[R2K-info] - The capacity of Kogarah's Jubilee Oval

[R2K]

http://www.r2k.info/capacity.html

 

[R2K]

[R2K-info] - The capacity of Kogarah's Jubilee Oval

2 May, 2014​

There has been some discussion lately about the official capacity of Kogarah's Jubilee Oval.

Last Saturday the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) published an article titled "Rabbitohs show why you should try this at home".

As part of the article, which some cynics may see as a public relations exercise to sugar-coat the significant reduction of home games at suburban venues, the SMH claimed that the capacity of Jubilee Oval is a mere 13,000:

​

While the article was written by up-and-coming sports journalist Michael Chammas, it appeared that Brad Walter (SMH Chief Rugby League Journalist) hadn't reviewed the facts regarding the capacity of Kogarah.

Walter enthusiastically billed the article on Twitter as the "must read of the weekend". The zeal was shared by the St.George-Illawarra Dragons who retweeted Walter's tweet.

It took tweets from St.George-Illawarra supporters for Brad Walter to concede that an error had been made:

St.George-Illawarra supporters will wait with bated breath for the "clarification" in the Sun-Herald and one can reasonably wonder what other inaccuracies exist in the SMH data.

The article makes some significant claims regarding the future of the greatest game of all, yet it contains the most fundamental statistical error.

Was the purpose of the article to examine all the data with depth and rigour or was there more of a preoccupation with attempting to justify the reduction of matches at spiritual homegrounds?

The information that the SMH presented about Shark Park was much clearer than what was published about Kogarah and Wollongong's WIN Stadium. The data is ambiguous and is like trying to compare apples to oranges.

In July 2006 the St.George Leagues Club Journal confirmed:

"With 6235 new seats in total, the ground's capacity has expanded to 20,541, up from 17,500..." (Link to article here)

The St.George Leagues Club article was published following the completion of the $8 million upgrade from the Federal Government which provided numerous enhancements to Jubilee Oval including the installation of permanent lighting.

​

The lights go in at Jubilee - (scoreboard pole - 5/10/2005)​

Since the St.George Leagues Club Journal confirmed that the capacity was 20,541 in July 2006, Jubilee Oval received additional funding to enhance its facilities:

• $5 million from the State Government in 2009 (details here)
• $2.2 million in 2010 for the Jubilee Oval Community Facility funded by the Federal Government's Regional & Local Community Infrastructure Program (details here page 4)
• $13 million from the State Government in 2010 (details here)

Despite these contributions which upgraded the Dragons' spiritual home, a tweet originating from last Thursday's Red V forum (1 May 2014) reports that the Club believes the capacity of the ground has decreased since July 2006:

Regardless of this conjecture, the maximum number of persons that may be accommodated at Jubilee Oval is - 22,609. The revised capacity was determined by Kogarah Council to reflect the last upgrade of the ground including the new northern stand extension to the existing central stand.

This total is calculated as follows:

Grandstand seating, inclusive of Southern, Central and new Northern Stand

Level 1 -1,721
Level 3 - 3,693
Open turfed area eastern side - 10,043 persons
Open turfed area southern end - 860 persons
Open Concourse seating - 3,606
Open Concourse seating for People with Disabilities - 7
Open Northern stand seating - 2,679


The total persons calculated for the open turfed areas has been calculated pursuant to the requirements of Part D1.13 of the BCA. This calculation is based on the unobstructed turfed areas available for patrons to stand upon and view the match fixture and excludes the areas currently occupied by merchandising vans and associated queue barriers. Any additional structures placed upon the open turfed areas, such as marquees, barriers, jumping castles and the like, will result in a reduction in the ground capacity.

The claim that it costs over $500,000 to maintain Kogarah each year is also a very interesting statement. The current lease amount is $89,739.90 per annum, while the fee for insurance is $44,696.14. The Club pays the water bills and maintains the playing surface. However, it would certainly be interesting to see all the costs that reportedly total in excess of $500,000.

It should be noted that the naming rights sponsorship income paid to Kogarah Council (both OKI & WIN) for Jubilee Oval has always been deposited into the Jubilee Oval sinking fund (reserve).

To support a better deal for Kogarah Jubilee, you can sign the online petition:

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/a-better-deal-for-kogarah.html​

[R2K-info]​

 

[smi962]

Good post.

 

[R2K]

Good post.

Thanks smi962

 

[Willow]

If Michael Chammas and the SMH made this error then what else have they got wrong?

I know Chammas is looked up to by certain forum members, and these forummers 'urged' others to read his stuff. I don't wish to embarrass the forum member who sang the loudest.

But there was an article and I did read it, only to find a lot of supposition in the data - at times it looked to be overly complex, and this more-or-less required the reader the simply take the author's word for it. Even the aforementioned fan of Michael Chammas admitted that readers were required to accept some hypotheticals within the article and make their own presumptions.

Then there's this... unfortunately it appears that there is also some straight out misinformation.

Thanks to R2K for highlighting the errors. If anything, it provides a timely reminder that you can't believe everything you read in the paper.

One can only wonder how many people now consider the misinformation to be 'fact'.

 

[Father Ted]

Not so long again we had to leave Kogarah because of Mythical Concrete cancer in the main grand stand . But blind trust is just that, blind.

 

[Black Forest Dragon]

Good post.

Great Post.

Very good read and well documented.

Editors never let the facts get in the way of a good story, eh? ...or so the saying goes.

I think you are right - the article exists to support preconceived notions to move away from boutique grounds. Dragons perhaps simply more compliant than others.

 

[elevenstraight]

So if capacity is 19209....

What's going to happen in the near future when we have say 25000 members? We are at approximately 18500 at the moment.

I realise not all are ticketed members, but we are not far off having at least 20000 ticketed.

 

[bottle]

So if capacity is 19209....

What's going to happen in the near future when we have say 25000 members? We are at approximately 18500 at the moment.

I realise not all are ticketed members, but we are not far off having at least 20000 ticketed.

As Michael Jackson would've said, "You gonna be startin' something".

 

[Willow]

So if capacity is 19209....

What's going to happen in the near future when we have say 25000 members? We are at approximately 18500 at the moment.

I realise not all are ticketed members, but we are not far off having at least 20000 ticketed.

You almost covered it yourself. To answer that question you would need to see the membership breakdown. How many are non-ticketed members? How many ticketed for Kogarah only? How many for Wgong only? etc. I'm sure a good portion are interstate members.

 

[elevenstraight]

Yeah sweet Willow,

I'm just wondering what ifs. I'd hate to lose kogarah, I've been going to kogarah since I was 8. 26 years now. I, like most people, don't want to lose it but it just dawned on me when having a conversation with a mate that we may not be far away from out growing it.

Not meaning to start a shit fight bottle!! Although I can see where your coming from.

 

[Willow]

That's cool. I would just like to see the breakdown. Otherwise it's very hard to do anything other than speculate.

I just always saw these supporter membership packages as a marketing tool. Essentially to sell merchandise. Even with a season ticket holders, how many go to every game?

FTR, I'm with a few mates and we end up with quite a few season tix for Kogarah. Sometimes, for whatever reason, someone can't make it.