Stadium Australia

Stadium Australia, currently known as ANZ Stadium due to naming rights, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Sydney Olympic Park precinct of Homebush Bay. The stadium, which in Australia is sometimes referred to simply as the "Olympic Stadium", was completed in March 1999 at a cost of A$690 million to host the 2000 Summer Olympics. The stadium has since then hosted the 2003 Rugby World Cup Final, as well as the National Rugby League grand final annually.

The stadium was originally built to temporarily hold 110,000 spectators, making it the largest Olympic Stadium ever built as well as the largest stadium in Australia. In 2003 reconfiguration work was completed to shorten the north and south wings, and install movable seating. These changes reduced the capacity to 83,500 for a rectangular field and 81,500 for an oval field (making it the second largest stadium in Australia after the Melbourne Cricket Ground). Awnings were also added over the North and South stands, which means that now most of the seating is under cover. The stadium was also engineered along sustainable lines for example with the low use of steel in in the roof structure in comparison to the Olympic stadiums of Athens and Beijing.

Naming rights history

The stadium lacked a naming rights sponsor in its formative years, bearing the name Stadium Australia between its opening in 1999 and 2002. In 2002, telecommunications company Telstra acquired the naming rights, resulting in the stadium being known as Telstra Stadium. On 12 December 2007 it was announced by the Stadium Australia Group (SAG) that the stadium's name was to be changed to ANZ Stadium after concluding a deal with ANZ Bank worth around AU$31.5 Million over 7 years. This change took effect on 1 January 2008.

Confusion with the Stadium's current naming rights relates to the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre in Brisbane, which was also formerly known as ANZ Stadium.

Event history

Large crowds

The first sporting event held at the stadium was on 6 March 1999 when a then-record rugby league football crowd of 104,583 watched the NRL first round double-header, featuring Newcastle v Manly and Parramatta v St George Illawarra Dragons. The first musical act to have been held at the newly built stadium was the Bee Gees consisting of Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb in March 1999. The band had embarked on what would be their final world tour as a group before the death of Maurice, the culmination of the tour ending in the newly built Olympic Stadium. The turnout crowd was 105,000+.

The stadium was not officially opened until June 1999 when the Australian soccer team played the FIFA All Stars. Australia won the match 3-2 in front of a crowd of 88,101. Stadium Australia also played host to the national side's historic playoff win over Uruguay in November 2005, a victory which granted Australia FIFA World Cup qualification for only the second time in the country's history. The event attracted a virtual capacity crowd of 82,698.

The 1999 Bledisloe Cup rugby union match between the Australian Wallabies and the New Zealand All Blacks attracted a then-world record rugby union crowd of 107,042. In 2000 this was bettered when a crowd of 109,874 witnessed the "Greatest ever Rugby Match" when a Jonah Lomu try sealed an All Blacks win over the Wallabies 39-35. The All Blacks had led 24-nil after 11 minutes only to see Australia draw level at 24-all by halftime.

On 7 August 1999, a National Football League (American Football) exhibition game was played between the Denver Broncos and the San Diego Chargers, bringing home former AFL player Darren Bennett, the Chargers' punter. The Broncos won the game 20-17. This was Australia's first, and currently only, American Bowl game.

The 1999 National Rugby League Grand Final, played on 26 September between the Melbourne Storm and the St George Illawarra Dragons, broke the rugby league world-record crowd previously set earlier in the season when 107,999 came to watch the Storm defeat the Dragons 20-18.

During the 2000 Olympics, the evening track and field session on day 11 attracted 112,524 spectators. Also during the Olympics, the football (soccer) final attracted 104,098 to witness Cameroon defeat Spain for its first-ever Olympic gold medal.

The opening ceremony for the 2000 Olympics at the stadium completely sold out all 110,000 seats, while the highest attendance ever recorded was 114,714 during the closing ceremony of the same Games.

The rock band AC/DC will be having 3 shows in February, 2010 (18th, 20th & 22nd), from their Black Ice World Tour. It is expected to be a sell out with over 80,000 people attending each concert. The Concert they have recently played on the 18th of Feb held over 80,000 people. There were about 60,00 people seated and 20,000 people on the floor.

