The Game Future NRL Stadiums part II

[TheRam]

Hey if NSW tax payers are happy to stump up $300mill for panthers to have a stadium for 11/12 games a year then thats great for them. The fact there is a State owned state of the art new stadium 30km away is all we were pointing out. Im all for it, its not my money and the more NRl clubs playing in new stadiums the better as far as Im concerned.

Again scheduling is the issue not stadium availability. Games shouldn't be finishing at 10.30pm!

This. Night football sucks. I'm not in the mood for it anymore.

I have basically stopped watching games now that start after 6pm unless they are Parra games or the odd blockbuster maybe and even then I just watch it in delay and fast forward it a hell of a lot most times. And if it isn't being played at one of the better (real) stadiums, then forget about it completely. I just catch the score later on.

These sh*t grounds are night time amateur hour to the max. I like a big show. Sport should be theater and drama. These dilapidated suburban legacy grounds are an embarrassment and a tragedy for the game. Add to that the tired and poor quality imbecilic commentary by people like Blocker and you have the perfect storm for tuning out.

Teams and home games I avoid like the black plague unless Parra is involved are Dragons(Kogarah in particular), Penrith, Tigers, Warriors, Sharks, Sea Eagles and Raiders.

So if they do build the Panthers a new state of the art, be it budget home, I will add them to my watch list of teams again, unless it is a night game of course. Then it all depends on the game and opposition(atmosphere) and my mood of course. Night games suck! I like everything to be bright, colourful and loud. Even Parra stadium annoys me at night. It is the darkest of the stadiums at night. Cowboys stadium is way better and brighter at night. I love the look of it at night actually.

See I think I have become a swinging voter as such and not the glued on barnacle supporter that I used to be and therefore a better barometer of what the average non hardcore supporter wants.

Which is atmosphere and theater, a big show presentation. That rarely ever happens when watching night time footy at the sh*t show venues.

I get that most of you hardcore fans won't agree with me on this, but that is irrelevant. If I feel this way then you can guarantee that there are hundreds of thousands if not millions who don't tune in because when they flick through channels and see what is supposed to be the premier sport in our States being played at these pathetic and lackluster half empty dimly lit park venues, they just keep flicking on.

I mean how are we ever going to convert new migrants for example to our game if they have come from countries that play football in packed out stadiums and in front of insanely fevered and delirious fans compared to our anemic sized and low energy offerings? How many Asians or Indians have we converted? Do we really think we will grab their attention in any major way? If not then that is a hell of a major slice of the population that we are just not catering for and never will and that guaranteed will eventually go to other sports that can give them that missing fix.

People want Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Dior not Dollar Store entertainment and as we all know Asians and Indian love the bling just as much as the rest of us, if not even more so.

 

[TheRam]

For the 100th time, the problem with Bruce isn't travel time (unless you're taking public transport). Nor would travel time from Penrith to Parra be an issue for reasonable people. Most of Canberra's population doesn't live in the CBD either, and may be traveling about half an hour to the stadium anyway depending on where they're coming from.

Bruce's problems are that it's got basically no public transport options, which make it difficult for significant amounts of people to get to, and that there's nothing else around the stadium which is bad for the economy and renters using the stadium, deters tourism, and murders matchday experience.

Sports fans in Canberra would give their left nut for a state of the art alternate to Bruce that's 30 minutes away in a good location. Unfortunately that doesn't exist in Canberra. It does however exist in Sydney which brings us back to the point; it's very difficult to justify building another stadium in Penrith when those other options exist within a convenient distance, which is why you're not even attempting to justify it and you're instead presenting an irrelevant whataboutism about Canberra instead.

Agree with the first part but the last part is ridiculous. Both Canberra and Penrith need new digs. End of.

To say that we deserve it more then you do is stupid and selfish. Penrith is in its own city microclimate so to speak that is way out of the way from anywhere else and only getting bigger and if you know anything about Sydney people you know we don't travel well and hate our traffic congestion and infrastructure around that.

They need to have their own new stadium just like Canberrans do theirs. The money is there, it is just that the dick that has the power to do something about it in Canberra won't, but the powers that be at least for Penrith's sake seem to be willing to at least stump up $300m for a modest all seater. Which I for one think is great news for the game and sport in general overall.

Stop being a bitch and celebrate our victories. Most of us will be over the moon for you if and when you too finally get the stadium that Canberra also deserves.

 

[cleary89]

Apparently story out that 309m will refurb penrith.

 

[Marlins]

Exclusive: Future of Penrith Stadium clear, with knock-down off the table • The Western Weekender

Penrith Stadium will likely undergo a major refurbishment but won’t be knocked down and re-built.

westernweekender.com.au

 

[Marlins]

Not the best decision for Penrith. A refurb is better than nothing though. And keeping both hills smh. They’re going to spend $300 million for a new stand, toilets, and corporate facilities. I know budgets are tight and people scream f**k that for a 1 tenant stadium, but I think this is huge missed opportunity for Penrith, the fans, and The NRL.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Is a new stadium being built?

I haven't seen one official source confirming this.

It would seem political suicide in the current state of the world.

The old one is being rebuilt afaik, and that was pretty much already agreed on so not too much for the govt to lose there.

 

[cleary89]

Nothing really in that article other than you've got $309m, lets discuss what you want with that money and you won't be getting a cent more.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Not the best decision for Penrith. A refurb is better than nothing though. And keeping both hills smh. They’re going to spend $300 million for a new stand, toilets, and corporate facilities. I know budgets are tight and people scream f**k that for a 1 tenant stadium, but I think this is huge missed opportunity for Penrith, the fans, and The NRL.

