Music concert cap to be lifted at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium, SCG

An archaic cap restricting Allianz Stadium and the SCG precinct to just four concerts per year is set to be lifted in a win for residents of Greater Sydney and a blow to Moore Park Rd NIMBYs.

• Finally common sense has prevailed

An archaic cap restricting Allianz Stadium and the SCG precinct to just four concerts per year is set to be lifted in a win for residents of Greater Sydney and a blow to Moore Park Rd NIMBYs.

Echoing AC/DC in declaring “let there be rock,” Premier Chris Minns will task Venues NSW with allowing up to 20 concerts to be held in the SCG precinct every year to stop Sydney missing out on major acts like megastar Beyonce.

The move means the brand new Allianz Stadium could facilitate more than a billion dollars of economic investment over its lifetime by hosting more world-class concerts.

For three decades, the SCG precinct – including the brand-new $828 million Sydney Football Stadium – has been limited to hosting an average of four concerts every year.

The cap was imposed after neighbours near Moore Park complained about a noisy Rolling Stones concert 30 years ago, in a move which is believed to have cost NSW hundreds of millions of dollars in the last four years alone.

A cap on concerts at Allianz Stadium and the SCG precinct is costing us major events. Photo: Getty

The rules have meant Venues NSW have been unable to host international acts like the Foo Fighters, Bon Jovi, and Billy Joel at the Moore Park precinct.

Government sources blamed the concert cap for Billy Joel snubbing Sydney to play to a sold-out crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in December last year.

The cap also threatened to stymie recent efforts to woo global megastar Beyoncé to Sydney.

The move to allow 20 concerts a year at Allianz Stadium will see superstar musical acts like Beyonce, left, and the Foo Fighters, right, not searching for other venues in Sydney for their stadium shows. Pictures: News Corp/Getty/Getty

Sports Minister Steve Kamper has now tasked Venues NSW with seeking regulatory approval to lift the concert cap.

There will be extensive consultation on the move which will require planning and environmental applications.

International artists are estimated to bring up to $7.5 million of economic benefit to NSW for every show they perform. As it currently stands, the cap is costing our state up to $60 million in lost revenue every year.

Major cultural events have also fallen foul of the concert cap: last year’s official Mardi Gras after-party was forced to move to the Hordern Pavilion (before Covid restrictions forced its late cancellation), because performances for the year at Allianz were already maxed out.

Our state is already playing catch up when it comes to how many concerts can be held at major stadiums each year.

Billy Joel played in Melbourne in 2022 after he was unable to play at Allianz due to the concert cap.

Venues NSW has lost out on hosting the Foo Fighters due to the cap. Photo: Getty Images

Venues NSW boss Rod McGeoch has previously warned that NSW could lose big gigs to other states if we do not do more to attract them here, like increasing the concert cap.

Last year, the Queensland government temporarily increased the cap on Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium from six to 12 major events each year for 2023 and 2024. Melbourne’s AAMI Park has no yearly cap.

Mr Minns said that Sydney must be able to use our entertainment venues to their fullest potential.

“Sydney is a global city and we should be able to host global acts from around the world,” he said.

“In lifting this concert cap to 20 per year, we could bring in an additional $1.3 billion for NSW businesses over the lifetime of Allianz stadium.”

The cap has also threatened to axe plans for Beyonce to perform. Photo: Getty Images

Mr Kamper declared its time to slash the red tape holding Allianz back.

“The Sydney Football Stadium is an $828 million state-of-the-art venue, for it to be lying dormant and unused is an absolute shame,” Mr Kamper said.

“We need to remove the red tape that has caused this iconic venue to sit empty when it should be hosting the world’s best performers.”

Jobs, Tourism, Music and the Night-Time Economy Minister John Graham also welcomed the move.

“This government is focused on creating jobs and reinvigorating our night-time economy, by simply raising the concert cap, we can do both,” he said.

Originally published as Music concert cap to be lifted at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium, SCG