JamesXander wrote:If labor proposes building a rectangular stadium within the CBD, I will not only vote for the liberals but i'll donate money to them.
Would be the biggest waste of time/money and land. A league crowds are down and the demand for a rectangular stadium is not there, if its to be done it has to be done proper. A multi purpse stadium or nothing.
As a general sports supporter I would hope that this isn’t the prevailing view of AFL fans across Adelaide.
Hypothetical rant here...
If we assume that this proposal has legs, which I strongly doubt, it could be consequently assumed, that in order for the plan to progress beyond pie-in-the-sky status it would need (at the least) tacit State Govt (even ACC) support. Given the State Government pledge to improve AAMI for fans and to bring it to FIFA accredited standard (to the tune of $100M), it is possible to see that the Rann Government is somewhat supportive of improving AFL facilities specifically, and facilities for Football (Soccer) in general, even if it only for big attendance Socceroos games.
If the proposed rectangular stadium was to be built, perhaps in the parklands, despite the private money pledged, it would be safe to assume there would be some level of Government financial support (even if it were in the form of guarantees).
Thus, I would suggest if the above posts are even slightly true, that the State Government has been amenable to a multi-purpose stadium in the parklands all along – and the reticence of the AFL and SANFL to relinquish operational and financial control of any hypothetical stadium may have blown their chance to have one built on the public purse.
Yes, A-League crowds are down, but Socceroos crowds aren’t – and it is at the higher end market that this stadium would be specifically aimed at, even if it were operated and used weekly by Adelaide United. Secondly, have you seen the stadium proposed? (40,000+ all seater, based upon the Frankfurt Waldstadion built/refurbished for the 2006 World Cup – if thats not proper, I don’t know what is...) Regardless of whether the demand is there right now, 30,000+ crowds may be possible in 8-10 years time when it would be ready.
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End hypothetical rant.
So why shoot down a proposal for a rectangular stadium (however unlikely) if it is possible that the desired multi-purpose stadium may have been shot down by AFL and SANFL intransience? In making it a political game aimed at improving their own patch down at West Lakes, which was successful too, mind, it would be just desserts to the SANFL and AFL if Adelaide United could build such a stadium with private money, given the waste of public funds the upgrades to AAMI are.
