AFL urges Barnett to build $1.1b stadium

[travelling_gerry]

The AFL yesterday urged the incoming government to stick with plans for a new $1.1 billion outdoor stadium rather than a patch-up job on Subiaco Oval to save money.

But premier-elect Colin Barnett repeated his line yesterday that the new stadium would be reassessed in light of falling revenues and the Nationals’ demand for more money to be spent in the regions.

...............................

WA Football Commission chairman Neale Fong has said it favoured moving to a new stadium. WA Rugby chairman Geoff Stooke said its preferred option was a dedicated rectangular stadium.

Task force estimates for a standalone rugby stadium were between $300 million and $400 million


The whole article here...

[jargan83]

cheers gerry, I was hoping someone in internet land would put that up. Theres an opinion piece by Mark Duffield in todays paper as well if someone can find that as well
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[travelling_gerry]

blogs.thewest.com.au NEWS BLOG - Should the government build $1.1b stadium?

[jargan83]

gerry you are a star
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[laura]

I don't know who Jamie is but he/she said this:
Refurbishing Subi Oval has 4 major flaws
1 – Geographic constraints of Roberts Rd, Rail line and Hay St can only allow an extra 10,000 – 15,000 seats at a cost of around $800M
2 – The size of the oval at Subi will always mean that Rugby and Soccer fans will always be ‘far’ from the action and this ultimately only serves on group within the community – the WAFC (who stand to lose lucrative rents if a new oval is built)
3 – A further $300M - $400M is needed in the future to build a dedicated Rugby/Soccer stadium which will only seat 30,000 (this is crap as Rugby fans will still have to go to Subi anyway for International matches)
4 – WA still won’t get major International blockbuster Rugby games as the ARU would prefer a minimum 60,000 to satisfy revenue targets…

= complete and utter waste of our taxpayers money!!!

Building a brand new and slightly smaller oval at Kitchener Park for only $300M more ($1.1B)
1 – Builds a stadium with 60,000 – 80,000 seats or more (wow, much better value!)
2 – Becomes a major drawcard for blockbuster International Rugby and Soccer events
3 – Will be an effective stadium for ALL 3 codes and thus be recognised all around the world as the home of sport in W.A.
4 – Reflects the changing makeup of the WA sporting public – more Mining migrants from NZ, UK, Ireland and South Africa who increase the numbers of Rugby or Soccer fans

= MUCH BETTER USE OF TAXPAYERS MONEY

[Swee_82]

And yay for Rugby WA to have the stones to start talking about rectangles again instead of supporting the MPS.

[Swee_82]

3 – Will be an effective stadium for ALL 3 codes and thus be recognised all around the world as the home of sport in W.A.

NO IT BLOODY WELL WON'T



Compared to the WAFCs very expensive plan to redevelop Subi, AGAIN, the MPS does look like a good option for them, and if the options are upgrade Subi and leave it oval ($800 million-ish, assuming it would also require infrastruture upgrades)or the MPS ($1.1 billion) looks the goods, even for us, but it's very much a case of the lesser of two evils.


But not for one second am I going to let these people call the Albino Pachyderm a "rugby stadium" cos a few slide-in seats that might get used once a year, does not a rugby stadium make!

[blueandblack]

all 3 codes?

lets see...

AFL
Rugby Union
Rugby League
Soccer/Football/Futball

so far thats 4. Any others?


edit: nice comment in the blog, Laura. Well done.

[laura]

I think they count Union and League as 1.

I opted for dramatic:
Of course there are more urgent issues to address and they have seperate funding and budgets. Right now, this particular issue is being raised as; should the stadium go ahead with being built or not?
I say no! It only accomodates for AFL fans, the viewing for Rugby and Soccer will still be shocking and it is not going to attract anymore INTERNATIONAL (yes, because Rugby & Soccer are international sports, where we play other countries not just other states) teams. Its no secret that New Zealand refuses to play here because of the dodgy stadium and its capacity. If there is not a suitable upgrade to Member’s Equity or a whole new rectangular stadium then Perth is not going to attract any internationals sporting teams, apart from Cricket, and it will get lumped with the “dullsville” tag as a permanent adjective for Perth.

If there is going to be any tax payer’s money spent on stadiums, it should be in the form of an upgrade to both Subi Oval and Member’s Equity, thus accomodating for all sporting codes and not just AFL. As a member of Cottesloe Rugby Club, surely Colin Barnett can appreciate that soemthing needs to be done to improve the venues for international Rugby (and Soccer) tests.

If nothing is done, Perth may as well become a small island in the middle of the Indian Ocean and not bother having sporting teams at all, because no one will have anywhere suitable to watch.

