MCG needs to increase capacity

Should State/Federal Government redevelop MCG to increased capacity?

  • Yes

    Votes: 134 49.1%
  • No

    Votes: 139 50.9%

  • Total voters
    273

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RedV3x

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Dec 14, 2015
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Are you happy for your couch to be used while you're at work by people you don't control to show other content on your tv?

I know you pay for the house but you're not using it.

WTF ? The VFL was enticed to Waverley with a government promise of a railway line.
The VFL was enticed to the MCG to time share the MCG.
Cricket does not own the MCG.
Cricket does not allow AFL members reciprocal treatment during the cricket season.
Football is responsible for the majority of the upgrades at the MCG.
If you want to look at cricket venue just look at the WACA.
The WACA wanted no part in the super stadium development yet now it wants
as many games as possible at the new oval and wants football to be a part of the WACA's redevelopment.
 

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Oct 22, 2008
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WTF ? The VFL was enticed to Waverley with a government promise of a railway line.
Waverley still wouldn't have been a great location for those in the west and geelong
The VFL was enticed to the MCG to time share the MCG.
Cricket does not own the MCG.
Cricket does not allow AFL members reciprocal treatment during the cricket season.
you may want to fact check that
Football is responsible for the majority of the upgrades at the MCG.
You could say football guaranteeing to play prelims at the MCG was responsible for the Great Southern Stand. Of course they reneged on this promise, so that argument has less weight. Comm games was responsible for the Northern stands development.
If you want to look at cricket venue just look at the WACA.
The WACA wanted no part in the super stadium development yet now it wants
as many games as possible at the new oval and wants football to be a part of the WACA's redevelopment.
If you call 60k super
 
Jul 2, 2010
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You could say football guaranteeing to play prelims at the MCG was responsible for the Great Southern Stand. Of course they reneged on this promise, so that argument has less weight

You could say that concrete cancer in the old southern stand, the Victorian Government forcing the VFL to play the Grand Final at the mCG and the MCC not being able to afford the new stand on its own were the responsible factors.

It was never just the promise of prelims, it was the promise of 45 other games a year, at least one final a week (later reduced to just a preliminary final, and the 10 finals over 5 years + guaranteeing 14 Collingwood home and away games a year, and not including the Grand Final), and the Grand Final itself.

Comm games was responsible for the Northern stands development.

Comm games was a catalyst, it was due for a rebuild anyway, and the AFL was apparently approached regarding support and funding in 1998 when the comm Games bid was launched . This is specifically cited in the AFLs 2000 Annual report where the AFL indicated it was prepared to contribute $4 million per year made up of a capital contribution of $1 million per year for the next 32 years from the AFL with the balance coming from a user-pays levy on adults attending matches at the MCG. The 2001 Report indicates the figure was finalised at 5 million a year.

In 2001, the AFL Commission reached an in-principle agreement with the Melbourne Cricket Ground Trust and Melbourne Cricket Club to contribute an additional $5 million per year - indexed for the next 32 years - for the redevelopment of the MCG. This represents a significant contribution by football and its supporters to the redevelopment of the MCG. The work, scheduled to be completed by 2006, includes the demolition and replacement of the Ponsford and Olympic Stands and will deliver first-class facilities for MCG tenant clubs and supporters. Football's contribution to the redevelopment will be funded, in part, by a user-pays levy of $1 on all adults attending AFL premiership season home and away matches at the MCG, $5 for finals matches and $8 for the Grand Final. The balance will come from consolidated revenue. Between 70 and 80 per cent of the total revenue generated by the operation of the MCG is directly attributable to AFL games.
 
The W.A. government gave it that tag.
Perth Stadium is acknowledged as world class stadium and is much better
than the MCG except for capacity.

Of course a state of the art brand new stadium should be.

But let's see which stadium is the Mecca of Australian sport in another 30 years.

I doubt it will be the new Perth stadium.



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Oct 22, 2008
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Geelong
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that cricket would be nothing without football.




The W.A. government gave it that tag.
Perth Stadium is acknowledged as world class stadium and is much better
than the MCG except for capacity.
Cricket, the game played and watched by how many million people?

Perth Stadium looks like a great little stadium, I'll have to go one day if I can get a ticket.
 

RedV3x

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Cricket, the game played and watched by how many million people?

Good point.
If other countries had Australian Football then they'd probably also have great football..oops.. cricket grounds.

