Why do WA and SA only have one AFL stadium each?

[PerthBoy86]

As already mentioned we don't need another. WC and Freo alternate home games at Optus each round. We had the WACA too in the 90s for night games. Fremantle is only about 15km from Perth CBD, Gold Coast and Geelong are over 60km from Brisbane and Melbourne respectively.

 

[Philth]

Well yeah -at the very minimum a stadium has to have a safe and appropriate playing surface, everything can be managed/dispensed/tolerated with for a short period - probably go and play at Norwood in Adelaide and Subi in Perth.

They could play anywhere really, like the pre season community games.
Just means there would only be around 10,000 attending - too bad.

They had a pre season WC v Freo game here in Geraldton a few years ago - ground was in great nick, good crowd, it was awesome.

 

[PrisonBars4life]

Perth isn't much smaller than Brisbane, and Queensland has stadiums in Cairns, Townsville, Brisbane and Gold Coast.

WA is the largest state by size as well so it'd make sense to play games in Broome would it not? Broome is a tropical town like Cairns and Townsville.

Gold Coasts stadium was paid for by the AFL which they justified with a 700k population, and the stadium situated an hour away from the Gabba. Cairns and Townsville are suburban grade ovals. SA have multiple of those, but there is no need to play AFL games at them when you have a world class stadium at AO. Broome has a population of 15,000, Cairns is 150,000, and Townville is 180,000. To answer the OP Tasmania's population is dispersed across Launceston/ Hobart and road travel is not as simple as other states. I'm not trying to be overly rude, but you either sound like a 12 year old or some melbournite that has never left Melbourne and has no idea about anything outside of Melbourne. It's just baffling in it's ignorance.

 

[kranger]

It’s like this years WAFL grand final. It draws in excess of 25,000 at Optus Stadium and Subiaco Oval before that.

Because Optus Stadium is out of action for the cricket this year, the GF is being played at Leederville Oval with a capacity of 10,000.

In 2020 it was held at Fremantle Oval with a capacity of 10,000 as well.

It would be nice if there was a WAFL ground with a 10,000 seat stand on one wing with lots of corporate facilities. And then a grass hill around the rest of the field so that it could have a total capacity of 20,000 when packed in.

Play the AFLW games there too.

Make it into footy’s version of the WACA (which is currently being redeveloped to be similar to what I described), but instead of cricket taking precedence, footy would have priority.

 

[Goomba1973]

I've been curious about this for years and surprisingly haven't seen any topics on here about it, because every other state in Australia has multiple stadiums for AFL.

Tasmania has two AFL stadiums despite not having an AFL side, with talks of a third stadium being built for AFL.

Northern Territory has two AFL stadiums despite not having an AFL side, and if TAS gets its own side, I won't be surprised if the NT bid to have their own side and build another AFL stadium.

Queensland has four AFL stadiums despite being a rugby state, with the Lions and Suns both having their own stadium even though WA and SA sides both have to share one stadium between two sides.

New South Wales has three AFL stadiums despite being a rugby state, and the ACT has its own stadium too despite not having an AFL side. Swans and Giants both have a stadium to themselves like the two QLD sides.

Victoria has four AFL stadiums despite having 10 teams, and there really should be more AFL stadiums given Geelong are the only side who have a stadium to themselves, while the other nine sides have to share two stadiums, but that's a topic for another thread.

Anyway, my question is why is there only one AFL stadium in WA and only one AFL stadium in SA?

Isn't it unfair that Eagles/Dockers and Crows/Power have to share a stadium while Lions/Suns and Swans/Giants all have stadiums to themselves with no co tenants?

Also, I find it odd that WA and SA despite being strong Aussie Rules states only have one AFL stadium each, while NSW and QLD have multiple stadiums for AFL despite being rugby states.

Why does Melbourne not have a billion $ + stadium for each of it's clubs ? ..... because they cost a lot to build and maintain.

