The ANZ Stadium, also known as Stadium
Australia, formerly known as Telstra Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the
Sydney Olympic Park precinct of
Homebush Bay. The stadium, which in Australia is sometimes referred to simply as the "Olympic Stadium", was completed in March 1999 at a cost of A$690 million to host the 2000 Summer Olympics. Every year since the stadium was built, the
New South Wales rugby league team's home games in the State of Origin series have been played there. Also since then the stadium has since hosted the annual National Rugby League grand final. Stadium Australia also hosted the 2003 Rugby
World Cup finals and Bledisloe Cup matches.
The stadium was originally built to temporarily hold 110,000 spectators, making it the largest Olympic Stadium ever built as well as the largest stadium in Australia. In 2003 reconfiguration work was completed to shorten the north and south wings, and install movable seating. These changes reduced the capacity to 83,500 for a rectangular field and 82,500 for an oval field (making it the second largest stadium in Australia after the Melbourne Cricket Ground). Awnings were also added over the North and South stands, which means that now most of the seating is under cover. The stadium was also engineered along sustainable lines for example with the low use of steel in the roof structure in comparison to the Olympic stadiums of Athens and Beijing. International Cricket made its debut at the venue on 1 February 2012 with an International Twenty20 cricket match between Australia and
India.
Regular Sports Held At The Venue
The National Rugby League is the most regular tenant of the ground, while Rugby Union internationals, Association Football internationals and Australian Rules Football are all played at the ground. ANZ Stadium hosts the following:
- Rugby league
- Rugby Union
- Association football (soccer)
- Australian rules football
- Cricket
- Capacity: 82,500 (Oval formation)
- 84,000: (Rectangle formation)
- 110,000: (2000 Summer Olympics)
