Iconic suburban grounds could be a thing of the past within 10 years after chief executive Dave Smith hailed the NSW government’s billion-dollar investment in major stadiums as a defining day for the code and a major step towards consolidation of Sydney clubs at three cutting-edge venues.
The NRL has had a longstanding plan to consolidate their clubs at state-of-the-art grounds, maximising their financial return and the experience for the fans at the expense of some of the sport’s suburban venues. The end result is that grounds like Leichhardt Oval and Brookvale Oval could become endangered species.
However, that plan has been held back by the lack of investment in stadiums. That changed yesterday when NSW Premier Mike Baird unveiled his plan for the city’s major venues.
Under the $1.6 billion strategy, $300 million will initially be spent on rebuilding Parramatta Stadium to a 30,000-seat venue with the aim to have the ground completed by 2019.
Once Parramatta Stadium is redeveloped, Allianz Stadium will be knocked down and replaced by a cutting-edge stadium housing up to 55,000 seats.
ANZ Stadium will then become the focus for investment, with funds devoted towards turning the ground into a rectangular venue, with the potential to add a retractable roof.
Smith, who had been campaigning hard to have money invested in stadiums, described yesterday’s announcement as a victory for rugby league and revealed it would lead to consolidation of clubs at major venues over the next decade.
While Smith spoke about the significance of spiritual homes, he indicated they would become houses for high-performance centres rather than games.
“It’s a moment,” Smith said.
“A very big legacy has been created. I think it’s going to be great for the game. World-class rugby league stadiums for our fans. They’re going to have the experience that they deserve.
“The investment is long overdue. This really is a once-in-a-lifetime announcement. I think you can never lose sight of spiritual homes.
“We don’t want to lose sight of that. The stadium policy, the strategy we have worked on with the state government for many months sees the spiritual homes protected.
“So the high-performance centres would stay in the suburban areas, close to the fans and the community. What we will be able to see is consolidation over time — remember this is a 10-year plan — into world-class rugby league stadiums.”
Asked whether he was concerned clubs might fight against plans to move them to major venues, Smith said: “Look, this is a 10-year plan so I think there is a lot of water to go under this bridge.”
Smith said the NRL was yet to finalise what the investment would mean for major events such as State of Origin and the grand final.
It has been suggested the NSW government wanted a long-term commitment from the game regarding the latter.
“World-class rugby league stadiums makes it a fact that we’re going to be putting lots and lots of content into those stadiums,” he said.
“We haven’t had the detailed discussions with the government about what that means yet. We are the biggest content provider and we will continue to be.”
Smith declined to comment on broadcasting negotiations or the backlash from News Corp to being frozen out of talks in the lead-up to the announcement of a $925m deal with the Nine Network.
“I don’t want to talk about the rights deal, It is something that is a work in process and it is commercially sensitive,” Smith said.
“What I would say is we did the biggest free-to-air deal in the history of sport and I suspect that will never be beaten. We’re halfway there and we have always said we are halfway there.
“I have never met a fan that is not happy with the deal.”
