Push to increase Spotless Stadium capacity

A predicted capacity crowd at Spotless Stadium for the Preliminary Final this Saturday has again raised the prospect of capacity increase.

The GWS Giants home ground at Sydney Olympic Park hosts its first ever AFL finals match with the Giants hosting the Western Bulldogs, playing for a spot in the 2016 Grand Final. As of Tuesday, less than 1,000 tickets remain for the 24,000-capacity venue.

In 2016, regular season matches for the Giants have averaged 12,126 with the highest attendance against cross-city rivals Sydney Swans when 21,541 in round 12. The next best was 13,766 against Hawthorn.

The Homebush venue also hosts Sydney Thunder matches in cricket’s T20 Big Bash League. Their four matches attracted an aggregate attendance of 77,331 (19,333 average).

With the 83,500-seat ANZ Stadium set to be transformed into a rectangular-only venue in the coming years, Sydney will require an oval stadium other than the SCG with a decent capacity capable of hosting big events.

It was revealed in May that redevelopment plans focused on increasing the capacity by 6,000 to 30,000 but stadium officials haven’t ruled out going bigger.

The showground didn’t receive any funds as part of Mike Baird’s $1.6 billion NSW stadium strategy – with that focusing on ANZ, Parramatta and Allianz Stadium’s, however stadium officials are looking to the NSW Government for help – at least $20 million would be required.

The showground is currently in deep negotiations with Cricket Australia and the ICC about hosting key games in the 2020 World Twenty20 and have confirmed 35,000 is now on the table as a consideration.

“We could go anywhere between 30,000 and 35,000 depending on how we do it,” said the showground’s chief operating officer, Darryl Jeffrey.

Spotless Stadium originally opened in 1998 as the baseball stadium for the Sydney Olympics, before it received a $65 million transformation to become the GWS Giants home ground in 2012. Learn more >