AFL Aussie rules football team the Fremantle Dockers has claimed it will set new fan experience standards during its home games at the new Perth Stadium.
The club’s events manager Kellie Black said that members and fans will form part of an all-encompassing match-day experience.
“I can’t wait, it will be phenomenal,” she said. “To have this technology at our fingertips and having creative people wanting to work at this stadium, it will be world-class.”
Black’s comments come after Fremantle and fellow AFL team the West Coast Eagles last week agreed a deal to play at the soon-to-be-opened Perth Stadium from next year.
Following a lengthy period of negotiation, the West Australian government reached a compromise with the AFL and the Western Australian Football Commission for the two teams to begin playing at the 60,000-capacity venue in 2018. The stadium will open in January.
Under the terms of the agreement signed by the AFL, the WAFC will receive Aus$10.3m (£6.1m/€6.8m/$8m) per annum of league-generated income at the venue over 10 years. A second deal has been signed covering the Eagles’ and Dockers’ home and away games, as well as AFL Finals matches for 50 years from 2018.
Fifty thousand of the venue’s 60,000 seats will be made available for fans of the Eagles and Dockers on home game days. A further 6,000 will be given to non-members, while 1,385 memberships will be sold by stadium operator VenuesLive and 1,000 tickets reserved for tourism packages.
Black said that Perth stadium’s electric light show was “mind-blowing” and added: “I’ve never seen anything like this before. Of all the stadiums around Australia, I’ve never seen such intense lights, a stronger sound system and most importantly, just how close you are to it all. Everywhere you look there was a speaker and a light above you.”
Share this