Stadiums plan will bring fans back to Wallabies and Waratahs: Castle
Rugby Australia boss Raelene Castle says the NSW Government's contentious $2.7 billion stadiums plan will bring crowds back to rugby.
Castle said match attendances at upgraded or new stadiums in Perth and Adelaide proved fans responded to investment in infrastructure if governments were prepared to commit to them.
The NRL double-header at
If you build it, they will come: The new Optus Stadium in Perth.
Photo: AAPin Perth earlier this month was hailed as a success after attracting almost 39,000 to a city, while the Crows and Port Adelaide boasted record crowds at Adelaide Oval last season and saw memberships soar.
"The reality of sport in Sydney is that our fans deserve better quality stadiums so they can go and live watch sport," she said.
"We've got a proof point across Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, that if you actually give fans great stadia they will turn up and watch live sport. What that does is promote to the next generation of young people how important sport is and as your shop front, that's how your participation numbers grow.
"That's true for the Waratahs, having a stadium for a fan experience better than what we're getting at the moment."
Enthusiastic, but not big numbers: Fans mob Harry Johnson-Holmes after the Waratahs snatched a late winner against the Stormers. But the Tahs' home crowds have not been big.
Photo: AAPEarly-season attendances of about 11,000 at Waratahs games show the club is struggling to lure fans back after two seasons of poor results and rugby's turbulent year off the field in 2017. The Wallabies also suffered, with the opening Bledisloe Cup Test attracting a record low crowd of just over 53,000 to ANZ Stadium last year. Whether those numbers can be put down to stadium issues alone is a moot point, but Castle believes Sydney fans have suffered because of a lack of investment in upgrades during the past two decades.
"For me the money they're looking at is really only what they should have spent – in $500 million increments – the last 20 years. They're really playing catch up," she said.
"It is one of those realities now, everything else you do can be of high quality but when at Allianz Stadium you've got the ratio of men's toilets to women's toilets actually failing every modern measure, let alone the horrible hamburger and chips you get. It's important for the whole fan experience."
Castle was speaking after the release of a consultants' report into the economic benefits expected to flow from next year's Rugby World Cup in Japan.
The report, commissioned by the Japan RWC Organising Committee, found the 44-day tournament would generate a record total output of around $5.47 billion for the Japanese economy, attract up to 400,000 international visitors and support up to 25,000 jobs.
Australia announced last year it would bid for hosting rights for the 2027 World Cup, as well as the next Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2021, which will go out to tender later this year.
RA maintains it will not win hosting rights for the 2023 World Cup if both stadiums are not rebuilt.
"If you truly want to host world-class events like a Rugby World Cup, where you've got great outcomes for us to leave a legacy from a financial perspective but also generate jobs and profile for Australia and great economic return from a country perspective, you need stadia that are capable of hosting those events," Castle said.
"The stadia we've got in Sydney at the moment, we will not win the World Cup if [they] stay the same."