Blow for stadium as rugby set to quit Subiaco

Western Force are set to move from Subiaco Oval to Members Equity Stadium in 2010 in a move that will almost certainly kill any last hope of the State Government spending $1.1 billion on a multipurpose arena at Kitchener Park.
  
The decision by the Super 14 rugby club will cost the WA Football Commission up to $1.9 million a year in lost rent. But the saving will be a financial lifeline for the Force, which has seen its membership slump.
  
The Force says their only chance to reclaim lost support is to play at a rectangular stadium to improve the atmosphere. At Subiaco, most fans are more than 30m from the sideline while the front row at Members Equity is 6.5m away and corporate boxes just 15m away.
  
The move, approved at a Force board meeting this week, will put new pressure on the Government to fulfil its 2004 promise to the Australian Rugby Union to upgrade the capacity at Members Equity to 22,000.
  
Force chief executive Greg Harris said the move depended only on striking a deal with the Town of Vincent and venue manager Allia Holdings, owned by Perth Glory founder Nick Tana.
  
It involves reconfiguring Members Equity at minimal cost to increase the capacity from 17,400 to 21,000, which is the expected average crowd at Subiaco Oval for the next Super 14 season.
  
Allia chief Peter Bauchop said plans included temporary seating at the northern and southern ends, transportable corporate boxes and two big screens. "Spectators will be right on top of the action and the atmosphere will be fantastic," he said. "It's a boutique stadium, half the size of an AFL ground."
  
Existing individual and corporate members will get priority when booking seats or suites at the East Perth ground for 2010 and 2011. Mr Harris believes the move will reverse the slump in memberships from more than 20,000 in 2006 to 14,000 last season and only 10,000 so far for next year.
  
"After three years at Subiaco Oval, our memberships are down by a half and our attendance by a third," he said. "We've done a lot of research to learn why and it's mainly because of Subiaco Oval's unsuitability for rugby. It's no longer viable for us to be there. Our match-day costs are substantially higher than (those of) the other three Super 14 sides in Australia -- in the case of the Reds and the Brumbies, more than twice as much -- yet we are the only team playing in a non-rectangular stadium.
  
"Our customers don't like it. The profit of this organisation fell from $2.4 million in 2006 to $950,000 last year and this year it's line-ball to be in the black. For us, the move is a matter of survival.
  
"To be financially sustainable in the long term, we've got to get the fans back to games and we just aren't going to do that at Subiaco Oval."
  
Despite the financial outlook, the Force have resisted increasing ticket and membership prices for next year.
  
ARU chief John O'Neill will be in Perth next month to lobby the Government over its 2004 promise for a new stand at Members Equity Stadium.