Rugby league boss Peter V’landys has declared the home of the AFL could be an option to host this year’s NRL grand final, as Victoria outlined a lucrative financial deal for a slew of 2027 Rugby World Cup matches to be held at the MCG.
Visit Victoria chief executive Brendan McClements said on Tuesday his state was keen to add to an already impressive list of high-profile sporting events, with thousands flocking to Melbourne this weekend for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix.
While admitting state budgets were under growing fiscal pressure, McClements made it clear key matches of the 2027 Rugby World Cup, along with this year’s NRL grand final, were on the agenda.
Rugby league boss Peter V’landys says the MCG could be an option to host this year’s NRL grand final.Credit:NRL Photos
McClements, speaking at the SportNXT conference in Melbourne, said the NRL grand final was a point of major interest.
“Peter also said recently: ‘I haven’t got a deal for the NRL grand final.’ It’s a purely commercial decision. Our phone hasn’t rung. I have got 35,000 more seats for Peter. In a purely commercial decision, that is $4-5 million waiting for him. So, I would like to talk to Peter at some stage about that,” he said.
V’landys, the Australia Rugby League Commission chairman, told The Age and Sydney Morning Herald: “I would love to hear from Brendan. It could be an option for us.”
V’landys’ displeasure with the just-ousted NSW Liberal government over what he claims were broken promises over stadium funding led to threats to move last year’s grand final. In January, V’landys said there was enormous interest in the NRL grand final, and warned the NSW government would have “to get the chequebook out”.
The NRL grand final has been played in Sydney in all but one year since 1908, with the 2021 decider moved to Brisbane due to COVID restrictions in NSW.
McClements said there was a real battle for the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
“From an economic perspective, from a brand perspective, that is a terrific event. We want two semi-finals, the three-v-four play-off and the final played there [MCG] in front of 100,000 people,” he said.
“I don’t understand why rugby just doesn’t say yes. It’s 80,000 more seats, it might be 100,000 more seats [than NSW]. From a commercial sense, what are you going to say, that’s $100 [per] rugby yielding visitors, so it’s probably $20, $30, $40 million more by selling 100,000 more seats.
“That is a no-brainer – the best stadium in Australia [MCG] – in a city where history happens, and you are going add $40 million more than anywhere else.”
Destination NSW director Rod McGeoch has said Sydney’s Accor Stadium was the obvious choice to stage the first World Cup final on Australian soil since the 2003 thriller between Australia and England.
Perth’s Optus Stadium is considered the only other Australian stadium big enough to host a World Cup final.
Rugby Australia and World Rugby are still working through how the event will look. The bidding process for matches will open in the second half of the year.
World Rugby officials were in Sydney in January, with a small delegation sent to Melbourne during the Australian Open.
Meanwhile, V’landys, in his role as Racing NSW chief executive, has taken on Melbourne’s spring racing carnival with top-class Sydney meets. His latest bold move was launching Sydney’s “The Big Dance”, held at Randwick 30 minutes after the Melbourne Cup at Flemington.
McClements said there was competitive tension over racing between the states.
“Melbourne Cup, it’s the jewel in the crown for us, it’s a brilliant race, it does brilliant things for the state. There is competitive tension there. It’s a good opportunity for the state and the VRC to reimagine racing, what we are going to do in that space,” he said.
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