Cairns.
From 2011 until 2017 the Suns were scheduled as the away team to Richmond and Western Bulldogs who partnered with Tourism & Events Queensland to sell one of their home games. While in 2018 & 2019, the Suns played a home game each season in a deal struck to assist it to cope with the impacts of the Commonwealth Games at Metricon Stadium.
The 2020 Toyota AFL Premiership Season Fixture is expected to be released in late October, and will be available on the Austadiums website where you can view all the details and venue info, book nearby accommodation and buy tickets.
