News Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs Propose $50M Centre of Excellence

[Berries]

Club should be aiming for 20k fans every game when we are doing well. BSG is a disgrace to the game, makes us look like a backwater club. Need a new stadium we can call our own

 

[TwinTurbo]

Great! Bring 'em. All for 'em. Love 'em.

You seem to be arguing about the precision of the "15k-ish" figure (for some reason). You might not agree, but 15k-ish, in my book, easily encompasses 16,754, and even 18,345, for the purpose of this discussion; but hey, argue away if you must.

The point is/was (in case it was missed): The Bulldogs, strategically, must be (way) more ambitious than that. In response to:

and subsequently...


If you didn't read back for context, that's okay, but let's not pretend we're adding anything of value to the discussion by arbitrarily increasing the precision and pretending that they're "facts" (which they are, however...) and that the broader, more general reference (although less precise) is somehow not "factual".

Back to the point. Belmore capacity in existing configuration is 19k. That's a maximum of an additional 2,246 above your Belmore average figure, and only 655 above your overall home attendance figure. (Please do let me know if those figures are not precise enough, so we can quibble on those while missing the point).

So, that's plenty missing out when the good times return, not to mention a truckload of corporate hospitality left on the table, and therefore sponsorship opportunities as well.
The Bulldogs can legitimately expect 25k-30k to show up regularly (even in the "bad times") if a purpose-built stadium, existing as our "Home Ground", is available (not a barren Stadium Australia, and not an "out-of-area" Parramatta or Moore Park facility).

Allowing for "blockbusters" & finals, the Bulldogs should have no trouble attracting 40k+ on those occasions, and that's the reason for targeting a capacity of that magnitude (in addition to increasing its multi-purpose utility/profitability).

The 5-10k figure is what one might expect if the novelty factor is taken from the equation (ie. more than two games & trials per year). How many showed up to the Sharks trial? (and yes, we had to "share" the tickets with the "double-header").

So, again, thanks for the "facts". They were "helpful", I guess. I love your enthusiasm but they added really not that much to the context, or essence, of what was being discussed.

But, do carry on.

I was simply correcting your error, you said “5 to 10k these days” and 16,754 is quite a bit more than “5 to 10k”. Which is rather important and a substantial error when trying to mount an argument regarding ground capacity. Even more so when last season, a shitty season at that, average was 18,345.

Moving on, WTF is a “blockbuster game”, versus Parramatta, well let’s see how many we get at Cumberland Oval for Round 1. Souffs maybe, another test soon at Stadium Oz. St George don’t have much of fan base currently but that could change, ditto Tigers. Cronulla possibly, maybe Penrith.

Donkeys, Melbourne, Canbra, Knoughts, Dolphins, Cowboys, they’re not going to be blockbusters I wouldn’t think. Warriors have a bit of a local area fanbase, but not really “blockbuster” level. Chooks have no fans and Manly fans don’t travel out of funnel web territory.

In reality 3 maybe 4 possible “blockbusters” but since we don’t play every team twice and we lose a home game for Magic Round, that could easily be 1 or 2 per season. Not remotely near enough to justify a 40k stadium.

Thats why accurate numbers are important particularly when floating an idea based on those numbers.


Always a Bulldog

 

[John Matrix]

How about some facts!

The 2 games at Belmore average was 16,754.

Our average home game attendance last season was 18,345, in what can only be described as a shit year. A few wins on the board and the attendance will easily jump up a few thousand, constant wins and 30,000 is not beyond our support base.

FWIW that's more than Parramatta 18,314, Cronulla 14,093 and Manly 16,296 with their government funded stadium upgrades and not far behind Penrith 18,865 who could hardly have had a better season.


Always a Bulldog

That’s why the NRL need to kiss the clubs arse, we bring numbers to games even when we aren’t performing well.

We are good the game!

 

[Dognacious]

Hope its more excellent than our last centre of excellence. We havent won a comp since we had it. Not so excellent

 

[Chris Harding]

So, they have a 2024 deadline then. Had better get their proposal in quickly.

Could be 2025 at a stretch.

 

[Lynchpin]

I was simply correcting your error, you said “5 to 10k these days”

Belmore Sports Ground. 24 Feb 2024. Attendance: 6,091. Fact.
Last full season (so, no novelty factor) played at Belmore Sports Ground was 1998. Average Home attendance: 8,363. Fact.