Reconfiguration

In October 2001, major reconfiguration work on the stadium was commenced to allow for sports that require an oval field, such as cricket and Australian rules football, to be played at the ground. The two wing stands were removed as well as the athletics track and a movable seating section was introduced in its place. New roofs were built over the two ends and seats that had a poor view of the field were removed. The reconfiguration reduced the capacity to 83,500 for the rectangular field and 81,500 for the oval field at a total cost of $80 million. The construction work was carried out by Multiplex.

- Sydney FC match]]

The reconfiguration work was completed in October 2003 in time for the 2003 Rugby World Cup where the then Telstra Stadium hosted the opening game, two other groups games, both Semi-Finals, the third-place play-off and final matches of the competition. In the first semi-final on 15 November 2003, Australia beat New Zealand 22-10 and then in the second semi-final the following day England beat France 24-7. In the final, on 22 November, England beat Australia 20-17 in extra time.

The Sydney Swans v Collingwood AFL match at the Stadium on Saturday 23 August 2003 set an attendance record for the largest crowd to watch an AFL game outside of Victoria with 72,393 spectators (near capacity) attending and was the largest home-and-away AFL crowd at any Australian stadium for 2003.

2 October 2005 saw 82,453 attend the NRL grand final in which the Wests Tigers defeated the North Queensland Cowboys 30-16.

16 November 2005 saw 82,698 attend the second leg of the Oceania-South America Qualification Playoff game for qualification to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Australia defeated Uruguay 1-0, which led to a penalty shootout as Uruguay had won the first leg of the playoff 1-0. Australia won this shootout 4-2, and the penalty spot where John Aloisi's spot kick secured victory has been permanently preserved and is on public display at the stadium.

In Feb-09, the stadium replaced its existing two television screens with new Panasonic HD LED video screens that measure 23x10m - 70% larger than the original screens, and 50% larger than the screens in the Beijing National Stadium, whilst consuming less power than the old screens, additionally, an led perimeter screen showcasing anz advertising has been installed on the second level from the 30m line to the 30m line.

4 October 2009 saw the largest ever rugby league crowd since reconfiguration when 82,538 attend the NRL grand final to see the Melbourne Storm defeat the Parramatta Eels 23-16.

Proposed Redevelopment for FIFA World Cup

A proposed $200m redevelopment will make the stadium a show piece in the Australian 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup bid.

Proposed redevelopments include incorporating pivoted retractable seating at the northern and southern ends reducing distance at a rugby league or soccer pitch from 23m to 5m with no change for AFL and Cricket, increased capacity to 90000, and the installation of a retractable light weight roof.

Regular sporting events

The National Rugby League is the most regular tenant of the ground, while Rugby Union internationals, soccer internationals and Australian Football are all played at the ground. ANZ Stadium hosts the following:

National Rugby League

  • Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs home games (since 1999)
  • South Sydney Rabbitohs home games (since 2006)
  • Two Parramatta Eels home games (since 2008). The Eels play their remaining ten home games at Parramatta Stadium.
  • Wests Tigers home games (2005-2008). The Tigers used ANZ Stadium as one of their three home grounds during this time, alongside Leichhardt Oval and Campbelltown Stadium.
  • St George Illawarra Dragons home games (2008). The Dragons called the stadium home for the 2008 season while their regular Sydney-based home ground at Kogarah, WIN Jubilee Oval, was reconfigured.
  • Rugby League State of Origin matches are played at the stadium each year (either two or one annually since 1999), and every NRL Grand Final has been held there since 1999.

Association Football

  • A large number of Australian national team games are staged at the ground.
  • Proposed new A-league side from Western Sydney have expressed their desire to play most home matches at the ground. This is seen as a massive coup for the stadium, as currently no major summer tenants play out of the ground.
  • Sydney FC played a one-off match against the Los Angeles Galaxy at this ground. Sydney FC won 5-3. They were also the only A-League team to ever be broadcast on free-to-air television (Network Ten broadcast this game with Melbourne Victory captain Kevin Muscat providing commentary).

