Which Are the Biggest Stadiums in Australia?
Australia is a nation that thrives on its love of sport. From the Australian Open tennis to the Ashes cricket to seasonal AFL, rugby and soccer games, there are many sporting highlights for fans to get excited about.
It’s no surprise that sites like Rizk sports betting experience high levels of traffic year-round in the country.
Of course, with such a rich sporting pedigree, it’s only fitting that Australia has stadiums which can do justice to the spectacles unfolding within them. But which are the biggest? Here’s a rundown of some of the largest and impressive stadia in Australia, in no particular order.
Melbourne Cricket Ground
Conversationally known as the MCG, or even just ‘The G’, the Melbourne Cricket Ground first hosted sport more than 165 years ago. In its lifetime, it has experienced several renovations and now boasts a capacity of 100,000 and the highest attendance of any stadium in the southern hemisphere.
As its name suggests, it’s renowned throughout the world as a famous cricket ground, hosting games for the Australian side, as well as Melbourne’s two T20 franchises and the Victorian state team. It’s also hosted two cricket world cup finals and a women’s T20 world cup final. However, crowds attend the stadium in bigger numbers for Australian football, including the AFL Grand Final held at the venue each year that attracts a sell-out crowd. It has also hosted rugby league and union, football, concerts and even the Olympic Games in 1956 and the Commonwealth Games in 2006.
Optus Stadium
One of the newest stadiums on this list, Optus Stadium (originally known as Perth Stadium) opened its doors at the beginning of 2018 and is widely considered the best major stadium in Australia. But even though it’s a mere three-and-a-half years old, the 60,000-seat stadium has still experienced many highlights during its short tenure.
As well as regularly hosting AFL games for Western Australia’s two teams (West Coast Eagles and Fremantle Dockers), it’s also where the Perth Scorchers play their BBL matches, while many major one-off events have also been staged at the venue. Plus, it even has a drop-in pool on the side of the pitch during summer. What’s not to love?!
Suncorp Stadium
This Brisbane stadium dates back over a hundred years and was built on the site of the city’s former cemetery. Far from harbouring any ghosts, however, it’s always been a happy hunting ground for Australian sportsmen. The 52,000-capacity venue is often considered the best rectangular stadium in Australia and it produces an amazing atmosphere when full.
As well as playing host to Brisbane’s domestic teams in the sports of rugby union, rugby league and soccer, it has also been the venue of the Rugby League World Cup Final on no less than two occasions. Australia reached the showpiece finale both times, defeating England 6-0 to claim the trophy in the most recent in 2017.
Stadium Australia
Purpose-built for the 2000 Olympic Games, Stadium Australia was originally designed to hold 110,000 spectators. That made it the largest Olympic arena ever built at the time, though its capacity has subsequently been reduced to 83,500. It has gone by several names during its two-decade history, including ANZ Stadium and Telstra Stadium.
In addition to hosting major events from all of the biggest sports in the country, Stadium Australia also serves as the home of two NRL clubs – the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Canterbury Bulldogs and has hosted various large-scale concerts featuring some of the world’s biggest artists, including AC/DC, Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran.
Australia has some of the biggest and most accomplished stadiums in the world – which is appropriate given the country’s love of sport and its success on the world sporting stage.
