WHILE the government's decision to delay plans for a new sports stadium in Perth remains a major talking point, the state's biggest sporting clubs have told WA Business News of crippling capacity constraints and an opportunity lost.
WHILE the government's decision to delay plans for a new sports stadium in Perth remains a major talking point, the state's biggest sporting clubs have told WA Business News of crippling capacity constraints and an opportunity lost.
The West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Football Club - the two clubs with arguably the most vested interests in the development of a new stadium - are in the top echelons of membership within the AFL.
With sold-out membership of 52,000 and a waiting list of two years, the Eagles have called for a stadium to hold at least 52,000 people within the next decade to cater for growing demand.
"We sold out last year and our members are a very loyal and passionate group, and that's been proved again this year because our membership renewal is very strong," West Coast chief operating officer Richard Godfery said.
Likewise, management at the 43,000-member Dockers say the club will work closely with its key stakeholder, the WA Football Commission, to make sure football "can be best placed in the stadium debate".
"We've been lucky enough to enjoy six years of membership growth and certainly we're going to be challenged to secure another record this year given capacity constraints," Fremantle chief executive Steve Rosich said.
Premier Colin Barnett last week said the proposed 60,000-seat multi-purpose stadium at Subiaco was off the agenda until at least 2011.
The absence of a suitable venue is already affecting the state's ability to host major international matches, with WA ineligible to host the Asian Cup soccer qualifier next month between Australia and Kuwait.
Wildcats chief executive Nick Marvin said while a larger outdoor stadium was required in WA, basketball had needed a new home for some time due to the inadequacies of Challenge Stadium.
"We've always had an ongoing venue issue and that was exacerbated with our recent growth in membership," Mr Marvin said.
"Last season, due to our own rising costs, we were forced to raise our membership prices by 35 per cent, but despite that, our membership has remained constant."
He said last season the Wildcats had about 98 per cent occupancy on game nights, whereas this season occupancy was above capacity due to the sale of standing room tickets to help cover rising costs.
"We have a venue problem, we have a new venue being built in Perth Arena and that's great, but we can't wait for it to be finished," Mr Marvin told WA Business News.
"We believe we can double our audience if we have a new venue. In other words, if we pack up today and move to the newer venue we could fill it, purely because it's close to transport.
"And so we haven't been able to grow to our potential because of the capacity constraints we've been facing for so long; and the sport is seeing a resurgence, there's no doubt."
The new $320 million Perth Arena is scheduled for completion at the end of the year and will accommodate up to 12,000 people.
Western Force chief executive Greg Harris said while there was merit in the push for a larger, multi-purpose stadium, it could be to the detriment to Super 14 rugby in WA, with the Force to play its home games at Members Equity Stadium from 2010.
"If I've got a venue that holds 42,000 or more and I'm only going to average 25,000 to a game, why would people need to take out an annual membership? They don't," Mr Harris said. "We need a venue that has capacity dimensions to cater for what demand is.
"Therefore, I'd say a realistic proposal for a rectangular stadium is to cater for more in the order between 15,000 and 20,000 members."
Last month, Town of Vincent Mayor Nick Catania announced a $73 million Members Equity Stadium redevelopment plan that will increase capacity to 25,000.