http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spo...s/news-story/0b3aac6b5781465265dfbb878c631c71
Sport and politics to collide once more over Sydney’s stadiums
Sport and politics careered headlong into each other in the lead-up to the NRL grand final. And having just removed the Macklemore debate from our system, the two are set to collide again this week amid suggestions the state government is ready to end more than a year of painful deliberating and hand down a decision on its stadiums strategy.
The stadiums issue has been politicking at its best, with sports forced to bide their time as lobbying behind the scenes slowed a process that appeared relatively straightforward when then NSW premier Mike Baird pledged $1.6 billion to renovate and refurbish Sydney’s major venues in April last year.
What should have been a formality has turned into calamity. The matter is likely to go before cabinet within days and the fear among many is that state Sports Minister Stuart Ayres will make a submission that Allianz Stadium should be the priority.
If that is the case, what a joke, given the desire of the sporting codes who supply the majority of content to Sydney’s venues. They have made it patently clear they want ANZ Stadium to be addressed first. They want Allianz Stadium updated as well, but only after the former Olympic venue is given a significant and radical overhaul.
NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg addressed the matter personally with premier Gladys Berejiklian recently, pushing the cause of his code, and by extension ANZ Stadium.
Then, as revealed in
The Weekend Australian, Greenberg and his Football Federation Australia counterpart David Gallop wrote to the premier requesting her government honour its commitment and turn ANZ Stadium into a world-class rectangular stadium, with work to begin by March 2019.
The timing was important from two perspectives. The NRL has grand finals up for grabs and it wants to go to market. The code’s clubs are also crying out for better facilities. The FFA wants to host the women’s World Cup in 2023. It needs ANZ Stadium in shape to bid for the event.
The letter was co-signed by western Sydney NRL clubs and the Wanderers. The NRL and FFA couldn’t be clearer. They want ANZ Stadium improved and they want it done as a priority.
Against that backdrop, there are genuine fears that lobbying behind the scenes could lead to Allianz Stadium jumping to the front of the queue. The suspicion is the powerful SCG Trust is pushing to have a 47,000-seat venue built where Allianz Stadium now sits in a move that would put the redevelopment of ANZ Stadium on hold.
If anything, the NRL would prefer Allianz Stadium to be reduced in capacity. It would be happy for the venue to be limited to 35,000 seats and turned into a boutique venue. The broadcasters — Foxtel and the Nine Network — have also weighed into the debate amid a push for smaller stadiums to make the sports more presentable on television.
The indication is they would like Allianz Stadium to be the priority, albeit as a venue with a seating capacity of not much more than 30,000. Amid the myriad competing interests and views, the state government must sit down and make a call. If Allianz Stadium is given priority, the government will have ignored the wishes of the sporting codes. All hell will break loose.
Previous commitments made by the NRL and FFA will be off the table. Grand finals will once again be up for grabs. The Queensland and Victorian governments will be licking their lips. They are lurking in the shadows, just waiting for the chance to poach the game’s showpiece event. Clubs may revolt, although they are also waiting on a decision from the state government on centre of excellence funding. That decision was meant to be announced weeks ago but has been held up by the current stadiums debate, as well as the suggestion that more funds need to be found to ensure no clubs miss out.
Ayres has plenty to lose as well, given one of the clubs that was initially in danger of failing to secure funding was the Wests Tigers. Its $57 million proposal would have seen a centre of excellence built adjacent to WestConnex, the motorway currently being built in western Sydney. The Tigers’ facility was designed to augment that work. The minister for WestConnex is Ayres. When the Sydney clubs were ranked by an independent body, the Tigers were in the bottom two with Manly.
Ayres has been wisely attempting to find more money to appease all the clubs, yet that good work could be undone if he alienates them by ignoring their wishes to update ANZ Stadium as a matter of urgency.
There are those who would suggest the current imbroglio is a stadiums issue rather than a sporting one. But the sports and their clubs are the ones who have the most to gain and lose.
The NRL is locked in a fight to grow crowds and memberships. There is widespread acknowledgment that one of the keys to making that happen is to improve facilities for clubs in Sydney.
Brisbane has Suncorp Stadium. Melbourne and Gold Coast have boutique grounds that are perfectly designed for rugby league. North Queensland will have a sparkly new stadium in 2019.
Sydney is lagging sadly behind, something the state government clearly recognises given it is prepared to throw nearly $2 billion at improving facilities. That commitment in April last year was greeted with elation by the NRL and the clubs, not to mention the other sports who stood to benefit.
Yet the sports and clubs who greeted it most enthusiastically are now gripped by a sense of dread as they realise there is every chance Allianz Stadium will be given priority. If that is the case, the state government will have a fight on its hands. Much is at stake as sport and politics once again collide.
