Sydney stadiums preparing to battle Melbourne for big-name concerts

The NSW Government plans to make Sydney the can’t miss destination for global superstars.

New stadium boss Tony Shepherd looks set to wrestle the mantle of Australia’s sporting and entertainment capital away from Melbourne.

As The Daily Telegraph reports, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has told Shepherd that attracting world-class events is her #1 priority.

The Premier wants the state’s big spend on stadiums – including Bankwest and the Sydney Football Stadium – justified.

Shepherd told the Tele he is now ready to use big events to kick the NSW economy back into action. “The government is instructing the new board to deliver big-time sport and events,” he said.

“It has been made very clear from the Premier down.”

Sydney will battle for sporting events including a game of NFL to launch the new SFS, scheduled to be completed midway through 2022, while Shepherd also hopes to bring big-name football teams from England like Liverpool and Manchester United.

On the music and entertainment side, he hopes to use revamped stadiums to bring performances by acts of the calibre of Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran regularly to Sydney.

The news comes as the NSW Government announced its new ‘super stadium board’, with Shepherd as chairman, and instructed to mediate the ANZ Stadium administration and the SGC Trust, who will now join forces rather than compete.

“We will be aiming for one big global event every year and we want to stage a major event every month at one of our stadiums. We have to be entrepreneurial,” added Shepherd.

“We’ve got the most beautiful city in the world and the safest city in the world. I want Sydney to be the sporting capital of the country in all codes and we will with the new stadium network. We’ve got the population to do it and the fans that love it.”