News Gabba Upgrade & Olympics News

Seeing as we look likely to be discussing this for a long time, I thought it deserved its own thread.

News so far:

International Olympic Committee announces Brisbane as preferred host for 2032 Summer Olympic Games

The International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Future Host Summer Commission has designated Brisbane as the "preferred candidate city" to host the 2032 Summer Olympic Games, a decision endorsed unanimously by the IOC's executive board.

The news was delivered by IOC president Thomas Bach during a press conference in Switzerland.

"We have unanimously after a very intense discussion approved this recommendation," Mr Bach said.

"The commission based on this decision will start more detailed discussions with the Brisbane 2032 committee and the Australian Olympic Committee about their potential to host the Olympic Games 2032."

The Gabba poised to be $1 billion Olympic centrepiece

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk wants an upgrade to the Gabba stadium as a central focus to Brisbane's bid for the 2032 Olympics.

The premier said the sports venue, which has been announced as the main arena for the state's Olympics campaign, would need to increase from 42,000 seats to 50,000 seats.

"There will not be a bad seat in the house," Ms Palaszczuk said in regards to the $1 billion makeover.

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News today:

Federal government agrees to fund half of Brisbane’s 2032 Olympic Games costs

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has guaranteed the federal government will cover half the costs for the 2032 Olympics, should frontrunner Brisbane be confirmed as the Games host.

The pledge was contained in a letter from Mr Morrison to Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, which arrived with the Premier late on Monday afternoon.

Ms Palaszczuk welcomed the funding commitment, saying the 50-50 funding agreement for Games infrastructure made the Brisbane bid more attractive.

“This is what I asked the Prime Minister for,” she said. “This is great news for Queensland.”

Ms Palaszczuk said Queensland had agreed to form a new Olympic infrastructure agency, jointly run by the state and federal governments, which would evaluate all venues and infrastructure spending.

“I always say we work best when we work together. This proves it,” she said.
 
Nov 26, 2018
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lionraven

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I so hope we win this bid. We get a bigger slice of that federal pie invested in SEQ. We get a bigger stadium that the Lions, Heat, Bulls or any other tenant could have ever financed individually. Brisbane could really accelerate in its development.
 
So what would we do while the Gabba is being renovated? Would Springfield be up in time for us to host some mens games out there? Or would we be like "Um so hey Gold Coast, 'member when you needed to come up here and stuff?"

I'd love to see the Gabba get a proper renovation. That lipstick on a pig thing they've done recently with the gates and painting spaces different colours was nothing compared to what is actually needed to be a high quality stadium.
 
Nov 26, 2018
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Well we are one step closer to hosting the Olympics
Premier going to Tokyo where I imaging final announcement will be made

New 3 minute video plus article from news.com.au



 

ForzaRoma

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This really has worked out perfectly in the end. We will have a state of the art facility in Sprinfield, and we will be playing in a state a art stadium that we didn't fund at all. Likewise, look at the positive growth in crowds we saw from Adelaide Oval being developed and the same with Optus. A new modern stadium boasting 50 thousand capacity stadium should not only boost our crowd numbers, but bring in players as well. Collingwood have always used the (We have the best facilities in Australia, come here) mantra, and now we will be on a level playing field. One thing though, any chance they could reshape the dimensions of the gabba to be suited to the MCG? It worked for West Coast with Optus, so why not do it ourselves?
 
Nov 26, 2018
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This really has worked out perfectly in the end. We will have a state of the art facility in Sprinfield, and we will be playing in a state a art stadium that we didn't fund at all. Likewise, look at the positive growth in crowds we saw from Adelaide Oval being developed and the same with Optus. A new modern stadium boasting 50 thousand capacity stadium should not only boost our crowd numbers, but bring in players as well. Collingwood have always used the (We have the best facilities in Australia, come here) mantra, and now we will be on a level playing field. One thing though, any chance they could reshape the dimensions of the gabba to be suited to the MCG? It worked for West Coast with Optus, so why not do it ourselves?
In the long run it should be good for the Lions
But hard times should be expected during the Gabba construction time of 2.5 to 3 years
That is a long time to keep members and players happy
Hopefully we are competitive during this period
 

