Hobart Stadium: $750 million cost

[Mr Taswegian]

Fair calls here. If the feasibility study identified issues with the stadium being conducive to a Tasmanian teams viability then thats all that needs to occur.

Clarence city council sitting on an absolute goldmine with Blundstone Arena. The precinct could be sold for commercial/housing in a similar way to Waverley was, once all sport is gone from the venue.

I would think Test Cricket will be forced to stay at Blunstone considering the stadium is most likely only going to have a fixed roof which isn't suitable.

 

[tandino]

I would think Test Cricket will be forced to stay at Blunstone considering the stadium is most likely only going to have a fixed roof which isn't suitable.

The funny thing about the requirements of sporting bodies is how flexible they are when they stand in the way of cash.

FIFA stadium requirements would never allow a tournament to take place in a country like Qatar. And yet here we are.

I don't know if it's worth the added expense of a retractable roof for a Test every two years against not-England/India. Frankly, Cricket likes shiny new things as well, and I think with a Docklands-height roof, it will be suitable enough for them to realise they actually don't have a problem with the roof anyway.

 

[JHCAT23]

Are the labor government down there likely to win the election? They've obviously taken the anti stadium route thinking it'll help them win. I think it'll Only hurt them.

 

[Johnny Bananas]

Are the labor government down there likely to win the election? They've obviously taken the anti stadium route thinking it'll help them win. I think it'll Only hurt them.

Last poll I saw was in March. It had the Liberals at 42%, Labor at 30, Greens at 15 and all others at 13. If we assume Labor and Greens will attempt to form a minority government, it's a very tight race as to who will win the election.

That same poll had the Rockliff's approval rating falling 3% to 44, with White rising from 34 to 36. So the trend looks to be favouring Labor.

 

[Dirty Bird]

The funny thing about the requirements of sporting bodies is how flexible they are when they stand in the way of cash.

FIFA stadium requirements would never allow a tournament to take place in a country like Qatar. And yet here we are.

I don't know if it's worth the added expense of a retractable roof for a Test every two years against not-England/India. Frankly, Cricket likes shiny new things as well, and I think with a Docklands-height roof, it will be suitable enough for them to realise they actually don't have a problem with the roof anyway.

Talking about FIFA Stadium requirements.
Under them the MCG, Adelaide Oval and Perth Stadium weren't acceptable. Adelaide Oval more so than the others.
But we all know they would've bent the rules had we won.

 

[Dirty Bird]

I feel they should look at it at Stages

Stage 1) Horse-shoe design similar to Adelaide oval in the mid-20s range.
Stage 2) If demand needs it, fill in the horse shoe to go to 30k
Stage 3) Build a roof over the top - (Real Madrid recently had this done, and Barcelona is about to do it to theirs too soon

I feel the current proposal is too small and due to the roof, too expensive.

Do it in phases. Keep the costs down. And do this right.
Though, I feel the AFL has a pre conceived misconception of Hobart and wrongfully demanded the roof which has ****ed everything up.

 

[JohnZ]

Though, I feel the AFL has a pre conceived misconception of Hobart and wrongfully demanded the roof which has ****ed everything up.

I don't understand where this necessity for a roof came in, but I think it had something to do with concerts. The reality is, acts aren't going to come play on a cricket/footy oval with a capacity of 20k plus floor. It's just not the right type of venue for a concert. The types of shows that play in big stadiums like Ed Sheeran need 60k+ crowds to be viable, given the expense of putting on the show. And the smaller shows that play at Arenas aren't setup for big stadiums, the staging is designed assuming that even the people at the back are only a basketball courts distance away (which the basketball arena in Hobart could handle but agian it's too small to justify the economics of playing down there).

Which is a long winded way to say I agree with you. Footy is a winter sport. Footy and Cricket don't need a roof, in fact they're better played without one. The docklands stadium sucks, partly because on a sunny winters day you end up being blasted by artificial light bouncing off concrete. It has a negative psychological effect.

