10 December 2008

The stadium in Bruce to be bumped to 40,000?

| johnboy
Join the conversation
18

The Age has a piece on $45.6 million of Commonwealth money going to the billionaire Frank Lowy so he can bid for the soccer world cup.

The interesting thing for Canberra is that, according to Les Murray on 666 minutes ago, a successful bid would require Canberra Stadium be expanded to a 40,000 seat venue.

As the only country bidding without a strong football/soccer heritage there’s a chance FIFA might bite to get some evangelising in.

So if (big if) the bid gets up, where would we put an extra 15,000 seats in the stadium?

Join the conversation

18
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest

Summernats gets over 100K every time.

Holden Caulfield11:47 pm 12 Dec 08

Watching the rugby cousins fighting each other is probably more enjoyable than the sport itself, haha.

justbands said :

The Brumbies have averaged over 20000 in good years, I think last year was about 14000 still. The Raiders don’t do too bad either, but still about half of that. So 2604, if you’re going to slag off one sport in favour of another, at the very least get your facts straight (or at least close to straight).

Where are your “facts” coming from, Justbands?

As I’ve noted elsewhere (see comment 16), in 2008 the Brumbies averaged just over 14,000 spectators per game, and the Raiders just under 12,000. I based the Brumbies figure on the Wikipedia 2008 Super 14 page, and the Raiders figure on the Raiders’ Wikipedia page, and NRLstats.com.

Although I’ll reply in kind if ppl start slagging the Raiders, I don’t care much for the Brumbies v Raiders debate – to each his own.

But Justbands – please get your OWN facts straight before you start lecturing others in such a patronising manner.

Worst idea since Ben Lexcen’s winged skateboard.

Nambucco Deliria11:09 am 12 Dec 08

Despite the Canberra A-League bid’s claim (based on market research, apparently) that 15,000 have said they’d attend Canberra matches in the future,research on the relative attendances for franchises in the cities where the A-League and the Super 14 both have a presence (Perth, Brisbane and Sydney)notes that Super 14 easily outstrips football every time, and if you applied the model to Canberra it would give an average attendance of around 9,500. I cannot see how the government can justify spending the money on expanding the capacity to 40,000 in the hope that Canberrans will go to see Togo versus Slovakia in the 2018 World Cup.

I think the 40k speactator number is a requirement under the conditions to bid for FWC. Either way having a few teams rumble through Canberra for a period that the FWC is on would be kind of groovy.

neither of them have gone close to 40k because the stadium maxes out well below that!

world cup football will see 40k and fans turned away, and soceroos games, acl and finals a-league games will see, in time, enough no.s to warrant the added capacity. also, with a better venue, might entice more out on a chilly winter night to watch a brumbies game or such like than the prospects now of sitting on concrete bunkering in -4 conditions, in the rain…

The Brumbies have averaged over 20000 in good years, I think last year was about 14000 still. The Raiders don’t do too bad either, but still about half of that. So 2604, if you’re going to slag off one sport in favour of another, at the very least get your facts straight (or at least close to straight).

Still, neither of them have gone close to 40K & I’d wager that a soccer team would have even less chance. So a 40000 seat stadium would be mostly empty, most of the time.

Nambucco Deliria10:24 am 12 Dec 08

I’ve had a change of heart since my first post on this subject; Surely the Canberra A-League team will fill it week in, week out? Thousands of beneficiaries of Capital Football’s ‘outreach’ programme will be flocking from Albury and Cooma every week to pay $30 a pop to watch players they’ve never heard of… won’t they?

they could almost fit the raiders membership holders into the front row of the existing stadium, why would they want to make it any bigger?

the best thing that they could do is return it to its round shape so AFL games can be played there.

EnglishRaider10:33 pm 11 Dec 08

Don’t feed the troll 2604!

S4anta, remember son your only a lodger at Bruce, you did drop ‘ACT’ after all, it won’t be long till your relocated :b

S4anta said :

Shouldn’t be issue for the raiders, with their 400 odd people rocking up to a game after stealing a car, robbing a bank and reversing it over their loved ones.

Nor the Brumbies, with their 500-odd fans who turn up, pretend to understand what’s happening on-field, clap politely as yet another game gets decided by penalty kicks rather than tries, then hop in their 4WDs for the drive back to Red Hill.

Shouldn’t be issue for the raiders, with their 400 odd people rocking up to a game after stealing a car, robbing a bank and reversing it over their loved ones.

EnglishRaider6:35 am 11 Dec 08

Canberra is more than adequate for both the Raiders and the ‘lodgers’ Brumbies requirements.
Making the capacity 40,000 will spoil the atmosphere and be a mini version of Telstra.

Considering my Membership is on the front row I wouldn’t want them to expand going forward, and the only realistic propsition is to enclose both ends.

I don’t think it’ll need a rebuild… the north and south ends of the stadium are just ‘inner bowl’ seating. They could wrap the grandstands all the way around the stadium and I reckon that’ll get ’em close.

Nambucco Deliria6:39 pm 10 Dec 08

Andrew Barr was on 666 at the weekend, suitably mealy mouthed on the subject. The ACT government has already established that temporary seating is acceptable to FIFA, and is hatching a plan to build some seating blocks that can be shared with Manuka for the AFL exhibition matches that roll into town once or twice a year.
Stanhope’s government are nothing if not pragmatic; What’s the point of permanently extending the capacity of a stadium that will never be filled? A Canberra -League side playing to crowds of 8-9,000 in a 40,000 stadium? An under achieving Brumbies side that can’t fill the ground as it is? The Raiders?

Holden Caulfield6:32 pm 10 Dec 08

It would most likely necessitate a complete rebuild, unless extra layers of seating could be added to the existing stands.

I would love a World Cup in Australia, that would be fantastic.

A 40K stadium might make it more attractive to host Wallaby Tests as well. Could also maybe squeeze in a game of hit and giggle Twenty20, even with the narrow wings.

However, the long term prospects of a 40K stadium in Canberra probably don’t offer huge advantages, given the current attendances to Raiders and Brumbies games. As we’d be talking about 2018, though, that probably requires quite a bit of forecasting to establish feasibility.

where would we put an extra 15,000 seats in the stadium?

obvious answer is, around the edges of the pitch!

the stands could be enhanced and the ends of the pitch would also have proper stands built, to increase capacity. this would also likely guarantee a canberra a-league side. who should as often as possible have the youth league or w-league team playing a warm up match; two games for one ticket would help draw, well, me… (i’d go to our a-league games anyway)

this is, though, fantastic news – a world cup in australia!

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.