Perth Stadium looks like a great little stadium, I'll have to go one day if I can get a ticket.

It's not 'little'. By all accounts it's the same size as the MCG but has better viewing.
 

RedV3x

It's about time some mods started being fair
Dec 14, 2015
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Of course a state of the art brand new stadium should be.
But let's see which stadium is the Mecca of Australian sport in another 30 years.
I doubt it will be the new Perth stadium.

I think people only live in the present.

Frankly where is another 60k state of the art stadium going to come from ?
Adelaide, nope, they've just finished their build also.
Tasmania, nope, too small and haven't got the money,
Geelong, nope, they've just finished a major upgrade.
MCG, might have some sort of upgrade, but it will still be essentially the same stadium.
Docklands, if they're not demolishing it, then it will be purely cosmetic.
Brisbane, no demand a.t.m. but in 30 years time the Lions might be premiers again.
SCG, nope, I cannot see it being rebuilt, they've just finished a major upgrade.
Spotless, good possibility of an upgrade but not to any magnificent extent.
ANZ, nope, they're not demolishing it and there's no way of making it a silk purse.
SFS, they're demolishing it to make same size stadium, WTF.

That leaves Mars stadium.
 

Johnny_Dogg4

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we dont get crowds of 75+ more regularly because of MCC/AFL members lower attendances
most times the GA seats are at capacity.

ideally increase capacity to 115K
this would mean that more casual fans can go to games. MCC / AFL members are looked after.

also have to look to the future population boom. more club members etc.
if they increase it by 10-20 k that will ensure that theirs no need for stadium expansion in the next 20+ years

if they expand it by 5 k, it wont solve much and $$ will be wasted because more stadium expansion will prob be needed.
 

Roogal

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The MCG currently seats a bee's proverbial over 100,000. By replicating the Northern Stands around the Southern portion will likely not add a single seat because they used wider seats in 2004-6 to accommodate our 21st century butts than what were used back in 1991-2 on the GSS. The current GSS seats around 44,000, any newer stand would likely be deeper and higher but would still only accommodate the same number of seats. If they were to try to add more seating at the G the poor buggers sitting in the back rows would need oxygen masks to breath and telescopes to see the game. :rolleyes:
 

Roogal

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1. Supporters always locked out of grand finals.
2. Home tenants Richmond, Collingwood and Hawthorn starting to lose the ability to get into finals - with Docklands agreement changing, same will happen definitely with Essendon.
2. Membership has exploded, attendances are at a record high yet the MCG capacity has decreased from 120,000 standing to 100,000 sitting.

Negatives? Tax payers money being spent, many home and away games with less of an atmosphere..
The MCG held 121,000 at the 1970 GF because there were no limits to attendances or OHS in those days. 121,000 were accommodated because there was bench seating, a standing only area for 5000 at the foot of the old Ponsford Stand and they actually allowed people to stand shoulder to shoulder behind the seated areas blocking walkways and stairwells. Forget about going to the toilet or getting something to eat at that GF. They even used to allow kids to sit inside the boundary while others sat high up on the parapets that used to sit on the third tier of the old Olympic Stand. That's how they got that many people in. What changed all that, a little incident in England called the Hillsborough Fire back in the 80s ... look it up ... utter tragedy.

They will never build any stadium big enough to accommodate all the members of a football team, otherwise Manchester United would need to build a 28,000,000 capacity soccer ground. The simple truth is that the GF is a popular game and yes if your team makes a GF then your club's members will be clamouring for tickets. That's why the AFL in its wisdom charge higher premiums for GF tickets. By limiting or capping the capacity of grounds guarantees that they remain viable. Don't forget that the AFL once had a grandiose plan to build Waverley to 157,000 capacity. Nice in theory but it would have only been filled to capacity perhaps once a year. Of course common sense prevailed and it was never made a reality.
 
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Curtain Razor

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It's clear the GSS does need to be demolished and rebuilt, or at least undergo a massive refurbishment to ensure the MCG's facilities keep up with the rest of the country's stadiums.
 
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It's clear the GSS does need to be demolished and rebuilt, or at least undergo a massive refurbishment to ensure the MCG's facilities keep up with the rest of the country's stadiums.

Got a guesstimate on the dollars Razor?
https://www.mcg.org.au/the-stadium/mcg-history/grandstands

..... the Great Southern Stand of 1991-92 and boasting a similar capacity, has had an even bigger impact with superb sightlines, comfortable seating and provision for public and corporate dining and entertainment facilities.

