Industry News

VIDEO: Optus Stadium is ‘on steroids’

Optus Stadium was on time and on budget… how did they do it?

Ronnie Hurst, project director for Perth’s recently opened Optus Stadium, says the new arena is already benefitting from the ‘fan first’ approach aimed at enticing fans out of their living rooms to attend live events.

The 60,000-seat stadium in Western Australia officially opened to the public last weekend, and will host its first major sporting event this coming weekend – the one-day international cricket match between Australia and England.

“It’s a stadium on steroids,” Hurst said in reference to its LED system that is capable of spectacular displays with 15,000 lights – the biggest in the world.

“The idea came from my visit to MetLife Stadium (New Jersey, USA) and I noticed it had a green kind of glow. I asked what it’s about and was told: ‘The jets are green and it’s about making a bit of ambience,’” Hurst said.

“It’s part of the ‘fan first’ initiative, which is all about the idea that you’ve got to come out of your living room and be at the stadium to see it.”

Want to know more about what made the project such a success? Watch our exclusive interview with Hurst to learn more:

Hurst added that Optus Stadium has been receiving requests to illuminate it for different campaigns, such as gay pride events.

Hurst also notes that the planning phase has been a “recipe for success.”

“We’ve had real buy-in from user groups input on design briefs,” he said. “There has been a huge amount of community buy-in and social media has been very active.

“In Australia where Australians love their sport, everybody was interested in what we did and we had to keep feeding that. And because of that, there was a huge sense of ownership.”

A stadium “on steroids”

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