Future of nib Stadium in doubt at Perth Glory threaten move to Optus Stadium
https://thewest.com.au/sport/perth-g...-ng-b88694513z
The future of nib Stadium is under a cloud after Perth Glory owner Tony Sage threatened to move soccer to Optus Stadium over a pricing and scheduling dispute.
Mr Sage said that next year he would end his VenuesWest contract, which requires Perth Glory to play 14 A-League games a year at nib Stadium, if the management company did not reduce its price and allow the club to play some games at Optus Stadium each year.
Mr Sage said that if fans embraced the new Optus Stadium during an A-League game likely to be played there in March, and if the price was right, he would move soccer permanently to the venue.
He must decide by April, which is the deadline for informing Football Federation Australia where Glory’s home games will be held the following season.
“If the deal is better, and the fans like it, we will move (exclusively) to the new stadium,” he said.
He said economic modelling showed Glory could cover its costs if Optus Stadium charged $150,000 a game, but the venue will not provide its final costings until next year.
Optus Stadium’s costs will be higher than the $100,000 to $110,000 charged for every game at nib, but Mr Sage claimed the bigger venue would ensure more ticket sales, just as Perth Arena had for the Wildcats basketball team after it moved from Challenge Stadium.
He said Perth Glory ticket sales could top 40,000 for a final but nib Stadium had a capacity of only 20,500.
Mr Sage said it was unfair nib Stadium charged more than the $75,000 which Melbourne facilities charged its A-League teams, especially given nib was “substandard”.
“They’ve got to justify why it is that much more expensive,” he said.
“We’ve been asking the State Government that for three years.”
Mr Sage said he would ideally like to remain the anchor tenant at nib Stadium with the option of playing bigger games, such as finals, at the new stadium.
VenuesWest has allowed a one-off exception to its contract to allow the club to play an A-League game at Optus Stadium in March, though a final decision depends on costs.
Glory’s match with English giants Chelsea at Optus Stadium next year does not breach its contract because it is not part of the A-League fixtures.
A move by Glory to the new venue would cast a big shadow over the viability of nib Stadium, which has already lost the Western Force as a tenant.
Glory pays $1.5 million a year to play at the venue and Western Force paid $1 million annually before it was axed in August.
Losing Glory would increase the difficulty of finding a new sponsor for the venue after health insurer nib recently decided not to renew its naming rights contract.
Peter Bauchop, acting chief executive of VenuesWest, defended nib Stadium, saying it was a world-class venue which was last year voted as having the best pitch in the A-league by the players. It also ranked highest for customer service by fans.
“We are in the process of contract negotiations with Perth Glory for season 2018-19 onwards and are confident of reaching a favourable result,” he said.
