AusLeisure

The Sydney Cricket Ground and Allianz Stadium welcomed more than 1.85 million fans to precinct in the past reporting period, reaffirming the Moore Park precinct as the top destination for sports and entertainment events in NSW.

A busy schedule of rugby league, rugby union, football, cricket, AFL rules and concerts saw crowd aggregates soar during the 2016/17 financial year.

The highlight was a record attendance at the Wallabies’ Test match against England in June last year, the largest for a sporting event in the 29-year history of Allianz Stadium. The crowd of 44,063 surpassed the previous total of 43,967, when Diego Maradona and Argentina played out a 1-1 draw with the Socceroos in the 1993 World Cup Qualifier at the ground.

The highest crowd of the year at the SCG was set by the Sydney Swans, with 42,314 fans coming to watch their first clash with Hawthorn at the venue since 2012. It was the third highest ever with only two games, both against Geelong in 1997 (46,168) and 1996 (44,047), ahead of the turnout.

The Swans, the biggest sporting club in NSW, attracted 405,818 fans to the SCG last season for an average attendance of 33,818 – the highest of any code played at Moore Park and across the state.

Cricket attracted 94,281 supporters watching Australia and the Sydney Sixers men’s and women’s sides during the summer at the SCG. The New Year’s Test attracted the highest crowd aggregate against the Pakistan, while the Sixers averaged a record 30,368 fans per game.

However, nothing quite matched Moore Park’s blockbuster double-header in January, with close to 80,000 fans attending the Sixers-Thunder and Sydney FC-Wanderers derbies. The two games place the night alongside some of the biggest events in the history of the precinct, including the 1965 NSW Rugby League grand final.

Football’s showpiece derby sold out for a sixth straight time and the Big Bash event at the SCG set a women’s attendance record. Double-headers are common but Moore Park may not see the likes of this one for years to come.

The success of rugby continued after the June international with 75,412 fans attending the three-day Sydney Sevens event in February 2017, which has quickly become a must-see spectacle for Australian sporting fans. The World Series event, Wallabies Test and NSW Waratahs games brought the total rugby attendance to 269,976 for the year.

In rugby league, the Roosters, Dragons and Rabbitohs all played home games at Moore Park, with the season culminating in two finals fixtures at Allianz Stadium. In all 232,635 fans came through the turnstiles for NRL events, including a crowd of 36,717 for the Cowboys-Sharks preliminary final.

Sydney FC enjoyed a record-breaking season at Moore Park and together with Asian Champions League games and the Socceroos qualifier against Iran, football’s total attendance climbed to 232,812. Their grand final fell outside of the reporting period but proved a fitting end to their remarkable season, with 41,546 fans watching their penalty shootout win over Melbourne Victory.

The year also saw Coldplay’s back-to-back performances, with 97,822 concert-goers making the most of the opportunity to see one of the world’s biggest bands. 

Numbers by code:
New crowd record at Allianz Stadium (Wallabies v England rugby Test): 44,063 
Biggest crowd at the SCG for 2016-17 (Swans v Hawthorn): 42,314
Total cricket attendance (BBL, WBBL, ODI, Test, Shield): 294,281
Total rugby attendance (Sevens, Wallabies, Waratahs): 268,976
Total football attendance (A-League, ACL and Socceroos): 232,812
Total rugby league attendance (Roosters, Dragons, Rabbitohs and NRL Finals): 232,635
Total AFL attendance (Sydney Swans, AFL Finals): 405,818

Numbers by club:
NSW Waratahs average attendance (eight home games): 18,813
Sydney Swans average attendance (12 home games): 33,818
Sydney Roosters average attendance (11 home games): 10,246
Sydney FC average attendance (11 home games): 15,072
Sydney Sixers average attendance (four home games): 30,368
St George Illawarra Dragons average attendance (two home games): 26,153
South Sydney Rabbitohs (one home game): 8,273

Images: The SCG hosts the Sixers (top) and the SCG and Allianz Stadium from the air (below). 

21st July 2017 - NSW GOVERNMENT RELEASES ‘COMMERCIALITY FRAMEWORK’ FOR STADIA

19th July 2017 - POLLSTAR MID-YEAR RANKINGS SHOW AUSTRALIA’S OUTDOOR VENUES ECLIPSING INDOOR ARENAS 

19th May 2017 - MAJOR SPORTING EVENTS DRIVING MILLIONS OF VISITS TO SYDNEY 

5th May 2017 - SCG TRUST AND POPULOUS DRIVING DISCUSSIONS ON WOMEN IN SPORT 

4th May 2017 - ALLIANZ STADIUM GROUND STAFF TO WORK AROUND THE CLOCK TO PREPARE SURFACE FOR A-LEAGUE GRAND FINAL 

3rd May 2017 - MASTER PLAN FOR SYDNEY’S MOORE PARK PROPOSES ENHANCED CONSERVATION AND NEW SPORT FACILITIES 

7th February 2017 - SCG TRUST REVIVES PLANS FOR NEW 40,000-SEAT STADIUM AT MOORE PARK 

12th May 2016 - PARTNERSHIP TO DELIVER COMMUNITY, EDUCATION AND SPORTING HUB IN SYDNEY’S MOORE PARK 

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