New entity to manage Sydney’s stadium network

The NSW Government’s announcement that it will invest more than $1 billion in the development and upgrading of sport stadiums in Sydney is also set to see major changes in the management of Sydney’s major venues.

The funding announcement saw NSW Minister for Sport Stuart Ayres confirm industry speculation that the NSW Government has been negotiating to acquire leasehold management rights for the ANZ Stadium at Sydney Olympic Park.

Minister Ayres stated “once this is finalised we will work towards one governing entity for Sydney’s stadia network.”

This move is set to see the creation of a new ‘super agency’ to manage stadiums in Sydney, Wollongong and Newcastle with the functions of the Sydney Cricket and Sportsground Trust merged with Venues NSW and the management of ANZ Stadium.

The proposed change would end the long-standing competition between the managers of ANZ Stadium and the SCG Trust with the two venue management organisations combined under common management for the first time.

However, the deal may well be complicated by the need to pay millions of dollars in compensation to the investors in the privately run ANZ Stadium.

Under the original 1996 deal to build the Olympic stadium (Stadium Australia) at Sydney Olympic Park, then investors agreed to build a stadium at a cost of only $100 million to the NSW Government – although the NSW Government also agreed to pay compensation if it ever made a major investment in a competitor stadium.

The types of investment that would trigger this compensation include increasing the corporate area of Allianz Stadium at Moore Park by 30%, or increasing the seating capacity of Parramatta Stadium to 35,000.

As a result, the NSW Government is likely to have to either buy out the lease holders of ANZ Stadium, or compensate them over the 15 years their lease has left to run.

The lease holders of ANZ Stadium, ANZ Bank and the Diversified Infrastructure Trust, reportedly tried, with success, to sell the lease back to the NSW Government for $100 million two years ago.

Images shows the Allianz Stadium and Sydney Cricket Ground at Sydney's Moore Park.

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