GMHBA Stadium a fan favourite in national awards

GEELONG’S GMHBA Stadium has ensconced its place as a fan favourite across Australia, taking out first place in the Best Regional Stadium category in the 2022 Austadiums Stadium Awards.

Held annually by the national independent stadium website, the fan-voted competition determines the best stadiums in Australia across seven different categories.

GMHBA Stadium won the Best Regional Stadium category with 27 per cent of the vote ahead of the Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Townsville (24 per cent) and the McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle, NSW (11 per cent).

WIN Stadium in Wollongong, NSW (11 per cent) and Sunshine Coast Stadium in Bokarine, Queensland (6 per cent) make up the rest of the top five.

Kardinia Park Stadium Trust has managed the stadium itself – with tenants including the Geelong Cats in the AFL and AFLW, the Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League and the Melbourne Storm in the NRL – and the entire stadium precinct since 2016.

Trust chief executive officer Gerard Griffin celebrated GMHBA Stadium’s win earlier this week, and said the stadium was coming off “a massive year of events” in 2022.

“It’s a real feather in the cap of all the hard work of the people here to get this award, and it’s vindication of what we’re aiming to be, which is exactly that – Australia’s best regional stadium.

“I look back and think of all the different event types we had through those 12 months and go ‘wow’ – sometimes you do the event and move on, and you forget.

“But I go all the way back to January of last year, when we did a double-header of BBL, and we rolled into a massive week of Foo Fighters, AFL and VFL practice matches, Nitro Circus… that was a massive week, but it proved how versatile the place can be, and I think that’s the sort of stuff that helped us win the award, quite frankly.”

He noted this all took place before the annual AFL and AFLW seasons, the return of the BBL, and the Festival of Sport.

“I’d like to think that we can say here that the community has the leading regional stadium in Australia that others look up to for what it can do, and how it can do it.”

Mr Griffin said GMHBA Stadium was competing for events against regional cities on the same growth trajectory as the Geelong region, such as Townsville, Newcastle, Gosford, Wollongong and possibly Darwin.

“What we can genuinely put our hand on our heart and say is we’re offering more diversity than anything those places can do.

The stage 5 development at GMHBA Stadium is due to be finished in the middle of this year, and the Kardinia Park Stadium Trust is already considering the possibilities.

“This year is just as packed with events to put on and things to do,” Mr Griffin said.

“We’re in positive conversations with the people that matter around thinking about the next concert – hopefully one of those is not far away as well.

“The job description for us is to sweat the asset and open the doors as many times as you feasibly can.”

Other categories in the awards include Australia’s Best Stadium (won by Optus Stadium in Perth, WA), Best Cricket Ground (won by the MCG in Melbourne) and Best Rectangular Stadium (won by Sydney’s Allianz Stadium).