Advertisement

Footy bid to run stadiums

Footy bid to run stadiums

The WA Football Commission has created a stadium management entity to spearhead not only its push to run the new stadium at Burswood but also other venues inside and potentially outside WA.

The WAFC will next month launch Perth Stadium Management, a stand-alone business unit in partnership with catering company Delaware North, concert promoter Live Nation and ticketing company Ticketmaster.

Perth Stadium Management will run Domain Stadium in Subiaco for the next three years, but it will also be a vehicle to bid for management contracts at other venues, potentially including the WACA Ground, nib Stadium in East Perth and venues under the umbrella of the Perth Theatre Trust.

The WAFC, Delaware North, Live Nation and Ticketmaster will submit a joint bid to run the new 60,000-seat stadium at Burswood under the Perth Stadium Management banner.

The entity is expected to compete with the likes of rival venue manager AEG Ogden, which runs Perth Arena on behalf of the State Government.

But WAFC chief executive Gary Walton insists the new business, which has been five years in the making, will stand on its own even if it misses out on the new stadium contract.

"We are obviously intent on getting the new Perth stadium management rights, but if that doesn't happen there is still a sound business operating model for Perth Stadium Management," he said.

The partnership with Live Nation and Ticketmaster aims to capitalise on those companies' extensive international contacts with global touring concert acts and aggressively drive more content to Domain Stadium over the next three years.

Perth Stadium Management is also set to launch an "open for business" strategy, pitching Domain Stadium as a leading destination for corporate and other events, including greater use of the stadium's playing surface and its upgraded big screen.

The WAFC has been in close discussions with the WA Cricket Association on the possibility that football and cricket would be jointly housed at the WACA Ground after 2018, with the possibility of the ground hosting WAFL games and a WAFC centre of excellence for umpires and elite junior teams.

Perth Stadium Management will soon announce a six to eight-person advisory board, which will be chaired by WA Football Commissioner Murray McHenry and will include senior representatives from Delaware North, Live Nation and Ticketmaster.

Mr McHenry said that despite Perth Stadium Management's strong football links, it should be viewed as an independent entity from the WAFC.

And although the management rights for the new Perth stadium would play a significant role in establishing a new economic model for football after the anticipated move of AFL games to Burswood for the 2018 season, Mr McHenry stressed that was not part of the consortium's bid to manage the Burswood stadium.