ForzaRoma

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In the long run it should be good for the Lions
But hard times should be expected during the Gabba construction time of 2.5 to 3 years
That is a long time to keep members and players happy
Hopefully we are competitive during this period
A few years of pain is worth it in the long run. To compete with the best clubs, we need to have the best fasciltiies and be able to play in the best stadiums. The reason why we were able to get Linc, Daniher, Adams, etc, was because we boasted having the best medical staff. This will be no different, except this time we will draw players who are not injured and want to play up here. I also think we should capatilize on those few years of pain by moving our home games into regional Queensland (to boost our fanbase) and to sell some games to Richer clubs. Then, when the Stadium is done and the olympics are over, we'll have a strong financial sheet and have two state of the art facilities available at our disposal.
 

ForzaRoma

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Will be interesting to see what happens with the cricket pitch. Assume it will remain as is.
Hopefully its a drop in cricket pitch. I know the lions used to complain a lot about it, and the stadium is supposed to be Multi purpose; i.e., the same as the MCG. Not just for cricket, so they shouldn't prioritize cricket over the AFL. Especially as we will draw bigger crowds to the stadium.
 
Nov 26, 2018
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Hopefully its a drop in cricket pitch. I know the lions used to complain a lot about it, and the stadium is supposed to be Multi purpose; i.e., the same as the MCG. Not just for cricket, so they shouldn't prioritize cricket over the AFL. Especially as we will draw bigger crowds to the stadium.
No drop in pitch.
Qld Government have mentioned this.
A lost opportunity for Cricket in my opinion
 
No drop in pitch.
Qld Government have mentioned this.
A lost opportunity for Cricket in my opinion
Has that been announced? Last thing I heard was a comment from Qld Cricket that they would have a conversation with the Qld Govt about the wicket "at the right time". That was on the back of a push by Darren Lehmann and a couple of others to preserve the wicket.
 
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Has that been announced? Last thing I heard was a comment from Qld Cricket that they would have a conversation with the Qld Govt about the wicket "at the right time". That was on the back of a push by Darren Lehmann and a couple of others to preserve the wicket.
I read it a few times below is from one article
........

The Gabba is set to protect its pitch and not move to drop-in pitches, and no detail on timeframes for the work were made available.

Nick Hockley, Cricket Australia's Interim CEO, welcomed the redevelopment plans.
......
From below article dated April 2021

 

Nuggo

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That is Nick Hockley's view/understanding. No word from the Gabba administration however. Unless it conflicts with the Olympic games themselves, I don't see why the Gabba administration would change their view now.
 

Mr Ripper

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I'd be astonished if the athletics events were allowed to go ahead at a stadium with a cricket pitch slap-bang in the middle. Mind you, I don't remember that being a problem with the soccer in 2000. 🤷‍♂️
 
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I'd be astonished if the athletics events were allowed to go ahead at a stadium with a cricket pitch slap-bang in the middle. Mind you, I don't remember that being a problem with the soccer in 2000. 🤷‍♂️
From memory the ground was laser leveled and then back to original condition.
Something along those lines
 
Think the Gabba is keen on hosting more big concerts like Adele a few years ago. To do so, they’d need a drop in pitch - it destroys the pitch to have events like that otherwise. So I would be very surprised if they didn’t move to that as part of the rebuild.
 

briztoon

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From memory the ground was laser leveled and then back to original condition.
Something along those lines
I watched Australia v Paraguay at the Gabba. Sat right behind the fence. No way the ground was level then.

I seriously thought the Stanley street side upper tier was going to collapse with the amount of dancing and rhythmic stamping the South American fans were doing. You could hear and see the upper tier moving up and down.

Was wearing my Newcastle jersey, and had two Sunderland supporters sitting behind me.
 

jackess

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My memory is failing me but a player recently commented on playing at the Gabba and said the ball tended to go to one side due to the fall of the ground across the oval. Might have been toward Stanley street???

Mitch Robbo said it somewhere
 
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