What Brisbane’s new stadium announcement means for the Lions
When Brisbane Lions CEO Greg Swann heard the news that a new 63,000-seat stadium would be build for the Olympics, he said it ‘felt like grand final morning’. Here’s what it means for the AFL.
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“Like grand final morning” was how Brisbane Lions chief executive Greg Swann described the moments leading up to Tuesday’s new stadium announcement.
A 63,000 seat Victoria Park Stadium will be the home of AFL and cricket in the state following the 2032 Olympic Games.
Brisbane’s landmark new stadium will become the third-largest in the country, surpassing Perth’s Optus Stadium, with a match day capacity far eclipsing that of the Gabba’s 36,000.
Swann declared the Victoria Park Stadium would “deliver a great legacy for decades to come”, welcoming the extra 27,000 seats that would allow the club’s ever-growing supporter base to get through the gates and cheer its team on.
“The Gabba has been a great home for the past 30 years but the city has outgrown it (and) the Lions have outgrown it,” Swann said.
“We will top 70,000 members this year and the venue is reaching its end of life.
“Between now and the Olympics nearly four million Queensland sports fans will visit the Gabba for either a Lions or cricket match.
“We welcome the certainty this decision provides our fans, members and players.
“We can’t wait to hear 60,000-plus Queenslanders cheering on the Lions and we look forward to working with partners to support stadium design and delivery.”
The Lions would be open to playing fixtures there in early 2032 prior to the Olympics however, that seems unlikely given the venue will be set up for athletics in the months leading up to the Games.
Earlier this month AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon told the Courier-Mail that the code was targeting 10 million fans and one million participants by 2033 and that Queensland would be the major battleground on which it achieved those figures.
In a statement on Tuesday, Dillon said the Victoria Park Stadium would allow the AFL to deliver “mega events” to Queensland.
“We have created Gather Round and Opening Round and know we need to create more mega events if we are going to reach our goal of 10 million fans attending AFL and AFLW matches, or our participation goal of more than one million registered participants by 2033,” Dillon said.
“Knowing there is a 60,000-seat state-of-the-art stadium in Brisbane, we can now look at other opportunities in the future to drive capacity crowds and the associated tourism outcomes for the city of Brisbane and state of Queensland.
“The best way the AFL can honour that (Victoria Park) decision is to work tirelessly to expand on the record numbers playing our game in Queensland and work just as enthusiastically to drive events and full houses at the new stadium at Victoria Park.”
Last year the Lions set a record membership tally of more than 63,000 en-route to winning the 2024 AFL premiership, surpassing a number of established Victorian clubs including the Western Bulldogs, St Kilda and North Melbourne. The club expects to eclipse 70,000 members this year and, on current trajectory, could push 100,000 and beyond by the time it moves into Victoria Park.
“We started at Carrara at a 12,000-seat stadium, we’ve come to the Gabba … and now we go to Victoria Park. Our members will be really thrilled,” said Swann.
“We have outgrown the Gabba. We sell it out every week. We played the bottom team (West Coast) on the weekend and sold it out again, so the capacity increase to 63,000 will be huge for us.
“And great for the code as well. We are growing, there are more junior participants playing in Queensland than there are in South Australia, which is a traditional footy state, so it’s going to be great for us in the next 8-10 years to see what is coming.”
The AFL has previously committed $15m towards Hobart’s Macquarie Point Stadium, which is set to be the home of the code’s 19th team in Tasmania.
However, there was no mention of contributed funding from the AFL to the $3.78b Victoria Park Stadium in the code’s statement on Tuesday.
That came after Swann said he was “pretty sure there will be a tap” from the Queensland Government to help fund the project.
“The AFL historically puts money into new venues and look, as I touched on, it is great for the code so why wouldn’t we participate,” Swann said.
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