On the size of the stadium, there was a graph somewhere about the optimal size of the stadium. It peaked at ~23k (the proposed amount), but a 30k sized stadium was within 5% of that peak before the BCR started dropping off. So they had this range from 20k to 30k and they went low. It's disappointing and short sighted. It should be 30k with 22k seats, 5k (2k seated and 3k behind them standing) on the hill and another 3k in safe standing in one of the pockets (which Geelong is trialling when our new stand opens). My 2c

 

[The_Wookie]

I don't understand where this necessity for a roof came in, but I think it had something to do with concerts. The reality is, acts aren't going to come play on a cricket/footy oval with a capacity of 20k plus floor. It's just not the right type of venue for a concert. The types of shows that play in big stadiums like Ed Sheeran need 60k+ crowds to be viable, given the expense of putting on the show. And the smaller shows that play at Arenas aren't setup for big stadiums, the staging is designed assuming that even the people at the back are only a basketball courts distance away (which the basketball arena in Hobart could handle but agian it's too small to justify the economics of playing down there).

Which is a long winded way to say I agree with you. Footy is a winter sport. Footy and Cricket don't need a roof, in fact they're better played without one. The docklands stadium sucks, partly because on a sunny winters day you end up being blasted by artificial light bouncing off concrete. It has a negative psychological effect.

On the size of the stadium, there was a graph somewhere about the optimal size of the stadium. It peaked at ~23k (the proposed amount), but a 30k sized stadium was within 5% of that peak before the BCR started dropping off. So they had this range from 20k to 30k and they went low. It's disappointing and short sighted. It should be 30k with 22k seats, 5k (2k seated and 3k behind them standing) on the hill and another 3k in safe standing in one of the pockets (which Geelong is trialling when our new stand opens). My 2c

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

I would think Test Cricket will be forced to stay at Blunstone considering the stadium is most likely only going to have a fixed roof which isn't suitable.

Hobart is never getting a Test again, other than a covid-like event making other venues unavailable, CA have made that quite clear with their requests to the ICC that only five are held each summer. A roof high enough to play 50 and 20 over cricket under would be a very odd look for a small capacity stadium. Anything under Docklands height really would not be acceptable, given the likelihood of the ball hitting the roof multiple times a match.

International cricket might only have a few years left to live anyway, with the way the IPL is taking over players.

 

[Mr Taswegian]

Hobart is never getting a Test again, other than a covid-like event making other venues unavailable, CA have made that quite clear with their requests to the ICC that only five are held each summer. A roof high enough to play 50 and 20 over cricket under would be a very odd look for a small capacity stadium. Anything under Docklands height really would not be acceptable, given the likelihood of the ball hitting the roof multiple times a match.

International cricket might only have a few years left to live anyway, with the way the IPL is taking over players.

Big bash will definitely be played at the stadium.

 

[The_Wookie]

 

[jj15]

Fair calls here. If the feasibility study identified issues with the stadium being conducive to a Tasmanian teams viability then thats all that needs to occur.

Clarence city council sitting on an absolute goldmine with Blundstone Arena. The precinct could be sold for commercial/housing in a similar way to Waverley was, once all sport is gone from the venue.

Clarence City Council can’t touch the ground, the Clarence Football Club have played there for 80 years? I’m pretty sure they got a 99 year lease around the year 2000 also.

 

[its been done]

Clarence City Council can’t touch the ground, the Clarence Football Club have played there for 80 years? I’m pretty sure they got a 99 year lease around the year 2000 also.

The council own the land but lease it to the TCA

 

[jj15]

The council own the land but lease it to the TCA

Yerp and Clarence football Club has a 99 year lease with that.
I checked today. They have over 70 years left.

 

[justlookingaround]

So is this getting built?…
Seems to have fallen out of the news cycle as of late

 

[jj15]

So is this getting built?…
Seems to have fallen out of the news cycle as of late

I say it does but the cost will be extreme.
I just wish they would be honest and say yer it will lose money and cost heaps more to build but we want a team so we are doing it.
Then people can either vote then back in or vote then out.