Australian Football League

  • The Sydney Swans play up to four "blockbuster" games at the venue each season, with their remaining home games played at the Sydney Cricket Ground. In 2010, only three games will be played at ANZ Stadium by the Swans.

International Rugby Union

  • At least two Rugby Union tests a year are also played at the stadium - usually a Bledisloe Cup match, and a tour match.
  • In the near future the New South Wales Waratahs it is proposed will play some of their home fixtures at the stadium.

Cricket

  • The NSW Blues play some limited overs Ford Ranger Cup matches at the stadium.
  • The same side also uses the stadium to host their home games in the domestic Twenty20 Big Bash competition each summer.

Other sports

The stadium has also hosted Speedway Grand Prix of Australia on one occasion in 2002.

Seating capacity and other records

  Before reconfiguration After reconfiguration
Oval shape Rectangular shape
Official capacity 110,000 81,500 83,500
Overall 114,714
Closing ceremony
(Sydney 2000 Olympics)
1 October 2000
72,393
Sydney v Collingwood
23 August 2003
83,418
Australia v New Zealand
(2004 Rugby Union Tri-Nations)
7 August 2004
International Soccer (Association football)
104,098
Spain vs Cameroon
(Sydney 2000 Olympics)
30 September 2000
- 82,698
Australia v Uruguay
16 November 2005
Club Soccer (Association football)
  - 80,295
Sydney FC v LA Galaxy
27 November 2007
Athletics 112,524
Sydney 2000 Olympics
23 September 2000
- -
Aust. rules football
(all matches)
  72,393
Sydney v Collingwood
23 August 2003
-
Aust. rules football
(finals)
  71,019
Sydney v Brisbane
20 September 2003
-
Cricket - 26,190
NSW v QLD Ford Ranger Cup
17 January 2004
-
Rugby league
(all matches)
107,999
St. George Illawarra v Melbourne
26 September 1999
- 82,538
Melbourne Storm v Parramatta Eels
2009 NRL Grand Final
4 October 2009
Rugby league
(finals)
107,999
St George Illawarra v Melbourne
26 September 1999
- 82,538
Melbourne Storm v Parramatta Eels
4 October 2009
Rugby union 109,874
Australia v New Zealand
15 July 2000
- 83,418
Australia v New Zealand
(2004 Rugby Union Tri-Nations)
7 August 2004

Notes and references

See also

  • Australian Landmarks
  • 2000 Summer Olympics venues

External links

Preceded by
Centennial Olympic Stadium
Atlanta
Summer Olympics
Opening and Closing Ceremonies (Olympic Stadium)

2000
Succeeded by
Olympic Stadium
Athens
Preceded by
Centennial Olympic Stadium
Atlanta
Olympic Athletics competitons
Main Venue

2000
Succeeded by
Olympic Stadium
Athens
Preceded by
Sanford Stadium
Athens, Georgia
Atlanta Metropolitan Region
Olympic Football tournament
Final Venue

2000
Succeeded by
Olympic Stadium
Athens
Preceded by
Sydney Football Stadium
Moore Park
National Rugby League
Grand Final Venue

1999-present
Succeeded by
incumbent
Preceded by
Millennium Stadium
Cardiff
Rugby World Cup
Final Venue

2003
Succeeded by
Stade de France
Saint-Denis
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Olympics
19 May 2012
Where Cathy Freeman lit the cauldron - Cathy Freeman, an Australian with Aboriginal heritage who days earlier lit the cauldron to open the 2000 Sydney Olympics,won the 400m under a searing spotlight.
WorldRugbyShop
6 January 2011
ANZ Stadium originally held 110,000 fans for the 2000 Summer Olympics, the largest Olympic stadium ever built. Since then the stadium has been reconfigured to hold less spectators, around 83,500
Madrid2020
6 June 2013
How can we forget Cathy Freeman lighting the flame in the Olympic Cauldron within a circle of fire during the Opening Ceremony of the 2000 Olympic Games? Bravo Sydney!
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They give tours on most days
Grant Dempsey
23 July 2011
In winter bring a pad to sit on or look for the lovely girls handing them out. Your butt will love you for it
Brendan Elliott
25 November 2017
Great place to watch sport!
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