https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.a...s/news-story/4b3c4295dedbd5e22ba311de8b74134c
Gold Coast Titans, Suns bosses hail hoped for new era at venues
Ryan Keen, Gold Coast Bulletin
July 5, 2018 12:00am
BOSSES at top Gold Coast sports franchises are hailing an anticipated new era for city stadiums with a tipped shift in focus toward attracting more big-shot events.
A review into the operation of Queensland venues, including Gold Coast Suns home Metricon and Gold Coast Titans fortress CBUS Super Stadium, will be unveiled within weeks.
It is expected the review, led by respected sports and tourism executive John Lee, will call for a fundamental shift from focusing on economics and return on investment to enabling more community benefit by filling up the calendar, the Bulletin understands.
Other understood changes are relief for franchises such as the Titans and Suns when it comes to punishing public transport levies dished out by Stadiums Queensland.
The levies are passed on to cover free or subsidised public transport which comes with game day tickets but for the Titans which have a large drive-up crowd any relief will be welcome.
The Gold Coast franchises and city leaders including Mayor Tom Tate have been at war with Stadiums Queensland about perceived exorbitant hiring costs and blaming it for losing acts including Bon Jovi to Brisbane venues. State Government has since completely replaced the board.
Titans CEO Graham Annesley said he was not aware of the outcome of the imminent Lee review but welcomed a shift in focus to getting more events, concerts and other codes’ fixtures at CBUS and Metricon.
“The whole point of having sporting infrastructure in the community is so it benefits the community.
“I don’t believe these sorts of taxpayer funded facilities should be used just for sporting codes. I would applaud any such change in focus.”
Mr Annesley said the Titans lobbied the stadiums review for the Gold Coast to be treated as a regional city not a capital one when it comes to “high” transport levies.
The bigger cities had much larger, better patronised public transport than the Gold Coast: “It’s still very much a drive mentality for the residents on the Gold Coast to get where they need to.”
The Titans
inked a 10-game-a-year, five-year deal for CBUS recently but the contract is fluid to allow for relief on transport levies that might result from the stadiums review.
Titans chairman Dennis Watt said city stadiums were “a significant investment and it would be great to see our stadiums getting greater usage for the benefit of the Gold Coast public”.
“Whether other sports or concerts, it takes the pressure off the Titans to carry the weight of the cost for that piece of infrastructure.
“It moves us closer to a level playing field to our other competitors in the NRL.”
Mr Watt said savings would be ploughed back into Titans playing talent and junior pathways for males and females.
Suns chairman Tony Cochrane, who last month called for Stadiums Queensland to be renamed Stadiums Brisbane alleging bias, said: “We have been trying for a long time to attract additional product to Metricon. We have made enormous efforts and every time we are beaten by Stadiums Queensland’s own venues in Brisbane.
If they are going to have more of a statewide approach rather than Brisbane-centric approach, we would welcome that with open arms.”
A dozen Suns home games a year pumped $29m into the Gold Coast economy and a further six events or concerts at Metricon would inject a further $15m, Mr Cochrane said.
