Border-Gavaskar Trophy at Optus Stadium sets single-day attendance record for Perth Test

The first Test of Australia’s summer of cricket has seen a new a single-day attendance records set for a Test match in Perth.

Concluding as of yesterday, Australia’s clash with India in ‘The West Test’ officially became the biggest cricket crowd at Optus Stadium as of Sunday with the series opener for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy registering a 63% year-on-year increase for attendance at the venue.

Day one and two set records for attendance at any Test match in Perth, with 31,302 fans attending on Friday and 32,368 on Saturday. A further 26,166 fans attended on Sunday, with 6,627 watching India wrap up a 295-run victory on day four.

The total attendance for the Test match was 96,463 which is the second-highest total attendance ever recorded in Perth and the highest at Optus Stadium. The previous record at Optus Stadium was 81,104 for the Australia vs India clash during the 2018/19 summer.

However, the total is not quite the all-time record in Perth, as 103,330 watched five days of cricketing action at the WACA Ground during the 2006/07 Ashes series, contested by Australia and England.

Sunday’s action was also the centrepiece of events including the WA Day Festival and The West Test Summer Fest.

Optus Stadium Chief Executive Mike McKenna said feedback around the new festival had been roundly positive and he was confident crowd numbers could grow again for next year’s Ashes series.

McKenna told The West Australian on Sunday “having the first Test of the summer in Perth is great. The teams are in town for longer it allows the stories to develop and interest to grow.

“We’re really pleased with the crowd numbers at this match and we want to build on that for England next summer.”

The second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy will take place from 6th to 10th December at the Adelaide Oval, followed by the third Test at The Gabba in Brisbane on 14th to 18th December. The fourth Test at the MCG will begin on Boxing Day prior to the fifth and final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground from 3rd to 7th January.

A recent report showed that major events injected $286 million into Western Australia's economy in 2023/24.