 

[Mesc]

Rugby is big in WA and SA is it not? I watched state of origin games played at Perth Stadium and Adelaide Oval, obviously AFL is number 1 in both states I'm just pointing out rugby is big too.

Rugby is never talked about in WA in social circles. No one I know follows it, other than the odd discussion between kiwi workmates.

 

[Carringbush2010]

Can't believe nobody mentioned Kalgoorlie.

What about Poowong?

 

[Sttew]

because we only have 1 game a week, you hardly need two.

Simple

 

[Seeds]

I've been curious about this for years and surprisingly haven't seen any topics on here about it, because every other state in Australia has multiple stadiums for AFL.

Tasmania has two AFL stadiums despite not having an AFL side, with talks of a third stadium being built for AFL.

Northern Territory has two AFL stadiums despite not having an AFL side, and if TAS gets its own side, I won't be surprised if the NT bid to have their own side and build another AFL stadium.

Queensland has four AFL stadiums despite being a rugby state, with the Lions and Suns both having their own stadium even though WA and SA sides both have to share one stadium between two sides.

New South Wales has three AFL stadiums despite being a rugby state, and the ACT has its own stadium too despite not having an AFL side. Swans and Giants both have a stadium to themselves like the two QLD sides.

Victoria has four AFL stadiums despite having 10 teams, and there really should be more AFL stadiums given Geelong are the only side who have a stadium to themselves, while the other nine sides have to share two stadiums, but that's a topic for another thread.

Anyway, my question is why is there only one AFL stadium in WA and only one AFL stadium in SA?

Isn't it unfair that Eagles/Dockers and Crows/Power have to share a stadium while Lions/Suns and Swans/Giants all have stadiums to themselves with no co tenants?

Also, I find it odd that WA and SA despite being strong Aussie Rules states only have one AFL stadium each, while NSW and QLD have multiple stadiums for AFL despite being rugby states.

Cos their populations are centered in one spot and the pop size and number of teams are only big enough to support one big stadium.

tassie and northern territory probably would only have one stadium if they actually got a side. It would have a bigger capacity then thier current stadiums. But there would only be one of them.

this isnt an brain buster.

 

[glengowan]

The real question is why are SA and WA used to fill up players for the AFL clubs of the Eastern States.

What benefits are these States receiving?

The State Leagues continue to get used as an AFL development league with no respect to the clubs. The meagre salary caps of a whole squad are well less than the average wage of one AFL player. Country footy is dying a slow death with junior participation and volunteers at an all time low.

Before too long, Footy won't be the thing that brings communities together. It won't be part of the fabric of society that it has been for the last 100 years.

The big wigs celebrate their $4.5 billion media deal and Dangerfield declares the players need a salary rise because they're the ones that market the game.

Well, you don't know what you've got till its gone. Hopefully we get someone in charge of the AFL soon that cares about grassroots and the heartlands of our game.

One stadium works well for WA and SA, but every year, we have more and more country ovals with overgrown grass, old rusted goal posts, a scoreboard without a score and no footy played.

 

[iameviljez]

The real question is why are SA and WA used to fill up players for the AFL clubs of the Eastern States.

What benefits are these States receiving?

The State Leagues continue to get used as an AFL development league with no respect to the clubs. The meagre salary caps of a whole squad are well less than the average wage of one AFL player. Country footy is dying a slow death with junior participation and volunteers at an all time low.

Before too long, Footy won't be the thing that brings communities together. It won't be part of the fabric of society that it has been for the last 100 years.

The big wigs celebrate their $4.5 billion media deal and Dangerfield declares the players need a salary rise because they're the ones that market the game.

Well, you don't know what you've got till its gone. Hopefully we get someone in charge of the AFL soon that cares about grassroots and the heartlands of our game.

One stadium works well for WA and SA, but every year, we have more and more country ovals with overgrown grass, old rusted goal posts, a scoreboard without a score and no footy played.

In fairness, this describes the VFL as well. Country footy is in trouble everywhere, but that has to do with more than just AFL support or lack thereof.

