Will Eureka stadium be big enough?

[Ghost Dog]

Full house!

Will the redeveloped Eureka Stadium be big enough to accommodate AFL-sized crowds?

That’s the burning question for the Red, White and Blue faithful as the Dogs’ membership continues to grow above 38,000 – up from 31,538 in 2014 and 35,222 in August of 2015.

Stage one of the $15 million project includes a 5000-seat grandstand, with the stadium capacity listed around 11,000.

Local Bulldogs member Ray Neville said that while he is genuinely excited about the development of Eureka Stadium and the promise of AFL points matches in Ballarat, he also has concerns over the facility’s capacity to cater for AFL home and away
crowds from 2017.

http://www.thecourier.com.au/story/3...be-big-enough/

[ledge]

11,000 capacity ?? That's nowhere near big enough , we would pull twice that no matter who we play.

[bulldogtragic]

It's a bad joke if that's the long term plan. Our worst/smallest crowd this year is about double that.

[I'm Not Bitter Anymore!]

Worse than Simmonds

[AndrewP6]

If that's it, it will be a monumental failure. Hopefully there's more in store.

[SonofScray]

I don't have great vibes about this after initially seeing it as a valuable prospect for us strategically and having an interest in the novelty of an old fashioned day at the footy against sides we draw low crowds against.

Worried about the size of the venue and access issues for members. Worried about the allure of 1 game turning into 2, turning into 3 etc. Worried about the diminished value of a membership when we play in China, Cairns, Ballarat etc. I thought the if we started to build up the membership base and make more money from it we'd do away with our wandering ways, but here we are again.

[The Adelaide Connection]

The thing is, despite 11,000 being around half of the smallest crowd we would pull at Etihad, it will probably deliver 10x the income. I can't remember the actual figures, but it is something like we break even on around 25,000 whereas with that same crowd at Skilled Geelong make over $500k.

Am I wrong in saying the crowds in Cairns/Darwin aren't a huge deal more than this anyway?

[bulldogtragic]

I don't have great vibes about this after initially seeing it as a valuable prospect for us strategically and having an interest in the novelty of an old fashioned day at the footy against sides we draw low crowds against.

Worried about the size of the venue and access issues for members. Worried about the allure of 1 game turning into 2, turning into 3 etc. Worried about the diminished value of a membership when we play in China, Cairns, Ballarat etc. I thought the if we started to build up the membership base and make more money from it we'd do away with our wandering ways, but here we are again.

After trying Darwin, The SCG & Canberra. Currently in Cairns. Talk of Simmonds a while back. Talk of China now. This VFL sized venue for AFL games. It's feels very adhoc and almost schizophrenic running from one idea to the next. I'd rather we pick one option of growth and just do it properly. A tiny venue in country Victoria that holds about 25% of our membership without factoring in neutrals and opposition supporters surely isn't the answer unless it can get north of 20,000+ capacity. The WO would be a better investment.

I'd much, much rather we focus on ensuring we land the Good Friday game and starting the season against Collingwood as a blockbuster game, alternating home ground status biannually. These games would be big for exposure, TV and sponsors, and also selling memberships early in the year. I can't help but feel we are spreading ourselves too thin and perhaps not on all the best long term needs and not directly or indirectly impeding this list by hocking games here and there.

[FrediKanoute]

11,000 is a concern. That said if we are playing someone like GCS or GWS or Brisbane it may do as a venue. It would be better if it could cope with 20,000 people, but it just means the club can ticket the game and make more cash from it (surely a good thing). Better, if it means we don't play a lossmaking game at Etihad, we have the double impact of not making the loss and potentially turning a profit.

[BulldogBelle]

Yep the only way it will work with such a small capacity is to play GC or GWS. If we play higher drawing teams there will be many unhappy supporters.

[Mantis]

The thing is, despite 11,000 being around half of the smallest crowd we would pull at Etihad, it will probably deliver 10x the income. I can't remember the actual figures, but it is something like we break even on around 25,000 whereas with that same crowd at Skilled Geelong make over $500k.

Am I wrong in saying the crowds in Cairns/Darwin aren't a huge deal more than this anyway?

Nah, you're on the money.. But these games are played in non-traditional footy venues whereas Ballarat is only an 1hr-90min car trip away for the bulk of our supporter base.. Plus you would expect anywhere from 5-7k of locals to turn up, maybe more.

Seriously underwhelmed by this initiative unless we can get 18k+ into the ground.

[Axe Man]

My understanding is that Ballarat will replace the interstate home games we have been playing for many years now?

If we compare the capacity of those grounds to the 11,000 at Ballarat we see they are all similar:
Cairns 13,500
Darwin 10,000
Canberra 15,000

Surely playing in Ballarat will give more members an opportunity to see the Bulldogs than playing at one those interstate venues?

I do agree that we should only play GWS or GCS there whilst the capacity is that low. There was talk of playing the Crows in Ballarat - we had 27,000 at Etihad against them this year - too many would miss out if it were held at Eureka.

[LostDoggy]

It's a joke. In the NAB cup game played at Eureka Stadium in 2015 when we played Melbourne the crowd was approx 6000.

I'd say 4500-5000 of that would have been locals.

A home and away match would easily get those 5-6k locals fronting up (possibly more) so are we only expecting 5k of our members to turn up? Given our potential team next season I would think a more likely figure would be 15k members turning up.

Anything less than 20k and we are wasting our time.

[bornadog]

It's a joke. In the NAB cup game played at Eureka Stadium in 2015 when we played Melbourne the crowd was approx 6000.

I'd say 4500-5000 of that would have been locals.

A home and away match would easily get those 5-6k locals fronting up (possibly more) so are we only expecting 5k of our members to turn up? Given our potential team next season I would think a more likely figure would be 15k members turning up.

Anything less than 20k and we are wasting our time.

I am not so worried as others. It will be one game in 2017 and yes many members miss out, however, if we can find 5000 plus Ballarat members in addition to our current members, our future becomes even more stable. Reading many articles, this is only stage one and more money will be spent and the capacity will increase, if it is well supported by the locals.

[Bulldog4life]

I understood that there are 3 stages to the project. Increasing the size each time.This is only the first one. Maybe the Club will confirm this in more detail.