 

[Cunnington Cartel]

So is this getting built?…
Seems to have fallen out of the news cycle as of late

It’s going through a parliamentary process (project of state significance), which will take ages so there’s not much to report atm. It passed the first vote, I believe that there’ll be another vote in October to confirm if a parliamentary committee will compile a report and if this occurs then it’s predicted that the report will be tabled in state parliament for the final vote in early 2025. It wasn’t supposed to be this complicated but the government was shafted by two of its former members who defected from the Liberal party.

I also think it will get built, but the opposition are just trying to make things as difficult as they can for the government, as the delay will give them another 18 months to throw mud at the government over this issue.

 

[kranger]

 

[sverik25]

Good news if true. I'm sceptical though...

 

[Mr north man]

Good news if true. I'm sceptical though...

I bet the Greens are loving this

 

[JohnZ]

This is great great news. Still think it should be built to the 30k spec straight up but this is a great intermediate step.

 

[Roogal]

The only problem for a stadium in Hobart is that it is seen by most people in the North of the state as a stadium for Hobart. I was over there last week end in Burnie and the general feeling is that Hobart is too far and too inaccessible for people in the North to access for football and cricket. As it was explained to me, Hobart is roughly a three to four hour drive from the North coast depending upon where you live and that if you go to Hobart to watch a night game of footy or cricket then you have to effectively plan for an overnighter.

 

[JohnZ]

The only problem for a stadium in Hobart is that it is seen by most people in the North of the state as a stadium for Hobart. I was over there last week end in Burnie and the general feeling is that Hobart is too far and too inaccessible for people in the North to access for football and cricket. As it was explained to me, Hobart is roughly a three to four hour drive from the North coast depending upon where you live and that if you go to Hobart to watch a night game of footy or cricket then you have to effectively plan for an overnighter.

Which is why I would name the team Hobart and not Tasmania. Leave room for a potential launceston/north team to enter the comp in the future.

 

[sverik25]

The only problem for a stadium in Hobart is that it is seen by most people in the North of the state as a stadium for Hobart. I was over there last week end in Burnie and the general feeling is that Hobart is too far and too inaccessible for people in the North to access for football and cricket. As it was explained to me, Hobart is roughly a three to four hour drive from the North coast depending upon where you live and that if you go to Hobart to watch a night game of footy or cricket then you have to effectively plan for an overnighter.

Unfortunately you can't cater for everyone. People in North Queensland for example are more than 1,000 kms away from the teams in their state.

The Tasmanian bid is doing a pretty good job of this by splitting time between Hobart and Launceston. And Launceston is getting significant upgrades to York Park as well.

 

[Cunnington Cartel]

The only problem for a stadium in Hobart is that it is seen by most people in the North of the state as a stadium for Hobart. I was over there last week end in Burnie and the general feeling is that Hobart is too far and too inaccessible for people in the North to access for football and cricket. As it was explained to me, Hobart is roughly a three to four hour drive from the North coast depending upon where you live and that if you go to Hobart to watch a night game of footy or cricket then you have to effectively plan for an overnighter.

Burnie is the North West, not the North, so there’s a pretty big difference there. As someone who is originally from Launceston (which is two hours drive from Hobart), I’m fully supportive of the club being based in Hobart. It just has to be. When I lived in Launceston, my friends and I would regularly travel to Hobart for footy games, cricket, concerts etc.

People from the NW are the most disadvantaged by this, but the reality is that they’re only the state’s 3rd biggest region in terms of population (after the South - Hobart, and the North - Launceston), but also the most decentralised. There’ll be 4 games per season played in Launceston anyway if they can’t be bothered driving to Hobart. For NW coasters, depending on where they live, it’s anywhere between 1hr and 2.5 hours to get to Launnie. Therefore, their willingness to do the drive to Launnie is probably not too dissimilar to Launnie people’s attitudes toward driving to Hobart.