Hoops

It's time Adelaide built a new stadium

"The rest of the project will cost $190m according to Tennis SA and have a retractable roof (not sure how when Perth Arena cost $500m, but OK)"

Simple, everyone always understates the costs up-front, especially government contracts.

KET gets it! It's not just for basketball but for all indoor sports. We are really lacking a quality, professional indoor stadium in a prime location. I'm a huge basketball fan but live east of the city so a lot of the time 7pm starts are out of the question.

Not only would we see an increase in attendance, the benefits economically to the city make sense, as people are more likely to walk into town for a beer or meal after a game. The arguments against are quite poor as this thing would pay for itself quite quickly and make the oval precinct a year round hive of activity.

"(not sure how when Perth Arena cost $500m, but OK)"

Everything in Perth costs 2.5x.

Tennis SA have put out a proposal to the state and federal government and were promised $10m to "kick-start" the project by the federal Liberals (this was for the outside courts though not the main stadium/arena). The rest of the project will cost $190m according to Tennis SA and have a retractable roof (not sure how when Perth Arena cost $500m, but OK)

They put out a concept video when they got the $10m
https://youtu.be/SgqyFP0PFQQ

Do the current 36ers owners still also own Adelaide Arena? If so, moving to a new stadium wouldn't be straight forward and would likely mean significantly higher costs.

I agree Adelaide Arena is ideal for Adelaide in respect to size at the moment and level of control/basketball purpose aspect to it.

With that said - it's not a great long-term prospect, and I don't want to see a lost opportunity.

A city location may be a much bigger market for the 36ers in respect to both ticket buyers and corporate dollar.

We saw Port, for instance, go from pathetic crowd sizes and coverings to almost filling out the stadium - even when they play badly. Adelaide we see record crowds etc.

When you can draw in people after work on a Thursday/Friday, when you've got ease of public transport access and when you've got the ability to 'make a night of it' by enjoying the restaurant and bar scene before/after - you've got a perfect little storm for attracting people to the game. Adelaide might average 6,000 at Adelaide Arena, perhaps 9-10,000 would be on the cards in the city?

Reality is, there is a huge difference to people going to the effort of driving out to a particular suburb to go to a game, and people going 'there's a game on in the city, let's go'. It might be a perception thing or a legitimate logistical thing - but the CBD draws the crowds better than suburbia.

The other thing is, Memorial Drive is a perfect location and an absolute joke at the moment. The facilities are so lacking, Tennis SA can't even bid for events like the Davis Cup. This means there is likely to be either a few million spent on small upgrades, or a few extra million spent on something half-hearted which would rule out a much more long-term and beneficial use:

A stadium/gym which accommodates for tennis events, basketball games, netball games, Crows and Power training, Crows' "the shed" after game for functions, a gym (although there is nextgen...) and a media centre overlooking Adelaide Oval. Mixed use could keep it going all year with shared lower costs, and with the Thunderbirds finding ETSA Park too small it wouldn't be hard to convince them to use it as a home court. Then there's the potential to use as a velodrome like Rodlaver/Hisense Arena has in the past - (I think there was talk of an innercity velodrome?) which brings Cycling SA/Australia into the talks, and of course any future bid for a Commonwealth Games if the state government so decides to attempt it.

Stadium location is poor, but it exists and works well for basketball. Size suits the club for now too.

Sure a new stadium would be great but really until we are packing it out all the time this one is fine. Same goes for the soccer people wanting a new one. We just can't afford it.

Is a shitty stadium Joeys excuse for losing??

Adelaide needs to focus on building a championship contending team first

Probably going to be a shiny thing for votes at the next state election.

I completely agree - memorial drive, the city location next to Adelaide Oval is perfect for a joint 36ers/Thunderbirds stadium along with Tennis SA.

Will it happen? Unfortunately with the way this state is going, nope.

With that said, I'd say the gov are aware of this and if money and circumstances to the economy was right, they'd be doing it

Time they could produce to get a bigger crowd.

Lets start getting some sell outs on a regular basis before we start thinking about moving somewhere bigger.

Good to see that now we are second bottom only to the glorified aba side Sydney, Clarke has done his job.
The pathetic excuse for a 3 year plan with players only signed for 1 and rotations that would make anyone dizzy, our great development coach (but not an NBL coach) has done it for us. His arrogance is only surpassed by his lack of understanding that coaching in NBL is different to developing players at AIS.

I love the Sixers, but bloody hell, give us something to be happy about!!!