Fox Sports and Nine tell the government and NRL they want smaller – not bigger

Fox Sports and Nine tell the government and NRL they want smaller – not bigger – stadiums - 28th September 2017

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Familiar sight: a sparsely-populated ANZ Stadium. Photo: Craig Golding

by Andrew Webster

Fox Sports and Channel Nine are lobbying for an upgrade of Sydney's suburban grounds and Allianz Stadium ahead of ANZ Stadium because banks of empty seats on their rugby league broadcasts are a "bad look".

As Sydney's great stadium debate continues to drag on, Fairfax Media can reveal Fox Sports chief executive Patrick Delany and Nine director of sport Tom Malone have approached the NSW government and the NRL with their views.

While both welcome a significant refurbishment of ANZ Stadium into a rectangular stadium, they believe the flat atmosphere of small crowds at the 83,000-seat venue is damaging rugby league.

The broadcasters want badly needed upgrades at suburban grounds such as Penrith Stadium, Brookvale Oval and Shark Park because they can provide an intimacy that both ANZ and Allianz cannot.

With that in mind, they believe a complete knock down of Allianz Stadium is also important.

While the SCG Trust has forecast a new stadium with a capacity of upwards of 50,000 seats, Fox Sports argues one of about 30,000 will provide greater atmosphere at the game and on TV. The subscription network also broadcasts A-League, Super Rugby and international rugby at Allianz.

As it stands, ANZ Stadium is at the front of the queue in the state government's increasingly uncertain $1.6 billion upgrade of Sydney's sporting stadiums.

The broadcasters' position is at odds with that of NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg, who has been lobbying Premier Gladys Berejiklian about knocking down ANZ Stadium and turning it into a world-class, purpose-built rectangular venue.

He wants a new 70,000-seat stadium on the ANZ site to accompany the 30,000-seat venue being built at Parramatta with Allianz Stadium to be refurbished at some stage, although the powerful SCG Trust fears there won't be enough funds left.

Cronulla, Manly and the Wests Tigers have regularly declared they do not want their suburban home grounds forgotten in the rush to update Sydney's ageing stadium network.

Fox Sports have been worried about the adverse effect of poor crowds on ratings at large stadiums for some time. It saw a spike in ratings for Monday night matches — which were abandoned this season — when they were played at smaller venues.

This season, it has scheduled its 2pm games at smaller suburban grounds because the near-sold out crowd adds to the atmosphere.

Indeed, the new buzz word in the Sydney stadium debate is "scarcity" — specifically, a scarcity of empty seats — and it is something the NRL is grappling with as it becomes clearer Sydney fans would prefer to watch the game on TV instead of wrestle with slow-moving traffic to venture to the ground.

Neither Delany or Malone would comment when contacted on Wednesday, although Delany made his feelings known in a Twitter post at last Friday's preliminary final between the Storm and Broncos at AAMI Park in Melbourne.

"Great night at the NRL in Melbourne," he tweeted. "Congrats to the Storm. AAMI is fabulous. As a fan League is magic at smaller stadium."

Major sporting stakeholders are becoming increasingly battle-weary over the government's stadia policy.

In recent weeks, Greenberg has upped the ante by reminding the Premier's office about the possibility of moving the NRL grand final to Brisbane or Melbourne if the NRL does not get its way.

The cabinet of the Berejiklian government is yet to discuss a final plan for the rollout of its stadia strategy — and what that means for the NRL grand final.

If ANZ is knocked down first, it would give the NRL the opportunity to sell its biggest game of the year to Melbourne or Brisbane.

While many argue Suncorp Stadium deserves to host the decider, Storm chief executive Dave Donaghy told Fairfax Media this week a crowd of 100,000 would pack the MCG to watch the match.

In all likelihood, if the government committed to more than $1.6 billion in sporting infrastructure, it would expect the grand final to stay in NSW, meaning it could be played at Allianz or the SCG as ANZ is rebuilt.

A spokesman for the NRL said a memorandum of understanding was in place with the state government for the construction of a new stadium at Parramatta, a 70,000-seat rectangular stadium at ANZ and refurbishment of Allianz Stadium.

In return, the NRL would deliver grand final and Origin matches to the new venues.

"We are hopeful the Government will confirm this program so we can deliver our fans a world class stadia network," the spokesman said. "NSW deserves to have the best rectangular stadium in the country for Rugby League and our priority remains the ANZ project."

NSW Sports Minister Stuart Ayres was not available for comment.

(The Sydney Morning Herald)