Venues NSW all set to rule the roost

Article posted by Coliseum, January 12^th, 2021

Image: NSW Government & thewest.com.au

Venues NSW and the Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust (SCGT) has been merged by the New South Wales (NSW) Government to create a single entity for sporting and entertainment venues with the objective of attracting big-ticket events and drive economic activity across the Australian State. The New South Wales Parliament recently passed legislation to this effect.

New South Wales has strengthened its position as Australia’s number one destination for sports and live entertainment as Venues NSW supercharges the State’s major sports and entertainment venues.

Acting Minister for Sport Geoff Lee said the merging of the Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust (SCGT) and Venues NSW will ensure taxpayers receive maximum bang for their bucks.

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“The New South Wales Government has delivered a reform that will deliver enormous benefits for the State. Now we have one organization which can take control of hosting the most exciting and in-demand events which will bring major economic windfalls for New South Wales,” Lee added.

The Sports Minister added, “We have invested in world-class venues and facilities which are the envy of the world and Venues NSW will ensure we get maximum returns. New South Wales is often competing nationally and internationally to attract major sporting events, concerts and other outdoor activities to our venues. A strong, coordinated and streamlined approach to attracting these major events will put our State in the best position to win them and reap the economic benefits.”

Venues NSW Chairman Tony Shepherd (who is also the Chair of SCGT) said the stage is set to make NSW unbeatable in attracting major events – “Venues NSW now has an asset base which is the envy of other States around the country, giving NSW tremendous firepower to attract the biggest and the best sporting and entertainment events.”

“We can also capitalize on the experience and history of the SCG Trust which forms an intricate part of this clever and dynamic merger,” Shepherd added.

The new entity will also focus on affordability and access to sports venues in New South Wales, to ensure the New South Wales communities make the most of their Government’s substantial investment.

All Venues NSW and SCGT contracts, agreements and membership entitlements with sporting codes, clubs, partners and members will continue to be honored and preserved by the merged entity.

Venues NSW were established as a Statutory Authority on March 2^nd, 2012 to manage Government-owned sporting and entertainment venues in the Hunter, Western Sydney and Illawarra regions.

The Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust (SCGT) is an agency of the Government of New South Wales that operates several sporting facilities in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The SCG Trust operates the Sydney Cricket Ground and Sydney Football Stadium at Moore Park in Sydney.

The potential for a new entity which would have included the SCGT was first mooted in 2015, only to be dropped in 2017. It has now been made a single entity after the New South Wales Government announced that it would no longer proceed with plans to upgrade ANZ Stadium, with funds to be redirected towards job-creating infrastructure projects in a bid to boost the local economy following COVID-19 which continues to strangle the world.

The ANZ Stadium was scheduled to undergo redevelopment as part of a wider infrastructure project in Sydney that will also result in the rebuilding of the City’s Allianz Stadium, which has already been torn down and is set to reopen by 2022.

While the Government said that the refurbishment of ANZ Stadium, also known as Stadium Australia, was a sensible project backed by the people of New South Wales, it added that the current health and economic climate meant the project “no longer made sense”. As a result, around Aus$800m (£442.3m/€489.3m/$552.4m) that had been earmarked for the project will be put towards the new job-creation fund as mentioned above.

Stadium Australia, formerly known as ANZ Stadium and Telstra Stadium, is a multipurpose stadium located in the Sydney Olympic Park, in Sydney, Australia.

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