Part 2
I'd also like to add that Rugby and Soccer are treated with contempt in this state!
The only good thing that the government has done (so far) is allowed Perth to have The Western Force, The Reds and Perth Glory. As far as accommodating for them, nothing has been done. Take particular note of the problems RugbyWA are having over the re-location of their offices, to a new site that hasn't been built yet and is looking in doubt due to the expenses...all because the government wants to knock down Perry Lakes (the home of athletics in WA, where athletes like Betty Cuthbert and Shirley Strickland trained).
Not to mention the fact that channel 7 rarely manages to play an International Rugby game the same day its played and Glory and Force matches aren't even televised, yet Perth's AFL teams have prime time coverage on most weekends.

How is anyone supposed to know the joy of soccer and rugby if they can't watch it at a decent venue and can’t even see it on TV?! Build/upgrade 2 stadiums: 1 rectangular, 1 oval and then watch the dollars roll in as punters sign up for memberships, buy copious amounts of beer, pay ridiculous amounts for parking and International tourists come to watch their touring teams play.

Part 3
You can’t make a rectangle fit in to an oval.

No one is happy with that and people will always complain. For fans of rectangular sports, they got poor viewing and AFL fans hate the fact that the grass is damaged.
Only solution is for 2 separate fields. A rectangular stadium would be catering for 3 sports; Rugby Union, Soccer & Rugby League not just AFL on its oval.

Get a grip people, sport in this state is developing and growing and we need to cater for it. The MPS is a poor suggestion and caters for no-one but AFL. The reconfiguration properties will only be used when it is convenient and does not interfere with the AFL schedule. This is not a solution for sports requiring a rectangular field, its a quick fix attempt to shut them up. It won’t work now and it won’t work in the future. The government needs to collaborate with all 4 (Union, League, Soccer and AFL) sporting codes and plan, allocate funds and decide on something that is best for all 4 not just for AFL. WAFC needs to take a step back and realize there is more to Perth than AFL and whilst it may be the most popular now, it certainly doesn’t have the internationals of Soccer and Rugby.
If this state is ever going to have a chance at hosing the Commonwealth games, the government had better get its skates on and deal with this now and plan for the future not try and just cope for the future.

Ps. I think Lachlan’s idea of a dedicated sports precinct would be fantastic! Not many cities in Australia, let alone the world, have anything like this and it would certainly put Perth on the map in sporting terms. It would become an international attraction and set Perth up for the future. Having all the sports in the same area would also allow for tourists to attend multiple events and raise the tourism economy. Locating it near Burswood would also allow for access to public transport, proximity to the airport and near-by accommodation. What isn’t to love about that?!
Scrap the Esplanade Ferris wheel and the foreshore development, if you want Perth to be known improve sporting facilities for the sports that already have international appeal. Raising the profile of sport in the state will also impact positively on promoting sport participation in the state and thus decrease the burden on hospitals, particularly for non-essential procedures like gastric banding and liposuction. Furthermore increasing the number of spare beds available in hospitals and reducing the need for money to be spent on more beds.

Perfect solution!

[jargan83]

the Glory and Force games aren't televised due to Foxtel owning the rights to them.

But back in the old NSL days and C7 held the rights to the Glory they rarely showed them
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[laura]

Well doesn't foxsports own some televising rights to AFL..why can't there be some form of shared rights where Fox and 7 are both allowed to televised at least home games.
Anyway, minor point of my rant. If the state cared enough they could do something about it, showing international matches on the same day they are played would be a start and then when thats a proven success get Force & Glory games. Its not a huge ask, AFL is only a local game and that gets televised...even the WAFL games get on tv. Rugby and Soccer are not shown the same level of support.

[The EnForcer]

Anybody know what Colin Barnett's sporting background is?

[laura]

Colin Barnett - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Positions: Vice Patron of the Claremont Football Club (Inc), Claremont Football Club Past Players and Officials Association , Cottesloe Surf Life Saving Club (Inc), Claremont/Nedlands Cricket Club (Inc), North Cottesloe Surf Life Saving Club (Inc) and Fremantle Surf Life Saving Club (Inc); Patron of Sea View Golf Club (Inc) and Cottesloe Rugby Union Club.
Interests: Any spectator sport, plays social tennis
http://www.parliament.curriculum.edu..._params=&srch=

[jargan83]

Well doesn't foxsports own some televising rights to AFL..why can't there be some form of shared rights where Fox and 7 are both allowed to televised at least home games.

The rights to the AFL are owned by 7 and 10, they then sell 4 games to Foxtel because they wouldnt have a hope of showing all 8 games.

Super Rugby has always been a product made for Pay TV, and it sucks to say that it looks like test rugby is heading that way as well. Channel 7's coverage is an absolute joke.

The A-League and Socceroos internationals were brought by Foxtel when the FTA networks passed and SBS wanted only the Socceroos games, and i say congrats to FFA for sticking to their guns by making a network buy both. At least you know you can watch Force away games and A-League games without having to defer to another sport (eg AFL) or a re-run of a 10 year old movie
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[blueandblack]

Dont forget SANZAR is bankrolled by News Corp, part owner of Foxtel.

SANZAR - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"To fund the competition SANZAR looked to News Limited, asking for $6 million over 5 years. Eventually SANZAR was offered $555 million over 10 years for worldwide television rights."