A battle is brewing for control of Geelong Football Club’s famous Kardinia Park home ground with the stadium’s management determined for its new lease with the Cats to guarantee greater access for rock concerts and other major events.
The Cats say they need an alternative training base before they can strike such an agreement, which the state government and Kardinia Park Stadium Trust say is needed to unlock the potential of the venue’s $340 million redevelopment.
The Cats train at GMHBA Stadium (formerly Kardinia Park) in September last year.Credit: Eddie Jim
Geelong, which signed lease agreements with the local council before the trust was established in 2016, are the only Victorian club that gets to train on the ground they play at, a competitive advantage that is the envy of many of their opponents.
Despite the impasse, the Cats have made it clear that they support the trust’s objective to host concerts and other big events. According to sources from both the trust and the club, speaking anonymously about confidential discussions, the Cats were prepared to temporarily relocate last year when the prospect of grunge legends Pearl Jam playing at the stadium was raised.
Pearl Jam’s management eventually shelved that idea to play only capital cities after the band became sick in Europe.
However, the sources explained the Cats felt it was not sustainable to regularly relocate for such events until they had an alternative training base, which could also host AFLW matches. The Pearl Jam situation highlighted the uncertainty faced by the trust when chasing big events.
The Selwood stand completed stage five of the redeveloped stadium that now holds 40,000 people.Credit: AFL Photos
“It is important that any future planning for the stadium and Kardinia Park balances the needs of many stakeholders, including the City of Greater Geelong, Geelong Football Club, event promoters and the community, and we continue to work collaboratively with them to understand their needs,” trust chief executive Gerard Griffin said.
“KPST is committed to seeing the stadium used for a multitude of diverse community and professional sporting and entertainment events in addition to AFL and AFLW. Our recent hosting of the Matildas, Melbourne Renegades and the Festival of Sport demonstrates the flexibility of this great community venue.”
A state government spokesperson said: “Kardinia Park is Australia’s biggest and best regional sports and entertainment stadium – it hosts AFL, AFLW, cricket, football, live music and other large-scale community events all year round.
The Foo Fighters concert in March 2022 was a highlight for the Geelong regionCredit: Paul Rovere
“We work closely with Kardinia Park Stadium Trust to make this a state-of-the-art venue [that] hosts an incredible line-up of major events all year round – giving locals the opportunity to experience some of the best sport and music close to home.”
GMHBA Stadium, formerly known as Kardinia Park, has not hosted a rock concert since Foo Fighters in March 2022.
Last year it hosted more than 300 Cats training sessions, 10 AFL and five AFLW games, plus one Melbourne Renegades Big Bash match and a soccer match between the Matildas and Taiwan.
Community events such as the Festival of Sport and all-abilities matches were successful, but AFL Barwon made a significant loss from their decision to play the Geelong Football League grand final at the venue.
The Matildas warming up at Geelong Credit: Getty Images
Part of the difficulty in attracting concerts is that AFL and AFLW games were scheduled at the venue from March 16 to November 1. AFLW finals could also be scheduled at the venue throughout November if Geelong qualify.
The sources said the trust had a constructive relationship with the Cats, who are the stadium’s most important tenant with the Cats chief operating officer Marcus King saying the club wants to help the stadium realise its potential.
“As a club we are supportive of attracting more events to GMHBA Stadium, as we recognise the benefit these bring to the region and community … our objective for the Kardinia Park precinct is to optimise the use of the precinct 365 days a year for the community, whether it be elite or community sport, or major events, and working closely with Kardinia Park Stadium Trust, City of Greater Geelong and other park stakeholders to achieve this,” King said.
An independent evaluation from data analysis group Geografia found last year’s round one match against St Kilda supported 111 full-time jobs with a direct economic impact to the region of $5.61 million.
Complicating discussions is that the local council rather than the trust manages the land surrounding the stadium.
The trust is responsible for just 40 per cent of the precinct, effectively the stadium and a short space around its perimeter, other than when major events are held. The council manages the rest of the park. In Melbourne, by contrast, the MCG Trust has run the parkland surrounding the stadium since 2010 when they took over responsibility from the Yarra Council.
Taiwan warms up ahead of their clash with the Matildas at GMHBA Stadium.Credit: Getty Images
The council and the trust have been working since 2022 to develop a masterplan for the precinct that also houses Geelong premier cricket, community football, community netball, umpires, and the swimming pool.
The crowded space makes finding a suitable venue for the Cats within the precinct difficult. A Cats proposal for the cricket venue to be turned into a boutique stadium was discounted when it became clear it would not be available for the Cats in summer.
The St Mary’s Football and Netball club ground is being realigned to close to GMHBA dimensions, but the Cats would run into the same problems of availability as they have at Deakin University, which is shared with other community sports.
Geelong council’s executive director placemaking Tennille Bradley said she were willing to support the Cats’ quest for alternative options.
“Should this be something that the Geelong Football Club is open to, the city would be [working] collaboratively with them to find an alternative training venue when required,” Bradley told this masthead.
She also indicated the council was open to discussing with the state government the management of the precinct as long as “all the existing functions could continue to be delivered”.
Other sports are also looking at the precinct with Geelong now having a basketball team in the WNBL playing at The Arena, a venue which is outdated.
A consortium, involving Wollemi Capital Group Syndicate (WCGS) and the NBL, which assumes majority ownership of the WNBL in April, are looking for upgraded facilities and potentially a show court if WNBL games are to continue in Geelong, according to four sources aware of their thinking who were not authorised to speak publicly.
The Cats and other community sports are also lobbying the federal government to build a shared multi-purpose indoor training facility alongside GMHBA Stadium. They have already invested heavily in new rooms for their women’s team inside the stadium and upgraded their football department and gym inside the venue.
“The opportunities for the community to utilise a multi-purpose indoor facility are numerous, including use by local sports clubs, for kids clinics as well as supporting the activation of the precinct to host major events,” King said.
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