2021 Covid Sport Updates & Stadium Attendance Restrictions

As coronavirus continues to have an impact on sports events around the world, we have updates for each Australian sport and current crowd capacity restrictions for each state.

Australia has been fortunate that we’ve been able to welcome fans back to sports events where many countries are still playing in front of empty stadiums. There have however been many changes to event dates, fixtures and schedules.

Austadiums has updated schedules for all sports, while we also mark cancelled and postponed events accordingly. Events with restricted capacity or closed to the public are also marked.

See below for current crowd restrictions in each Australian state and territory and keep scrolling to see updates for each sport and competition.

Stadium Attendance Restrictions – As at Feb 26*

*This should be used as a guide only. Please check official government resources for clarification on current restrictions. Initially, percentage of stadium capacities were used state-wide, however it's now common to have different percentages across venues, depending on their individual COVID-Safe plans.

Sports & Competition Updates

AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL / AFL
Changes continue to be made to the AFL Pre-Season and AFLW fixtures, however the 2021 AFL premiership season is expected to commence as scheduled on March 18. The Victorian Government has announced the MCG & Marvel Stadium will have 50% capped crowds.
AFL FIXTURE | AFLW | PRE-SEASON | Stream on Kayo

RUGBY LEAGUE / NRL
The 2021 NRL season is scheduled to commence on March 11 in Melbourne and at this stage. Crowd restrictions continue to ease around the country (see above). The New Zealand Warriors have based themselves in Tamworth and will open the new season playing home games at Central Coast Stadium in Gosford.
NRL FIXTURE | NRL TRIALS | Stream on Kayo

RUGBY UNION / SUPER RUGBY
The Super Rugby AU season commenced on February 19 after a shortened pre-season.
SUPER RUGBY FIXTURE

FOOTBALL / A-LEAGUE
There have been numerous changes to the A-League and W-League fixtures due to the border restrictions, while games have been played in front of restricted crowds, but the season continues.
A-LEAGUE FIXTURE | MORE FOOTBALL | Stream on Kayo

BASKETBALL / NBL
The NBL season start was delayed until January 15, with the fixture changed multiple times and a staggered release of the fixture ongoing. Games were restricted to QLD and SA early on, but games how now been played around the country.
NBL FIXTURE | Stream on Kayo

MOTORSPORT / SUPERCARS
The Australian F1 Grand Prix has been postponed from March until November. As a result, the Supercars will race at Sandown instead of Albert Park.

CRICKET / BBL
Various matches were relocated to different venues, most notably all NSW games were shifted elsewhere with the exception of the Final. The Test Series between Australia and India went ahead at the scheduled venues, but every game had a significant attendance restriction. The domestic one-day cup and Sheffield Shield re-commence in mid-February.
UPCOMING CRICKET | Stream on Kayo

TENNIS / AUSTRALIAN OPEN
The traditional warm-up tournaments were scrapped, with all tournaments played at Melbourne Park as part of the Melbourne Summer Series, as well as the ATP Cup at the same venue. There was also be a one-day exhibition event held in Adelaide – ‘A Day at the Drive’ at Memorial Drive. The Australian Open was held later, starting on February 8. Melbourne Park was at 25% of capacity for the tournament, except when crowds were locked out during Victoria's 5-day snap lockdown.
 

Stay tuned on this article as we’ll continue to update the information for each sport and competition as it comes to hand. Keep on visiting Austadiums to view up-to-date sports fixtures and event schedules around Australia.