The Game Future NRL Stadiums part II

[Suitman]

I agree and would love for it to happen. If Melboune can push their average home crowds to 20k it won't loose much atmosphere either. Suncorp is still pretty good when the broncs have 25 - 30k in. It also gives us the opportunity to host things like double headers and magic weekend in Melbourne in a purpose built venue and will allow for the Storm / NRL to capitalise on greater interest in finals matches.

As per my reply earlier, the foundations were built in order to support expansion - plenty of room east and west and still a bit of room to the north before it hits Olympic Boulevard, so it wouldn't be too difficult - I imagine they'd be going up more than out.

As mentioned though it's the roof that's the issue.

Indeed it is the roof that is the issue and as you say, it would require complete removal. The foundations are in place for a larger stadium as you say, but even the removal of the roof may very well make any expansion cost prohibitive for this reason. It may be a great stadium at present, but it was a stupid, short sighted design.

 

[sempmrh]

I agree and would love for it to happen. If Melboune can push their average home crowds to 20k it won't loose much atmosphere either. Suncorp is still pretty good when the broncs have 25 - 30k in. It also gives us the opportunity to host things like double headers and magic weekend in Melbourne in a purpose built venue and will allow for the Storm / NRL to capitalise on greater interest in finals matches.

Anecdotally, the sweet spot for Storm crowds at AAMI Park is about 15,000. With the design of the stadium and the spread of fans, half full is when the atmosphere is noticeably different. If the design stayed the same but with a larger capacity, 20,000 would be ideal.

Storm has actually set a lofty, albeit long term goal of 50,000 members. If that goal is achieved, even with a lot of that figure made up of reduced game memberships, you'd possibly be pushing 30,000 most weeks.

 

[Timmah]

Indeed it is the roof that is the issue and as you say, it would require complete removal. The foundations are in place for a larger stadium as you say, but even the removal of the roof may very well make any expansion cost prohibitive for this reason. It may be a great stadium at present, but it was a stupid, short sighted design.

Looks good tho

 

[Suitman]

Looks good tho

Haha!

 

[Timmah]

Haha!

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

AAMI Park was originally supposed to be smaller (I believe approximately 25,000) but Melbourne Victory kicked up a fuss and capacity was increased to 30,000, despite Victory not even planning on playing all of their home games there. They still don't play all their home games at AAMI Park.

Another issue that would make it difficult to upgrade and expand AAMI Park is how locked in it is with Olympic Boulevard out the front and Batman Avenue and Citylink directly behind it. Not a lot of room to spare there - but even that's a minor problem compared to what they'd have to do with the roof. You would have to completely disassemble the entire roof.

I remember during the construction of AAMI Park there were giant supports all around holding the roof while they pieced it together. It wasn't until the entire roof was completed that they were able to remove the supports. AAMI Park is quite an engineering feat and it would take an even bigger one to upgrade it.

Honeslty though, i dont think they need more than 30k.

Its great that we didnt get stuck at 25k (god, Gallop was useless) but i think maxing out at 30k has benefits. If the Storm actually start to hit there limits continuously, rather than opening new seats they can just force fans to buy earlier and fully commit further in advance.

And for any crowds smaller, they will always look much better in the smaller stadium in terms of sound and appearance.

I think Storm are all set. Any new investments the Vic gov are willing to pay should be directed at junior programs/local club infrastructure.

 

[sempmrh]

I think Storm are all set. Any new investments the Vic gov are willing to pay should be directed at junior programs/local club infrastructure.

Actually, the Victorian Government have put $12 million towards a facility for rugby league in Victoria. It'll house NRL Victoria, all junior programs and will also be the home of a Storm women's team when the time comes.

https://www.nrl.com/news/2018/04/13/victorian-rugby-league-state-centre/

As a member, I should say that I'm very happy with the capacity of AAMI Park as it is and while it's fine to talk about hypothetical upgrades, we aren't going to outgrow it any time soon. It's the perfect size for rugby league in Melbourne and it will be for a long, long time.

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

Actually, the Victorian Government have put $12 million towards a facility for rugby league in Victoria. It'll house NRL Victoria, all junior programs and will also be the home of a Storm women's team when the time comes.

https://www.nrl.com/news/2018/04/13/victorian-rugby-league-state-centre/

As a member, I should say that I'm very happy with the capacity of AAMI Park as it is and while it's fine to talk about hypothetical upgrades, we aren't going to outgrow it any time soon. It's the perfect size for rugby league in Melbourne and it will be for a long, long time.

Dont get me wrong, im not saying the Vic gov has been bad to RL. Just that, if they come to us and say "here is $250mil. Do you wanna upgrade AAMI", i would hope the reply is "Nah, AAMIs fine. How about even just a fraction of that to boost grassroots?"

