The Gold Coast SUNS will play a home game at the Gabba and the new Perth Stadium in 2018 as part of its relocation due to the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
Gold Coast will host the Fremantle Dockers in Perth in Round 3 on Saturday, April 7. The club, with the support of Tourism & Events Queensland, will then host Melbourne in Brisbane at the Gabba on Saturday, May 12 in Round 8.
GC SUNS Chief Executive, Mark Evans, said the club needed to be creative in order to relocate four home matches away from Metricon Stadium in 2018 while the club's traditional home venue hosts the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
“We are in a unique circumstance with Metricon Stadium not available until early June. Working with the AFL we have managed to secure seven home games at Metricon Stadium in the back half of the season,” Evans said.
“The 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games are significant for our city. Like many Gold Coast businesses we have and will continue to benefit from the Games now and into the future.
“However the staging of the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games will impact the club financially, operationally and geographically.
“In order to offset these impacts to the football club we have entered into a number of strategic partnerships to recoup revenues.
“Our games in Perth and Shanghai and our strategic partnership with Tourism and Events Queensland, which will see us play games in Brisbane and in North Queensland in the future, are examples of this.”
Evans confirmed that Queensland Major Events Legislation dictates that no competing event can be held at any AFL approved venue across the Major Event period of the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, meaning the SUNS are unable to play in Brisbane, Cairns or Townsville during the period of the Games.
“We have had to be a little creative, as it stands for a two week period during the Commonwealth Games we cannot play in Queensland due to Major Events Legislation- and that’s the reasoning behind our home game in Perth” Evans revealed.
“We acknowledge this is unique, but with the understanding and support of the football department we will take the challenge on.”
Perth Stadium is owned by the Western Australian State Government, and remains on schedule to open in early 2018. This 60,000 seat, world-class, multi-purpose Stadium will host a variety of sports and entertainment events in 2018.
The field of play dimensions at Perth Stadium will be aligned with the MCG and is slightly shorter than Domain Stadium (Subiaco Oval).
Evans advised that the club had previously communicated with members that their 2018 membership packages would be affected by these impacts.
“From a membership perspective, the home games played away from Metricon Stadium in the first half of the season will affect our membership products for 2018 and as such they will be priced to reflect these impacts. That’s why we’ve had to work extremely hard to find ways to chase revenue to pass on these reductions to our members,” Evans added.
The matches at the Gabba and Perth Stadium complement the home games set for Cairns in Round 1 against North Melbourne and Shanghai against Port Adelaide in Round 9 that were announced earlier in the week.
Senior Coach Stuart Dew said under his leadership the team would embrace the challenge that the start of the 2018 season presents.
“There is no doubt that the start of the season will have its challenges, but what I can tell you is that the team will be embracing these head on. If we are to become the team we want to be in the future we are going to have to overcome challenges similar to these,” Dew said.
Confirmed Gold Coast SUNS 2018 Home Games
Round 1 v North Melbourne
Saturday March 24
Cazalys Stadium, Cairns, 6:25pm (AEST)
Round 3 v Fremantle
Saturday 7 April
Perth Stadium, Time to be advised
Round 8 v Melbourne
Saturday 12 May
Gabba, 4:35pm (AEST)
Round 9 v Port Adelaide
Saturday May 19
Adelaide Arena at Jiangwan Stadium, Shanghai, China - Afternoon timeslot
*Seven home games to follow at Metricon Stadium.
