Adelaide Giants owner Ross Pelligra plans new baseball stadium and training site

The new owner of the Adelaide Giants has a vision to build a new world-class baseball stadium and international training site near the CBD. See where it could go.

The new owner of the Adelaide Giants has outlined his vision to make Adelaide the country’s baseball capital with a new multi-million-dollar stadium at the centre of his ambitious plans.

Ross Pelligra, the multi-millionaire property tycoon who acquired the franchise from the Adelaide Crows, has already toured several potential sites for a new stadium, which would cost up to $40m to build and seat around 5000 spectators.

Victoria Park, the Riverbank precinct between Royal Adelaide Hospital and River Torrens, and a site adjacent to the SA Athletics Stadium at Mile End are among a list of CBD fringe sites identified as potential locations for the new venue.

Mr Pelligra said he wanted to build the best baseball-specific facility in the country, with plans to host international games, attract visiting clubs from Asia and potentially incorporate a sports academy to train local and international talent.

Artist's impression showing what a new baseball stadium in Adelaide might look like under the vision of new Adelaide Giants owner Ross Pelligra. Produced and supplied by City Collective

Adelaide Giants’ Alice Prokopec, Adelaide Crows chief executive Tim Silvers, Pelligra chairman Ross Pelligra and Adelaide Giants’ Jordan McArdle at West Beach. Picture: Sarah Reed

He said the stadium would enable the Giants to relocate from their existing base at West Beach, while also creating a “legacy” for the sport.

“I want to build a stadium that’s to Olympic standard, international standard – the project cost of something like this is going to be between $35m and $40m,” he said.

“We’ve started looking at potential sites and we’re getting our design team to look at what other international standard stadiums look like overseas, and then we’ll look at how that fits into the potential sites.

“For us it’s important that we get the right location. It’s going to be in the CBD fringe so that before and after the game you create that carnival atmosphere – you get the before-and-after traffic back into the CBD, which all the businesses thrive off.”

Artist's impression showing what a new baseball stadium in Adelaide might look like under the vision of new Adelaide Giants owner Ross Pelligra. Produced and supplied by City Collective

Mr Pelligra expected a preferred site to be selected within the next couple of months while he engaged with councils, property owners and current users about the feasibility of short-listed sites.

Other early options being considered include Park 27B across from Bowden, Park 17 in the southeastern parklands and Park 24 at the western end of Ellis Park.

As part of early research into potential designs, Husky Ballpark in Seattle and Jane Sanders Stadium in Oregon have been identified as examples of the type of stadium that would fit into Mr Pelligra’s vision.

From a commercial perspective, the Melbourne-based property developer said a new world-class baseball facility would allow Adelaide to tap into the popularity of baseball across key Asian markets including Japan, Korea and Taiwan.

“We want to bring students from overseas, and academies and kids from Asia, and we want to build facilities for them to train, be educated and have experiences with the stadium,” he said.

“Like they do in the US, like they do in Japan, like they do in China – we’re going to look at what they’re doing and improve it and modernise it to today.”

Jane Sanders Stadium in Oregon, US. Architect: SRG Partnership

Mr Pelligra said partnering with other sports in a multi-purpose venue was another option being considered, as long as it didn’t “compromise” the outcome for baseball.

State government and council support would be sought to make the project stack up financially.

“I want baseball to stand on its own, and in the future I want to leave a legacy behind for the Giants to have a home that’s there for the next 100 years-plus,” Mr Pelligra said.

Mr Pelligra’s acquisition of the Adelaide Giants brought to an end three years of ownership by the Crows.

The self-confessed “sports lover” is also joint owner of Victorian National Premier League soccer club South Melbourne FC, and is planning a major upgrade of the former Titanium Security Arena after acquiring the basketball stadium earlier this year and renaming it Adelaide 36ers Arena.

Mr Pelligra has been investing heavily into South Australia since acquiring the former Holden site in Elizabeth in 2017, snapping up a number of large-scale office, health, industrial and commercial properties across the state.