Sydney Showground Stadium

History

Sydney Showground Stadium was constructed as part of the development of the new Sydney Showground, it was built to replace the ageing Showground at Moore Park and to provide a venue for the 2000 Summer Olympics.

A $65 million upgrade of the stadium to accommodate the GWS Giants was announced on 9 June 2010. Jointly funded by the NSW Government, the AFL and the RAS, the upgrade included two new stands which increased seating capacity from 13,000 to 25,000 (the stadium seated 13,000 but its full pre-redevelopment capacity was listed as 21,500), upgraded hospitality facilities, improved audio and sound systems and new media facilities. The playing surface was also reconfigured. The upgrade was officially opened on 23 May 2012.

The RAS is seeking funding from the New South Wales Government to expand the stadium as part of a major upgrade of the Showground precinct. It has targeted a total post-extension capacity of 30,000 seats but is considering revising the target capacity to 35,000 seats.

Australian rules football

The Greater Western Sydney Giants played their first game at the stadium on Saturday, 26 May 2012, Round 9 of the 2012 AFL season. In front of a crowd of 11,887 the Giants lost the match against Essendon by 66 points. The Giants first win at the stadium occurred on 4 August that year, when they defeated Port Adelaide by 34 points. On 24 September 2016, the ground hosted its first ever AFL finals game with the Giants losing to the Western Bulldogs by six points in a close preliminary final.

Cricket

The Sydney Thunder played two games at the stadium during the 2014–15 Big Bash League season when ANZ Stadium was unavailable due to the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. In June 2015, the Sydney Thunder announced a 10-year agreement to play all home games at Sydney Showground Stadium until the 2024–25 BBL season.

The opening Sydney Derby of the fifth season (2015–16) of BBL attracted record audience, with more than 1.5 million people tuning in for this match between the Sydney Thunder and the Sydney Sixers. On 28 December 2015, Sydney Thunder defeated Adelaide Strikers at the stadium in front of 21,500 spectators.

Association football

The Western Sydney Wanderers are playing most of their homes games at the stadium during the 2016-17 A-League season while Parramatta Stadium is rebuilt. Home games against Sydney FC, Melbourne Victory and Perth Glory are played at the nearby ANZ Stadium. The Wanderers played their first home game at the ground on 23 October 2016 against the Newcastle Jets.

Baseball and 2000 Olympics

The stadium hosted the Sydney Storm in the Australian Baseball League for the 1998 and 1999 championship. During the Olympics, it was known as the Sydney Baseball Stadium and was the main baseball venue. The gold medal game played in front of 14,107 saw the USA, managed by Tommy Lasorda, a former two time World Series winning manager with the Los Angeles Dodgers, defeated defending champions Cuba 4–0 to win their first ever Olympic Gold Medal in baseball.

Since the Olympics, no other baseball game has been played at the venue. Other Olympic events hosted were the riding and running portion of the modern pentathlon competitions.

Rugby league

In 2001, the Canterbury Bulldogs of the NRL moved their home games to the stadium, playing there until 2005 when they moved to ANZ Stadium.

Motorsport

As the Showground was originally built for both the Royal Easter Show and as a baseball venue, the field included a 450 metres (490 yards) long track that surrounded the playing field of the Stadium prior to its removal during the 2011–12 redevelopment. In the tradition of the Sydney Showground Speedway at Moore Park which ran speedway from 1926 until 1996, the track was used as a Speedway venue, mostly for motorcycle racing, though with limited success. In 2007 and 2008 the Stadium hosted a round of the Australian Solo Championships, just as the old Showground had done on 21 separate occasions between 1935 and 1980. The 2007 championship round, which was the opening round of a five-round series, was won by Australia's reigning Speedway World Champion Jason Crump, the son of Phil Crump who won the Australian title at the old Showground in 1975. Jason Crump would go on to win his second Aussie title in 2007, winning three of the five rounds (Sydney, Newcastle Showgrounds, and Borderline Speedway in Mount Gambier), while finishing second in Mildura (Olympic Park Speedway) and the Gillman Speedway in Adelaide.

The track, which was tight and narrow (a criticism in common with its predecessor) and almost square in shape, was also used for Speedcar racing, also with little success. When the Speedcars raced at the Showground, a temporary fence was put in place on the inside of the track to protect the grass surface from any out of control cars.

The first speedway meeting at the new Showground was held on 1 May 1999 and included an unofficial Solo "Test" between Australia and the United States, won easily by Australia. The program also featured Sidecars, as well as demonstration runs by restored vintage Speedcars and Modifieds which had raced at the old Showground. The speedway was officially opened by 15 time World Champion Ivan Mauger of New Zealand, and the "King of the Royale" (the old Showground Speedway), four time Australian Solo Champion Jim Airey.

Configuration

In its present configuration, Sydney Showground Stadium is a playing field running north east to south west. The south western half is surrounded by a single grandstand structure. Additional stands are located on either side of the field, directly adjacent the main structure. A single video screen is located at the north-eastern end. When it was installed, the screen was the largest at a stadium in the southern hemisphere, The stands are:

Opened 1998:

Opened 2012:

AFL records

Players

Teams

Last updated: 28 August 2016.

Top 10 sports attendance records

^{Last updated on 19 January 2017}

Top 5 AFL attendance records

^{Last updated on 24 September 2016}