Exorbitant stadium fees costing music fans chance to see major acts play the Gold Coast

THE Gold Coast will struggle to convince leading promoters to bring major musical acts here unless exorbitant operating fees at the city’s major stadiums are reined in.

THE Gold Coast will struggle to convince leading promoters to bring major musical acts here unless exorbitant operating fees at the city’s major stadiums are reigned in.

Gold Coast Suns chairman Tony Cochrane said high operating costs made it difficult to attract leading touring artists to perform stadium shows at Metricon.

“The Gold Coast is a challenging market for any promoter of that size,” he said.

Crowds at the last-ever Big Day Out at Metricon Stadium in 2014. Picture: Brendan Radke.

“What that basically means is we have to do it on a weekend, to maximise the crowd potential for the weekend.

“Right at the moment we also have an ongoing issue around the cost of operating that stadium (Metricon).

“Whether it’s Bruce Springsteen or an AFL game it’s the same. The cost doesn’t change for us.

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“That’s why there is so much focus on working with the government now to get the cost base correct so we can be competitive.

“We think the clear way to go, having invested heavily in the stadium, is to come up with a cost basis that allows all sorts of performances and other sorts of things to make it a viable community asset.

“Right at the moment, transport and policing costs make our stadium almost the most expensive stadium in the country.”

Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder gave Metricon Stadium the thumbs up when he played there on the Big Day Out tour in 2014. Picture: Luke Marsden.

The Government has formed a taxpayer-funded taskforce to review the leasing arrangements and opportunities of Stadiums Queensland (SQ), which oversees nine government-owned venues across the State including Cbus Super Stadium, used by the Titans, and Metricon Stadium, used by the Suns.

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The review into the board’s dealings follows accusations the stadium fees it charges are crippling clubs including the Titans and the Suns.

Mr Cochrane said the AFL season left promoters a limited window of opportunity to book concerts at Metricon Stadium.

Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl onstage at Metricon Stadium in 2011.

“The stadium is occupied from April to the end of August,” he said.

“No promoter will take a risk outside of summer in a normal year but it hasn’t been a normal year with the Commonwealth Games.”

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Leading Australian promoter Michael Gudinski, who christened Metricon Stadium as a live music venue when he brought the Foo Fighters and Tenacious D to town in 2011, has been trying to line up another stadium act for Gold Coast audiences ever since.

Metricon also received rave reviews when it hosted the last-ever Big Day Out in 2014.

High operating costs have hampered efforts to bring more major concerts to Metricon Stadium. Picture: Nigel Hallett.

The venue has not hosted any more major musical acts since the State Government dropped its two-a-year cap on the number of concerts Suncorp could host.

“When the cap was lifted, that changed things for us,” Mr Cochrane said.

“When the AFL signed on to Metricon 10 years ago, in those days the main competitor (Suncorp) was restricted in how many things it could engage with beyond the football schedule.

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“Then during our term at Metricon, that has now opened up with Suncorp after the government changed the rules.”

Mr Cochrane said he was hopeful the SQ review would “find answers to perplexing questions”.

“As I have said before, there is no good spending $200 million on a stadium and then turning it into a white elephant,” he said.

“We want our stadium to be viable.”