 

[Diesel]

Don't quote me on this but I think there some sort of stipulation when it was built that no rectangular ground can exceed x capacity (35 or 40k I think) as the Vic Govt wanted events that required a larger capacity to go to Docklands.

Now that the AFL own Docklands, un upgrade might be on the cards in the next but I can't see it as it is less than 10 years old. Besides, the lower capacity probably had more to do with keeping RL and football in their box rather than event distribution.

Agree with @Perth Red though, for now and probably the forseeable future it is perfect for the Storm.

When the GF gets moved around, watch Melbourne increase AAMI capacity. RL on cricket grounds is shit

 

[unforgiven]

When the GF gets moved around, watch Melbourne increase AAMI capacity. RL on cricket grounds is shit

They aren't cricket grounds anymore, the way cricket is treated at these grounds is disgusting!

 

[Diesel]

They aren't cricket grounds anymore, the way cricket is treated at these grounds is disgusting!

I’d agree with you there. There’s NFI I’m calling it a fumbleball ground.

 

[unforgiven]

I’d agree with you there. There’s NFI I’m calling it a fumbleball ground.

Pisses me off, they have ruined Australian cricket for that other sport. They have actually stolen the cricket grounds.

 

[horrie hastings]

Norwest Rail to be up and running in Apr $500 Million under budget.... just about pays for the new SFS.

Nah, that will just go to the overblown costs of the light rail and west connex.

 

[Quidgybo]

AAMI park however should have been built to hold 40k as it is in a major city

Its roof doesnt lend itself to a easy expansion though

Madness. Even more so from a Rugby League self interest point of view. We don’t need to go around re-creating the Sydney situation with one third full, over-sized grounds that swallow atmosphere, actually detract from the event and stifle supporter growth. Stadium expansion is justified when we can actually regularly fill the venues we’ve got for the majority of games we play - regular season club games. Building stadiums to accomodate the one or two big events per year that need larger capacities hurts the game’s growth because it makes most games we play at these venues a worse experience for the fans we want to attract. Ambition is great but going too big, too soon is counterproductive.

Leigh.

 

[Perth Red]

Melbourne doesnt need a bigger stadium, we dont have RL games there that need a 45k ground and a smaller but still adequate stadium makes for much better club games. It’s perfect as is, maybe in 30 years they might but they will no doubt cross that bridge if they need to. Much better to deal with it in decades time than have the storm rattling around a half empty stadium

 

[azza29]

Not denying there would have been issues at some point but nothing prolonged or systemic as has clearly been the case at Suncorp (and Etihad for that matter)

AAMI surface seems to be good these days, but I definitely remember a few Rebels matches back in 2015-2016 where they would have to reposition scrums because the turf kept sliding up.

As a member, I should say that I'm very happy with the capacity of AAMI Park as it is and while it's fine to talk about hypothetical upgrades, we aren't going to outgrow it any time soon. It's the perfect size for rugby league in Melbourne and it will be for a long, long time.

Agree, current size is fine. Once the average Storm crowd is 25k and they're regularly selling out half the games, perhaps then Melbourne might need something bigger but that's probably a long way off.

 

[Timmah]

Madness. Even more so from a Rugby League self interest point of view. We don’t need to go around re-creating the Sydney situation with one third full, over-sized grounds that swallow atmosphere, actually detract from the event and stifle supporter growth. Stadium expansion is justified when we can actually regularly fill the venues we’ve got for the majority of games we play - regular season club games. Building stadiums to accomodate the one or two big events per year that need larger capacities hurts the game’s growth because it makes most games we play at these venues a worse experience for the fans we want to attract. Ambition is great but going too big, too soon is counterproductive.

Leigh.

I don't know where you've got that idea - suggesting it should've been 40k (10k greater than current capacity) is hard turning it into a 'one-third full, oversized ground'. Nobody's suggesting we need a 60-80k rectangular ground in Melbourne.

 

[Timmah]

AAMI surface seems to be good these days, but I definitely remember a few Rebels matches back in 2015-2016 where they would have to reposition scrums because the turf kept sliding up.

I feel that was more to do with the Rebels/rugby than the surface itself - and I guess my point is it got fixed quickly, unlike Sandcorp's long term issues.

 

[Diesel]

Out of Adelaide Oval, Etihad & Optus Stadiums, how many actually reconfigure to something remotely close to a rectangle?

 

[Timmah]

Out of Adelaide Oval, Etihad & Optus Stadiums, how many actually reconfigure to something remotely close to a rectangle?

Only Etihad as far as I understand, Adelaide and Optus don't roll in at all