WTF is a “blockbuster game”

Really? Regular season games: Bulldogs Vs Souths/Rorters/Eels/Dragons (when both sides doing well). 30k+ for these games, pushing to 35-40k or more on some occasions. Most of them across the last 20 years at the barren Stadium Australia. Fact.

Opinion: Add 20% to a purpose-built proper footy stadium in our area.

Doesn't matter if it's only one or two "blockbusters" per year now. You cannot build a stadium for the past, and not for the present when we're playing (let's be nice and say) mediocre.

The intent is to make more of them per season by building the right infrastructure for the right game day experience that will bring the crowds. We should be planning to get our average crowd to 28-30k, which means pushing the blockbusters closer to 40k.
(Parramatta capacity is 30k. Moore Park is 45.5k). No reason we should be ceding ambition to our rivals.

But it isn't just about a proper Bulldogs home ground. Like it or not, Liverpool is the focal point of growth with the 2nd Airport operational soon. Having a stadium that is of sufficient size (and quality) to attract concerts, etc is vital.

We don't have to get involved. We can ignore the opportunity (again), at our peril, and persist with the barren Stadium Australia and novelty Belmore until it eventually dawns on us (all too late) that doing so was a strategic misjudgement (like the Wests Tigers will discover, when they finally have to relocate because of their obsession with Leichhardt).

 

[ElMagicElMasri]

How about some facts!

The 2 games at Belmore average was 16,754.

Our average home game attendance last season was 18,345, in what can only be described as a shit year. A few wins on the board and the attendance will easily jump up a few thousand, constant wins and 30,000 is not beyond our support base.

FWIW that's more than Parramatta 18,314, Cronulla 14,093 and Manly 16,296 with their government funded stadium upgrades and not far behind Penrith 18,865 who could hardly have had a better season.


Always a Bulldog

Didn’t we host Good Friday and magic round? Drop that average by about 5-7k and it’s accurate

 

[Alan79]

Imagine if they something similar to brookvale and our updated seating in front of it. Put small steep stands with corporate facilities at either end we have our stadium. 20k seating we have our home. Could still play Good Friday at Accor etc

I don't know about public transport availability. But aside from having to build stadiums and numerous facilities I think we'd need space for parking. Even the streets around Belmore are going to cause congestion if we had a full stadium. So short of buying a crap load of houses around the stadium I can't see how we'd cram parking in.

 

[Alan79]

If we ever get the go ahead to develop the Liverpool site, I'd like to think the club were going to be forward thinking enough to build a stadium that could host a double header and a home ground finals match heading 30 years into the future. Given we were approaching an average of 20k in a poor year 25k if we're in the 8 mightn't be a huge ask.

If we could turn Belmore into a 60k stadium with every type of facility required I'd cheer. But realistically if we built in Liverpool, it'd be a clean slate. Aside from the ability to design a dream stadium for the club, there's all the residential and commercial opportunities which would see the club build more wealth for the future and hopefully make the complex an attraction in its own right whether the team is playing or not.

 

[ILiveForDib]

If we ever get the go ahead to develop the Liverpool site, I'd like to think the club were going to be forward thinking enough to build a stadium that could host a double header and a home ground finals match heading 30 years into the future. Given we were approaching an average of 20k in a poor year 25k if we're in the 8 mightn't be a huge ask.

If we could turn Belmore into a 60k stadium with every type of facility required I'd cheer. But realistically if we built in Liverpool, it'd be a clean slate. Aside from the ability to design a dream stadium for the club, there's all the residential and commercial opportunities which would see the club build more wealth for the future and hopefully make the complex an attraction in its own right whether the team is playing or not.

The area goes mad when we’re doing well memberships would go up to 27-30k with ease. There’s some great loyalty in our fan base with the rough patch we’ve endured it’s captivating that the clubs maintained 20k.

 

[Doggfather]

Let’s be honest Belmore is no Allegiant Stadium

 

[KRDG]

I hope we can build a new stadium at Liverpool and keep belmore as the HQ for the club; the funds to make an elite training facility are a reality & we can only dream about belmore stadium upgraded. That is the future for the club for now. Imagine if the club owned some of the stadium, and the land other towers are built on, the club would be a powerhouse, seems like the best option to me.