That’s a bloody expensive stand. For 300M you’d expect it meant that pretty much the whole thing was rebuilt even if it was done in stages over a few seasons.

 

[Vibing]

for 300 mill you'd probably get 2 grand stands on either side , maybe near the size of the ones in Newc ... hills to remain so maybe a 27 or 28K capacity

if this is the case , surely Penrith don't have to move during construction
they could play at a reduced capacity stadium while they're built , maybe taking only the biggest games to parramatta

one stand built in 2024
2nd one in 2025
completed in 2026

 

[Perth Red]

'The hills at both ends of the stadium would remain.'
haha so RL!

$300mill should def buy a new main fan stand, new main corporate stand and two uncovered end stands. 22-25k all seater.

 

[Steel Saints]

Let's see what the plans look like. It is light on details. What was mentioned in the article was more covered seating, new corporate facities and change rooms, especially for an NRLW team.

The hills behind the goal posts could be replaced with one tier uncovered seating down the track, just like old Pirtek stadium used to have. Dolphins did it with stage 3 at the northern end at Kayo stadium. Panthers group, who did fund the Panthers academy worth $22 million, could chip in to finish it off.

One key takeaway from the article is that the Panthers will operate the venue, not VenuesNSW.

 

[Perth Red]

Let's see what the plans look like. It is light on details. What was mentioned in the article was more covered seating, new corporate facities and change rooms, especially for an NRLW team.

The hills behind the goal posts could be replaced with one tier uncovered seating down the track, just like old Pirtek stadium used to have. Dolphins did it with stage 3 at the northern end at Kayo stadium. Panthers group, who did fund their own CEO, could chip in to finish it off.

One key takeaway from the article is that the Panthers will operate the venue, not VenuesNSW.

we did it at HBF park. Probably around $10mill ten years ago

 

[JD-Roo]

Cant blame the fans, how the hell do you know where you're supposed to turn up for a tigers game that weekend? They've got 12 home games and playing at 7 different venues this year!

Generally Commbank games avg more than Campbelltown. If Tigers actually scheduled the right games at right time at commbank they'd be much much bigger crowds there. Games v Penrith, Eels, Bulldogs and Souths should be at Commbank in good spots every year. This needs to be part of the fan engagement strategy the NRL and clubs need to get their sht together on.

Apart from requests to head office when the fixture is getting organised, do the clubs actually have any actual say in when their games are scheduled?

 

[Steel Saints]

we did it at HBF park. Probably around $10mill ten years ago

View attachment 76782

What is the capacity of that upper tier? Also wasn't the other side, "The shed" done up to some degree as well?

Back to Penrith, reading between the lines, it looks like they are trying to get as much value spent on the eastern and western grandstands. We will soon find out what those grandstands look like.

 

[AlwaysGreen]

we did it at HBF park. Probably around $10mill ten years ago

View attachment 76782

That's the amount of fans Perth will get to if they do become team 18. You'll be watching the dorkers.

 

[Perth Red]

Apart from requests to head office when the fixture is getting organised, do the clubs actually have any actual say in when their games are scheduled?

No, they can request and NRl tries to accommodate but in reality, despite the NRL saying it now holds the draw rights, TV still very much dictates what games are when. I mean you wouldn't be playing all sydney potential blockbusters on Thurs nights if that wasn't the case!

 

[Iamback]

Commbank would also draw more away fans though when playing other sydney clubs than Penrith does, that would boost crowds (an opportunity badly missed in Sydney imo). Apart from this purple patch Penrith have traditionally only avgd 10-14k.

I am sure Manly fans will Flock to Thurs night at Commbank.

The demographics of Penrith are different now. The fans of 20 years ago now have teenage kids who now go. We have a very young fan base

 

[Perth Red]

What is the capacity of that upper tier? Also wasn't the other side, "The shed" done up to some degree as well?

Back to Penrith, reading between the lines, it looks like they are trying to get as much value spent on the eastern and western grandstands. We will soon find out what those grandstands look like.

For $100mill in 2012 we got:

New Main covered east stand 7,000 seats not inc lower bowl which was already there but had new seats and open air corp boxes added,
New South stand uncovered 1,850 seats not inc lower bowl which was already there but had seast replaced (designed to take a roof in future upgrades and be extended to 3,200 seats)
2 new Big screens
New pitch and drainage
LED pitch edge sponsor boards and improved lighting
New changing rooms in West stand to accommodate three home teams (the idea was RL,RU and soccer teams woudl have their 'own' changing rooms) plus new away team and officials facilities
New seating around the whole lower bowl (the lower terracing at North end (shed end) was converted to all seating)
New toilets, catering and merch facilities behind East stand
BBQ area and corporate bar area behind East stand

This took capacity up to 20,500 for sport and around 25,000 for concerts. Seating is around 19,000

A further $35mill has been spent this year for soccer WC inc:

• replacing the halogen lights with a shift to modern, lower energy LED lighting
• upgrading the pitch through removal, levelling and turf replacement
• upgrading the player amenities
• new players' race.
• temporary infrastructure for the event to provide patron amenities to cater for the World Cup

 

[Perth Red]

I am sure Manly fans will Flock to Thurs night at Commbank.

The demographics of Penrith are different now. The fans of 20 years ago now have teenage kids who now go. We have a very young fan base

No one flocks anywhere on a Thurs night! Its a dumb time to play prof sport.
The clubs should make it more attractive to go out on a school night by reducing ticket prices, heck make it $1 for kids, and having sponsored give aways at the game, and the NRL should insist on a 7pm KO so families can get home at a reasonable time.

 

[beave]

$300mil and it will still have hills?

FMD.

I'm so glad my mob got QCB when we did.