This $150 million project was completed on time and below budget and, despite many site difficulties, only one football grand final had to be transferred away from the stadium and no major cricket fixtures were forfeited during the construction period.


How $much did Dan offer to guarantee MCC debt in the GF deal?
 

Curtain Razor

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Got a guesstimate on the dollars Razor?
https://www.mcg.org.au/the-stadium/mcg-history/grandstands

..... the Great Southern Stand of 1991-92 and boasting a similar capacity, has had an even bigger impact with superb sightlines, comfortable seating and provision for public and corporate dining and entertainment facilities.

This $150 million project was completed on time and below budget and, despite many site difficulties, only one football grand final had to be transferred away from the stadium and no major cricket fixtures were forfeited during the construction period.


How $much did Dan offer to guarantee MCC debt in the GF deal?
Costs would be huge obviously. I get the feeling that a total rebuild would only take place if Melbourne hosted the Olympics again, or if Australia hosts the Soccer World Cup and the MCG has the final.
 
Jul 2, 2010
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Got a guesstimate on the dollars Razor?
https://www.mcg.org.au/the-stadium/mcg-history/grandstands

..... the Great Southern Stand of 1991-92 and boasting a similar capacity, has had an even bigger impact with superb sightlines, comfortable seating and provision for public and corporate dining and entertainment facilities.

This $150 million project was completed on time and below budget and, despite many site difficulties, only one football grand final had to be transferred away from the stadium and no major cricket fixtures were forfeited during the construction period.


How $much did Dan offer to guarantee MCC debt in the GF deal?

Northern Stand was around 430 million in 2002, with a 70 million state contribution. Replacing GSS could cost a half billion or so.
 

Roogal

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Costs would be huge obviously. I get the feeling that a total rebuild would only take place if Melbourne hosted the Olympics again, or if Australia hosts the Soccer World Cup and the MCG has the final.
The GSS cost $162 million back in the early 90s while the newer stands cost around $430 million in 2004-2006. So one might guess that accounting for inflation that a rebuild of the GSS today would be in the region of $700 million.

The rebuild of the GSS did get an honourable mention in the State Governments Stadium Review conducted in 2015-16. The final report recommended that the GSS was serving its purpose and only required minor upgrades over the remainder of its life which the report put a figure of 15 years upon. So it is likely that the stand will remain for the foreseeable future and that if anything its capacity may slightly reduce if they replace the older seats with newer seating which these days are designed to be wider.
 
Dec 19, 2011
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The MCG held 121,000 at the 1970 GF because there were no limits to attendances or OHS in those days. 121,000 were accommodated because there was bench seating, a standing only area for 5000 at the foot of the old Ponsford Stand and they actually allowed people to stand shoulder to shoulder behind the seated areas blocking walkways and stairwells. Forget about going to the toilet or getting something to eat at that GF. They even used to allow kids to sit inside the boundary while others sat high up on the parapets that used to sit on the third tier of the old Olympic Stand. That's how they got that many people in. What changed all that, a little incident in England called the Hillsborough Fire back in the 80s ... look it up ... utter tragedy.
There was no fire at Hillsborough in 1989.
You might be conflating this tragedy with the Bradford City fire in 1985.
 

Roogal

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You're right, I get a little confused with events 😉 cheers for that. I got it confused with the Hillsborough disaster which was a fatal human crush during an FA Cup semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England, on 15 April 1989. With 96 fatalities and 766 injuries, it was the worst disaster in British sporting history. But Bradford and Hillsborough forced stadium designers around the world to re-design stadiums.

In Australia the first full scale example of the new compliant designs which were supposed to clear stadiums quickly in an emergency was in fact GSS at the G. After all we would hate to return to the bad old days of the 1950s:
221535-5ac1ee6a-9e7a-11e3-b163-d60ea6e39be3.jpg
 
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Costs would be huge obviously. I get the feeling that a total rebuild would only take place if Melbourne hosted the Olympics again, or if Australia hosts the Soccer World Cup and the MCG has the final.

Those events would be a major financial disaster for us. Do not want
 
Those events would be a major financial disaster for us. Do not want

Melbourne is one of the few places in the world with enough existing stadiums and facilities to host the Olympics. The games village would probably be the biggest and most costly hurdle.
 
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