NRL stadiums: NSW Government, Andrew Abdo back new Penrith stadium viability

The NSW Government and NRL remain confident Penrith’s planned stadium will be viable despite projections its cost-benefit ratio will fall well below acceptable levels.

Artist impressions of the proposed redevelopment of the Penrith Paceway site by Capital Corp and Club Paceway.

Stuart Ayres and NRL CEO Andrew Abdo are confident a new stadium in Penrith, on separate land, won’t turn into a white-elephant in western Sydney.

Penrith is still slated to receive a new $300 million venue after planned upgrades to a number of other suburban grounds stalled, including Brookvale and Leichhardt Ovals, sparking a rift between NRL powerbrokers and the NSW government.

But rather than rebuild the Panthers’ home at BlueBet Stadium, Ayres has been pushing for the new venue to built on the Paceway site — which sits on a larger parcel of land.

While the new stadium would be home to the back-to-back premiers, Ayres, the member for Penrith, insisted it would be a multipurpose venue ensuring its viability.

“The Paceway site is by far and away the best site for the stadium. It‘s the best site for Penrith the city,” Ayres said.

“(That‘s) just (because of) size.

“We‘ve seen as we’ve redone Commbank from the old Parramatta Stadium, even what we did at Allianz, just modern facilities are bigger.

“There‘s more space, there’s more public amenity, there’s more space between concourses and seats, there’s more food and beverage options.

“More rooms that can be hired. So non-event day revenue can be can be higher as well.”

Artist impressions of the proposed redevelopment of the Penrith Paceway site by Capital Corp and Club Paceway.

In September, state government documents revealed the cost of the stadium could blow out if it was relocated to a harness racing paceway site next door to BlueBet Stadium.

The proposal for a new venue at Penrith was the only suburban ground project to survive a savings review by the NSW government.

Documents tabled in the review revealed the ‘benefit cost ratio’ for Brookvale Oval was 0.24 – well below the target figure of “1”.

It’s understood the ratio for the Penrith Stadium is not much better.

But Abdo said the new stadium would be a boost for the entire region, not just rugby league.

“There needs to be a business case for each stadium, which the government has committed to doing and have done for each of the stadiums that have been built,” Abdo said.

“These are community assets, they are multi sport, multi purpose and they will be run in accordance to that approach. They are not exclusive to rugby league.

“These are community assets, they will have an overall approach with government considerations around population growth and different uses of the facility.”

Penrith’s new stadium would have the capacity to host the NRL’s Magic Round, where every game in round 10 is played at Suncorp Stadium.

While there are no immediate plans to move Magic Round, which has turned into a festival of rugby league, away from Brisbane, there is a growing push to take the event on tour across the country.

Penrith Panthers supporters at the fan meet at BlueBet Stadium after winning the 2022 NRL Premiership against Parramatta. Picture: Jeremy Piper

“There’s no comment on that at moment. We obviously think very carefully about ways which we can make all stadium infrastructure viable but we haven’t given any thought to content arrangement at the moment,” Abdo said.

While the Paceway is yet to be officially rubber stamped as the stadium’s new site, it would allow the Panthers to avoid shifting to Commbank Stadium during construction, and continue playing at BlueBet next season.

“We‘re just progressing with our commercial negotiation with the Paceway, the adjoining land,” Ayres said.

“It‘s definitely the best spot to build the stadium. We know that. We’ll just go through that process and get a good result.

“It‘ll mean that the players and the fans know that we’re playing at the existing Penrith stadium next year.

“But once we get that deal done, we‘re going to get on with it and build a stadium that outer Western Sydney deserves.

“But definitely next year they‘ll be playing here while we complete our commercial negotiation.”

Originally published as NRL stadiums: NSW Government, Andrew Abdo back new Penrith stadium viability