The Brisbane Lions are preparing for a scheduling nightmare as the club gears up to be homeless for four years to accommodate the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games.
Their home ground, the Gabba, will be demolished at the end of the 2025 AFL season to make way for a $2.5 billion redevelopment.
Brisbane CEO Greg Swann says the club has explored local options but concedes the Lions may be playing home games in Perth or even Melbourne during the 2026 to 2030 seasons.
READ MORE: Aussie amateur golfer leads Australian Open
READ MORE: Luai bombshell pinned on notorious agent
READ MORE: NFL star joining the AFL after Super Bowl blunder
"We have two more seasons at the Gabba then it gets bowled over. We are in discussions at the moment with the government about where we play in the interim," Swann told SEN on Wednesday.
The Lions have explored the option of playing games at the Brisbane Showgrounds, but with a limited capacity of around 20,000 and an expected membership growth to 60,000 by the 2026-2030 seasons, supporters should expect a period of "pain".
"It's going to be a four-year hiatus. That's a long time to be out of mainstream grounds. No matter where we go, the ground is only going to hold low 20s (thousands). We are going to get a membership of 60,000-plus, so we have some challenges in that space," Swann said.
Despite the challenges ahead, Swann sees the long term gain for the club.
"The code is flying, we had seven sellouts last season, our membership is up 25 per cent. The upside is you turn into a brand new 55,000-seat stadium, we fill it pretty regularly and pretty easily.
"But it's going to create some pain on the way through. Now the government has made a commitment about the Gabba, we are hoping we can get a commitment on where we are going to play."
As for where their matches will be played during their four-year shuffle, the Lions are open to any grounds that will facilitate their growing membership numbers.
"There are some offers for us to maybe play one or two games elsewhere," Swann said.
"We might take it to Perth or play it at the MCG. I don't know, but there are some options. There is a lot happening in that space, but we haven't bedded anything down."
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.