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The State of Origin Rugby League series will be played outside the three Eastern States for the first time, with the NRL signing a multi-million-dollar deal with the Barnett Government for NSW and Queensland to face off in Perth.
Game two of the 2019 three-game State of Origin series will be played at the new Perth Stadium.
The match between the Queensland Maroons and the NSW Blues is arguably Australian sport’s fiercest rivalry.
And in another break with tradition which the government hopes will provide an additional boost to the tourist economy, the match will not be played mid-week but on a weekend.
The hope is that the weekend fixture will both encourage more fans to travel west – and for them to spend an extra night or two in Perth and the South West as part of their trip.
Premier and Tourism Minister Colin Barnett would not go into specifics about how much the government has paid to bring the game to Perth, citing the competitive bidding market for major sporting events, but said it was “several million dollars”.
He said rugby league fans would enjoy one of Australia’s biggest annual sporting events in the nation’s newest and most advanced stadium.
It is the first event to be funded by $19 million set aside in the State Budget for bidding on a pipeline of major events to fill the $1.4 billion stadium.
“It does not come cheap,” Mr Barnett said.
“But I expect huge numbers of people to come over from other states and we will fill the stadium.”
The Premier predicted the match would be one of the biggest sporting events in WA’s history, rivalling the 1962 Commonwealth Games.
NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg said he expected WA fans to embrace rugby league’s showcase event.
“Taking Origin to new venues has huge benefits for our game. It grows the game in other markets and showcases our premium product to a new audience,” he said.
State of Origin is the first confirmed one-off major event for the stadium, which is due to open ahead of the 2018 AFL season.
Perth Stadium will be configured in rectangle mode for the clash, featuring the installation of “bump-in” seats in front of the regular perimeter and boosting the stadium’s capacity to 65,000 people.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/w...g-state-of-origin-to-new-perth-stadium/#page1
Game two of the 2019 three-game State of Origin series will be played at the new Perth Stadium.
The match between the Queensland Maroons and the NSW Blues is arguably Australian sport’s fiercest rivalry.
And in another break with tradition which the government hopes will provide an additional boost to the tourist economy, the match will not be played mid-week but on a weekend.
The hope is that the weekend fixture will both encourage more fans to travel west – and for them to spend an extra night or two in Perth and the South West as part of their trip.
Premier and Tourism Minister Colin Barnett would not go into specifics about how much the government has paid to bring the game to Perth, citing the competitive bidding market for major sporting events, but said it was “several million dollars”.
He said rugby league fans would enjoy one of Australia’s biggest annual sporting events in the nation’s newest and most advanced stadium.
It is the first event to be funded by $19 million set aside in the State Budget for bidding on a pipeline of major events to fill the $1.4 billion stadium.
“It does not come cheap,” Mr Barnett said.
“But I expect huge numbers of people to come over from other states and we will fill the stadium.”
The Premier predicted the match would be one of the biggest sporting events in WA’s history, rivalling the 1962 Commonwealth Games.
NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg said he expected WA fans to embrace rugby league’s showcase event.
“Taking Origin to new venues has huge benefits for our game. It grows the game in other markets and showcases our premium product to a new audience,” he said.
State of Origin is the first confirmed one-off major event for the stadium, which is due to open ahead of the 2018 AFL season.
Perth Stadium will be configured in rectangle mode for the clash, featuring the installation of “bump-in” seats in front of the regular perimeter and boosting the stadium’s capacity to 65,000 people.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/w...g-state-of-origin-to-new-perth-stadium/#page1
