New AFL Ground in Sydney approved

[KirkysSocks]

That's a load of crap from Andrew D. Souths moved to ANZ to be viable and they certainly don't average anywhere near the Swans, the AFL wanted a small boutique stadium because it suited what their support was, allowed them to have their base at Homebush instead of Blacktown and is of course going to be an atmospheric experience, with ANZ next door for Swans and Collingwood games.

Thats right. The AFL is all about creating illusions and perceptions. They are very very sensitive about the image of the game, hence why we have the 3 strike rule, the way player behaviour is mostly swept under the rug and the way umpires are not even touched let alone criticised.

[Bas]

As a RAS member, I received the following email today from the RAS. It provides more details on the upgrade.



I am pleased to announce the Main Arena at Sydney Showground will be undergoing a considerable upgrade, thanks to a new partnership between the NSW Government; the Sydney Olympic Park Authority; the AFL; and the RAS.

This is significant news for the RAS, and offers exciting opportunities to generate new income streams, host new events and offer more to our Members.
As a Member of the RAS, you can be pleased that you are part of a growing and vibrant organisation. We are forming a variety of new partnerships which will open the door to new opportunities for the RAS and our ability to invest in our core agricultural activities.

The Main Arena upgrade will include:
New, covered grandstands on the South East and North East sections of the Main Arena, increasing permanent seating capacity from 13,000 to 25,000
Upgraded corporate hospitality, bars, function space
Refurbishment of existing grandstand area
New media facilities, plus the addition of a large video scoreboard and stadium sound system
Reconfiguration of the shape and surface of the Main Arena
Security fencing
The upgrade represents a long-term investment for the RAS that will provide alternative revenue streams and a strong financial platform for the future.

The revenue generated by the upgrade will create additional opportunities for investment in core RAS values - agriculture, competitions, education, youth and regional NSW.
Our upgraded arena will provide the home ground for ?Team GWS? games, and we expect this investment will help the RAS attract and retain major sporting and leisure events well into the future and allow it to diversify income streams beyond two or three major events a year.

The upgrade will also generate significant economic and community activity in Western Sydney and enable us to make better use of the government-owned Sydney Showground assets managed by the RAS.
We are also working on partnerships with two significant sporting franchises which will create further opportunities to use our venue and facilities and greater exposure to a wider range of events.
The new partnerships created through this development will also mean that RAS Members are likely to have greater access to a range of sporting events including AFL, soccer, cricket and more.
We expect the upgrade to commence later this year and be complete in 2012. The construction project planning will take into account the need to operate events, including the Sydney Royal Easter Show, throughout the development and will ensure there is minimal disruption to events held in Sydney Showground.

We will keep you updated with information about the upgrade on our Sydney Showground website Sydney Showground - The Dream Venue and in the next edition of RAS Times.
If you have any further questions, please don?t hesitate to contact your Membership Team by phone on (02) 9704 1144 or email at [email protected]
Sincerely,
Peter King
Chief Executive

[Damien]

^ Sounds good and sold well by RAS. I think they might have been better off having RAS announce it in the first place, rather than the AFL being so involved in the announcement. Would have been a much stronger announcement if GWS simply benefited from the upgrade as opposed to it being just for AFL (which it is haha)

[2005magicmoment]

Like I said, I'm happy that we have got another ground in Sydney and as a dedicated AFL stadium should make for a great experience, but it really wasn't needed and taxpayer money most certainly shouldn't have gone towards it.

Hi Damien, I politely disagree. Taxpayers money has always gone into every stadium in Australia regardless of the sporting code. In rugby league look at the Wollongong, Kogarah or Gosford Stadiums for their stadium extensions. For our beloved Swans - The SCG Ground Trust received huge funding for the Victor Trumper Stand by the state and federal governments. Let us face reality, sports do not earn back the cost of financial capital in which case the private sector would have taken the risk. Sporting infrastructure is a community good so governments have to provide. My only issue is that grassroots football gets the same level of infrastrucutre support out in Greater Western Sydney for new AFL grounds.

Cheers

[Damien]

Hi Damien, I politely disagree. Taxpayers money has always gone into every stadium in Australia regardless of the sporting code. In rugby league look at the Wollongong, Kogarah or Gosford Stadiums for their stadium extensions. For our beloved Swans - The SCG Ground Trust received huge funding for the Victor Trumper Stand by the state and federal governments. Let us face reality, sports do not earn back the cost of financial capital in which case the private sector would have taken the risk. Sporting infrastructure is a community good so governments have to provide. My only issue is that grassroots football gets the same level of infrastrucutre support out in Greater Western Sydney for new AFL grounds.

Cheers

Don't get me wrong, I have zero issues with governments supporting stadium upgrades in the slightest, just this one is strange as it is the first time any government money has paid for a smaller stadium to be built next door to a stadium already configured for that game and comes two years after the government had handed over 10 million for a training venue and headquarters at Blacktown. It deserves some criticism and questioning, but I must say the AFL have proven they know how to play the game better than most. Impressive work by them.

Love your user name by the way! Got me daydreaming.

[Bas]

The pathetic NSW Government is wasting our money on many things so I'm glad it's wasted on the AFL.