 

[glengowan]

In fairness, this describes the VFL as well. Country footy is in trouble everywhere, but that has to do with more than just AFL support or lack thereof.

That is true. But not a lot of effort has gone in to ensuring the game remains the activity of choice on a Saturday afternoon in the country.

 

[iameviljez]

That is true. But not a lot of effort has gone in to ensuring the game remains the activity of choice on a Saturday afternoon in the country.

I think there is some funding from the AFL, but don’t know how much?

In fairness, I think it’s a lot to do with the advent of the 21st century - a lot more competition for attention, population drain, and concussion worries.

 

[Dazb86]

Interstate bias that's why

 

[bigfatcorn]

Rugby is big in WA and SA is it not? I watched state of origin games played at Perth Stadium and Adelaide Oval, obviously AFL is number 1 in both states I'm just pointing out rugby is big too.

Rugby isn't big at all in Perth, I know maybe 1 or 2 people who followed Western Force when they existed.

 

[cactuscall]

I'm so confused about the QLD example. Brisbane and Gold Coast are completely different cities, why would they share a stadium?

Yep. Gold Coast didn't even play at the Gabba when Metricon was out of action for the Commonwealth Games. Which was a strange decision imo.

 

[cactuscall]

Rugby isn't big at all in Perth, I know maybe 1 or 2 people who followed Western Force when they existed.

Perth gets bigger crowds than Brisbane for SOO and Bledisloe matches and not much less than Sydney. It's now a serious market when it comes to Rugby. Western Force crowds have been reasonably competitive considering their onfield results and being in an AFL market. The sea of blue is defintely a thing and although dropped and brought back to life, they do exist in the national comp.

 

[kranky al]

They could play anywhere really, like the pre season community games.
Just means there would only be around 10,000 attending - too bad.

They had a pre season WC v Freo game here in Geraldton a few years ago - ground was in great nick, good crowd, it was awesome.

Was awesome and the broadcast team left the cabling in place in case it needs to be done again.

 

[TheMcManusNose]

Can't believe nobody mentioned Kalgoorlie.

Digger Daws oval already there as the best sporting ground in WA mate.

 

[JackOutback]

Quite a stretch to actually label any of those grounds stadiums, really they're not much more than suburban ovals with slightly better facilities.

As much a stadium as those in Tasmania, Carirns, Townsville, Darwin, Alice Springs etc. The only thing that makes them 'AFL stadiums' is the required broadcasting equipment, Since WA and SA don't have a need for a second stadium, they haven't bothered installing the required equipment.

 

[Upgrayedd]

There's only one game a week in NSW and QLD yet all the clubs in those states have their own stadium.

You do realise Gold Coast and Brisbane are different places

 

[oak79]

There's lot of football stadiums in WA - AFL pre-season matches have been played at places like Mandurah, Fremantle Oval and Mineral Resources Park.

NSW and QLD have 2 "AFL" stadiums because their second teams can't fill the larger stadium.
If Fremantle only had 15,000 turn up to games, you would probably find they would play at a smaller ground too.

Financially, with less than 30 AFL games played in Perth, it makes zero sense to have 2 big stadiums.

According to ops logic, the Victorian teams should play at 10 team different stadiums. More than 2 teams share each of MCG and Marvel - so Perth and Adelaide actually have more "AFL" stadiums per team than Victoria...

 

[Billy ray]

Is there a ground at busselton or margaret river?

 

[bigfatcorn]

Perth gets bigger crowds than Brisbane for SOO and Bledisloe matches and not much less than Sydney. It's now a serious market when it comes to Rugby. Western Force crowds have been reasonably competitive considering their onfield results and being in an AFL market. The sea of blue is defintely a thing and although dropped and brought back to life, they do exist in the national comp.

Wasn't even aware they existed still.

Maybe rugby is popular outside my circle, but it certainly doesn't seem that way, I never hear/read/see anything about rugby in Perth media.

 

[WillHayward]

This is a dumb OP.

Melbourne has 9 teams and 2 grounds.

4.5 teams per ground.