ANZ Stadium management confident of a bright future

ANZ Stadium Managing Director Daryl Kerry has clarified media speculation surrounding moves for a potential early reversion of ownership of the former Olympic Stadium to the NSW Government.

Current ownership of the Stadium is due to revert from the Stadium Australia Group to the State Government at the end of the lease period in 2031.

Kerry advised that his management team had been in talks with NSW Government on a range of issues, including investment in an upgrade of the Stadium and the surrounding Sydney Olympic Park precinct.

Kerry added that these talks were designed to ensure the Stadium is always able to compete on behalf of NSW for major events - in the face of ever-increasing competition from local and interstate Government-funded stadia.

As part of that dialogue, the NSW Government was keen to explore how best to facilitate an upgrade of the Stadium.

Two options canvassed in this process were:

• An early reversion of ownership before the expiration of the lease; or

• An extension of the lease beyond 2031.

Kerry stated "both of these options were designed to provide certainty regarding ownership of the Stadium to ensure an environment conducive to future Government and/or private investment.

"After agreeing first to explore the early reversion option in more detail, the NSW Government has now advised that it will not proceed with this action.

"As a result, Stadium management looks forward to further dialogue in relation to a possible lease extension and/or future investment so that the Stadium remains strong in a highly-competitive market."

ANZ Stadium's plans for the future include new cafes and bars both within the Stadium and in the Stadium precinct, a see-through sliding roof to weather-proof the venue, and movable stands in the north and south (similar to that which is already in place on the eastern and western sides of the ground).

The improvements are planned to both improve the event experience at the Stadium and ensure it remains the leading venue going forward in terms of attracting major events for Sydney and NSW.

Currently, a busy 2013 event schedule has the Stadium positioned to achieve its biggest year since the Olympics in both a commercial sense and in fan visitation.

More than 1.5 million fans are expected through the Stadium turnstiles in a year that will feature a visit by the world's most famous football club Manchester United, a British & Irish Lions rugby Test, two State of Origin games, the Bledisloe Cup, the NRL Grand Final, Super Rugby, NRL and AFL regular-season games, a T20 cricket international, as well as numerous major entertainment acts like Billy Joel and Bon Jovi.

Kerry concluded "our sole motivation for agreeing to the Government process of exploring an early reversion of ownership was to guarantee the ongoing quality of the venue and to ensure it remains the iconic Stadium it was built to be."

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