The Auckland Stadium Question

Warriors would be crazy to move. They've built a crowd and an atmosphere that money can't buy.

Blues probably eyeing up a move to Kiwitea given the declining state of union. 😂😂😂

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/350274068/tataki-auckland-unlimited-commissioned-report-selling-north-harbour-stadium

I've cooked up a table of the biggest dedicated stadiums in Australia and NZ by city.

Australasian_Stadia.PNG 28.2 KB

Disclaimer: some of my numbers will likely be a bit inconsistent/inaccurate. Correct me if I've messed up too much. The point also in which a ground is insignificant enough to earn an 'n/a' enters into a grey area and perhaps some of you might think I've done Colin Maiden park dirty here. I acknowledge also of course that different cities have different sporting cultures and needs.

The point still stands however. Auckland is the biggest city by a margin of over 1 million that doesn't have dedicated stadiums for both rectangular and oval sport.

Now, arguing that we should do something purely in order to be more like our neighbours might not in itself be the soundest logic, but when so much pro-Eden Park argument boils down to upholding a status quo for its own sake ('National Stadium,' 'Home of the All Blacks,' etc), it's worth noting that doing so would keep Auckland's stadium strategy completely out of line with the wider region's. It all just goes to show that Eden Park is a stadium for a pre-professional era.

Good intent, but with AFL, the Oval stadiums are all Multipurpose. The big city grounds all host cricket & AFL. It's misleading to call them Dedicated Ovals - as they are definitely multipurpose.

So no different to how Eden Park operates with cricket & rugby. Except of course now no 5 day wearing of cricket whites in Mt Eden.

The MCG (too many to count), Perth Stadium (Eagles & Freemantle), Adelaide Oval (Port & Crows), SCG (Swans) & Gabba (Lions) all have AFL clubs as tenants. So the whole stadium financial model is sooo much stronger.

I didn't say they were dedicated cricket ovals, I said they were dedicated ovals - AFL inclusive. As AFL was invented to be played on the same grounds as cricket, they don't detract from eachother.

Cricket and Football codes 100% do when played at the same grounds.

Auckland needs a dedicated Oval = cricket ground. 100%.
Just like the Tron, Mt Maunganui, Basin, Hagley & University Oval.


But the Aussie comparisons are a bit pointless. Apples v oranges.
Comparable sized cities Perth, Adelaide & Brissy all have the massive financial advantage of multipurpose ovals with 12 month use, cricket & AFL. The rich BBL with big crowds. The AFL with tonnes of cash. The Adelaide Oval was 'modernised' from a  picturesque cricket ground into a concrete beast for the AFL. Bye bye grassy banks

Then Perth & Adelaide get enough ALM & Super Rugby (Perth) tenants to make their small rectangular grounds viable. Whilst Suncorp in Brissy has 3-4, year round tenants in the Broncos, Redcliffe Dolphins, QLD Reds & Roar.

Oh and don't forget whenever big football (soccer) or rugby (both codes) games come to Adelaide or Perth, they take them to their big Oval stadiums. There you are even further from the action than Eden Park. Ditto the huge MCG.
 

I'm not staking any claims on how big these stadiums should be. Merely that all major cities in Aussie and NZ should and clearly can have a dedicated oval and rectangle stadium of some size - proportioned to their needs obviously. This is the base level of quality that we owe spectators.

It's an unfair comparison to point out big football games at the Docklands and such. The sacrifice is not on the part of the stadiums - they stadiums are still fully purposed for those week-in week-out events. It is the quality of those big rare events instead that is sacrificed, and rightly so.

It would be like if the MCG slowly moved the stands in to provide a better experiences for those attending EPL pre-season friendlies. That's what's happened with Eden Park over the years. 

It is of course now not for cricket that Eden Park maintains its wonky shape - that would be concerts. It now plans to get bigger. Some national stadium.