Name change dispute over Suncorp Stadium

Inner west Brisbane’s sports and entertainment venue Suncorp Stadium – which will host Coldplay in December and Justin Bieber in March – is undergoing a name change. It will be called Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park).

But it’s not going according to plan for member for Beaudesert Jon Krause. As TMN reported last month, he wanted an amendment to the Major Sports Facilities and Other Legislation Amendment Bill to rename Brisbane Stadium (Suncorp’s name since last year) as Lang Park.

His argument was that reverting to its original name Lang Park would be a reminder the venue was a home to rugby in Queensland. Member for Glasshouse Andrew Powell added that the words “Lang Park” instilled “fear in people south of the border.”

Lang Park was established in 1914, named after politician John Dunmore Lang and renamed Suncorp Stadium in 1994.

However this week the bill was passed but only after Treasurer Curtis Pitt suggested Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park).

He explained that the reason the venue became Brisbane Stadium was to avoid issues when naming rights sponsors changed.

The Brisbane Times quoted Pitt as saying, “While the historical name of Lang Park has special meaning for Queenslanders, global television audiences will not be familiar with it and therefore it alone will not increase international awareness.”

The newspaper last month reported that 80% in a straw poll it conducted agreed with the name change.

The venue’s next concert is on December 6 with Coldplay, while Justin Bieber’s Purpose world tour is staged there on March 13.

The biggest concert crowds at the venue have been two nights in December 2006 with Robbie Williams with 104,992, and two nights for U2 in December 2010, which drew a total of 84,011.

Of the biggest single concert crowds were 52,497 for Coldplay (November 21, 2012), 46,881 for Taylor Swift (December 5 2016), 46,135 for Ed Sheeran (November 28, 2015) and 43,339 for Eminem (February 20, 2014).