“I suppose if the state government wants to reverse its commitment to funding suburban stadiums, the $300 million committed to the Penrith stadium now could be better used for schools and hospitals? It would be outrageous for Penrith to withhold their stadium for the obvious political benefit of their local member. These are public funds and should be managed for the benefit of the public. This government has enough problems to deal with without creating more.”
Cronulla had been told they would receive between $100 million and $130 million to upgrade their site.
“All indications so far have been positive discussions around PointsBet Stadium and the confidence to secure funding for the same reasons the Sharks managed to demonstrate,” Sharks CEO Dino Mezzatesta told the Herald.
“We are number 1 in many areas, especially in terms of participation. We have just taken out a female license as well, we can’t accommodate double headers now.
“This money was critical to the long-term sustainability of the club to be able to host not only double legs, but also semi-finals at home.”
Ayres, speaking at the announcement of a community open day for Sydney’s new Allianz Stadium, admitted the government’s spending priorities had changed and the state may have to wait a little longer for to new stadium improvements.
“We have a long history [stadia investment]Ayres said.
Suncorp Stadium hosted the first NRL Grand Final to be held outside of Sydney last year. Credit: Getty
“We also know we have limitations in what we can do. We’ve continued our commitment to the NRL, we want to be able to improve suburban infrastructure, but we want to be able to do that when the state’s fiscal capacity allows.
“We recognize that we’ve just had some of the biggest flooding and constant flooding in the last couple of years. So there’s a lot of costs associated with it. We’ll continue to talk to the NRL about things we can afford to do. But we have priorities and we’ve to stick to these… Maybe it just means we’ll have to wait a little longer before we can spend extra money on [stadium upgrades]”.
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Asked about the possibility of the NRL taking the grand final interstate because the government failed to deliver on its promises, Ayres said: “If the NRL took the grand final from Sydney, after the NSW government has spent over 1.5 billion of sports dollars infrastructure that massively benefits the NRL… if the NRL were to move away from the home of their sport here in NSW the state where the grand final has always been played with the exception of the grand final Last year’s COVID, that would be extraordinary. move.
“I’m very confident the NRL will keep the grand final here in NSW. They know it’s the right thing to do. They know they’ve had an outstanding partner in the NSW government, but there are limits to what governments can do.
“I think we will continue a very good working relationship with the NRL to have the best events in NSW.”
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