Bulldogs want a 25-30k NEW stadium in Melbourne.

[1061]

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-07-...-construction-of-bespoke-stadium-in-melbourne

WESTERN Bulldogs president Peter Gordon believes the AFL needs a ‘bespoke’ stadium to cater for smaller-drawing games in Melbourne.

Gordon - who also revealed his club made more money out of its round 15 clash against Gold Coast in Cairns than all of its home games combined this year - said a smaller stadium was needed to maximise profits from games that drew between 25,000-30,000 fans.

"I think Melbourne needs a new bespoke stadium which maxes out at 25-30,000 (fans),” he told SEN on Wednesday afternoon.

"The … crowd that you normally get when you (have) the Demons playing the Giants or the Bulldogs playing Freo or whatever, is 25-30,000.

"You can make really good money with a crowd of 25-30,000 people - you just need the right infrastructure."

Gordon was adamant the club’s deal with Etihad Stadium was holding the club back financially. It was a reason why the Dogs chose to play a ‘home’ game against Gold Coast two weeks ago in Cairns, which attracted 9,449 fans.

"We just know it’s a bad deal (at Etihad)," Gordon said.

"We made more money out of playing one game in front of less than 10,000 people in Cairns a couple of weeks ago than all our other home games (this year) put together."

Gordon suggested the construction of a ‘clean’ stadium could boost the Bulldogs’ revenue by "$2-4m a year."

Bob Murphy leads the Dogs out at a packed Whitten Oval during the NAB Challenge. Picture: AFL Media

 

[JPetro83]

its time the AFL pick one of the old venues around Melbourne and turn it into a boutique stadium. 25-30k.
Victoria park
Whitten oval
Princes park

Those 3 still have the skeleton of an old stadium and could easily be brought up to AFL standard again with a bit of coin.

Princess park would be the obvious choice.. perfect the lower vic clubs to use for their games against interstate clubs.

 

[bombersfan4000]

You would thing princess park would be the pick. As the blues have already built the legends stand that goes 1/3 round the oval

 

[Furn2]

Yeah and if someone built me a McDonalds and let me use it for free I'm sure I could make alot of money.

Stadiums cost a fortune and are used about 5% of the time, thats why the returns on new ones like the docklands aren't good.

Where does the money to build or refurbish this new stadium come from ?

 

[ferrisb]

Surely the simple solution is to wait for the AFL to take over Etihad? I assume that will significantly improve the deal for teams.

 

[Mofra]

Princess park would be the obvious choice.. perfect the lower vic clubs to use for their games against interstate clubs.

I would have thought the lack of nearby train station makes it the least likely of the three.

 

[dewcefault]

The primary reason for the high rent from Etihad is due to the return required from the initial capital investment. Surely if there's less games played there then the rent goes up as the investors will still want a similar return but from fewer games.

A bit silly for the state & federal government to fund a third stadium and surely the AFL would be better placed buying out Etihad sooner so it can reduce the capital portion of the rent.
They can always close parts of the stadium to keep operating costs down during low drawing games.

 

[bombersfan4000]

Yeah and if someone built me a McDonalds and let me use it for free I'm sure I could make alot of money.

Stadiums cost a fortune and are used about 5% of the time, thats why the returns on new ones like the docklands aren't good.

Where does the money to build or refurbish this new stadium come from ?

To build a small 30k stadium costs no where near as much as a stadium such as Etihad. But still a rather expensive exercise

Up in nsw the state & federal governments have been funding the nrl club grounds for decades.
It would be nice if the Vic and federal governments did the same for the afl clubs

 

[MisterMarcus]

Geelong has a nice 35k-ish home ground that's AFL standard and almost all recently renovated. I'm not sure why that's not an option.

Yes, it's not "in Melbourne", but this isn't the 1960s. Especially for Doggies fans in the western suburbs, it's barely more than 30-40 minutes away.

 

[aCunningPlan]

Have the likes of the Bulldogs, North, St Kilda, and Melbourne dump their two lowest drawing games in Ballarat after the new stadium is built. We'll take them. Might get sick of GWS playing here three times a year, but I don't see why only the Bulldogs will get to use it if other small sides could make more money by moving a game or two down the road which is still accessible by the V/Line. Fixture the games 1.10 on Sundays, doesnt clash with local footy and Melburnians can still be back in the city before 6. We could host up to 8 games a year with a 20k ish venue.

 

[frenchfri12]

Yeah and if someone built me a McDonalds and let me use it for free I'm sure I could make alot of money.

How the * would you make money? You're just eating burgers.

 

[1061]

Have the likes of the Bulldogs, North, St Kilda, and Melbourne dump their two lowest drawing games in Ballarat after the new stadium is built. We'll take them. Might get sick of GWS playing here three times a year, but I don't see why only the Bulldogs will get to use it if other small sides could make more money by moving a game or two down the road which is still accessible by the V/Line. Fixture the games 1.10 on Sundays, doesnt clash with local footy and Melburnians can still be back in the city before 6. We could host up to 8 games a year with a 20k ish venue.

Having GWS play there regularly could give them access to develop a Victorian Supporter base.

 

[PerfectFooty]

Hear a lot of support for Princess park and rightful so that ground is in good nick still. But what do people think about Moorabbin? That place looks in decent shape could host games out there with a bit of money being invested into it?

 

[grouse mate]

How many people have actually been to Princes Park in the past few years? Half of the stands would need to be ripped down due OHS issues and are severely outdated. There is basically no food and beverage facilities other than caravans converted into canteens. The place has next to no parking and trams are the only public transport.

 

[Mofra]

Geelong has a nice 35k-ish home ground that's AFL standard and almost all recently renovated. I'm not sure why that's not an option.

Yes, it's not "in Melbourne", but this isn't the 1960s. Especially for Doggies fans in the western suburbs, it's barely more than 30-40 minutes away.

We've asked a number of times (including this year) and the AFL has blocked us.

 

[MisterMarcus]

We've asked a number of times (including this year) and the AFL has blocked us.

I know. Don't really understand why.

 

[WagonBang]

We've asked a number of times (including this year) and the AFL has blocked us.

You sure. Your President was very vocal about keeping your 6,000 reserved seat members at Etihad earlier in the year.

 

[tandino]

Where is the money coming from to fund this extravagance?

 

[Collingwood 4 eternity]

 

[shinboner spiggs]

Dwayne says. Stopped reading.

 

[Seedsfan]

Melbourne Show Grounds

 

[Maddo11]

This is an absolute pipe dream, but out of curiosity what is the biggest capacity of the old "VFL" grounds? Visy park? (Or whatever it's called now)

 

[Scotland]

Soccer is keen on Etihad?

LOLZ.

 

[Righteo]

Looks like he's just suggesting a boutique stadium would be a good idea. Thread title is misleading.

 

[Mr Magic]

Why in Melbourne?

May as well make it in Canberra and expand the game?


Seriously a business case in Canberra would have to be higher in the long run unless people think the current group of Melbourne teams in Melbourne will seriously last.


Is this another way of saying the teams in Melbourne are not viable?


If locations become cheaper can we get cheaper foxtel subscriptions now?