Accor Stadium Argues It's The 'Best Venue' To Host Beyoncé

Accor Stadium is looking to be the venue that hosts Beyoncé upon her long-awaited return to Australia.

The stadium – almost double the size of the 45,500-capacity Allianz with a cap of 83,500, has owners who find it “strange” that Venues NSW pitched the smaller stadium for a potential Beyoncé show.

“When you think of concerts that have been held at Accor, they are the major acts in the world, like Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, Harry Styles and Adele,” Allison Taylor, the Chief Executive of the Sydney Olympic Park Business Association, told The Sydney Morning Herald.

“So, why would a star like Beyoncé and her promoters choose Allianz when the other major stars in the world choose Australia’s major events precinct, Sydney Olympic Park?”

While Beyoncé hasn’t announced any new Australian dates - she hasn't toured Australia in ten years - her European and North American tour dates are set to end this September. Speculation suggests that she will arrive down under at some point in 2024.

The competition between Accor and Allianz Stadiums kicked off at the end of last month when Chris O’Keefe, host of a drive-home program on 2GB Sydney, said on his radio show: “We’re in tough negotiations right now with Beyoncé and the Foo Fighters because we don’t know if we can accommodate them at Allianz Stadium.”

He continued, “We just paid a billion dollars for the stadium, and we don’t know if we can say, ‘Hey, Beyoncé, come and play here,’ or ‘Hey, Fooies, come and play here,’” because of a new planning permit aimed squarely at the venue. The planning permit – or cap – would have only allowed for four to six concerts a year to be held at Allianz Stadium.

However, last week, the NSW State Government revealed that it’s “working to lift the concert cap” at Allianz Stadium.

With each international act poised to bring $5 to 7.5 million per show to the state’s economy, New South Wales businesses are missing out on $40 to 60 million a year with the current cap on the venue.

“We need to utilise our entertainment venues to their fullest potential and show to the rest of Australia and the world, that NSW is now open for business,” NSW Premier Chris Minns said in a ministerial press release.

NSW Minister for Jobs and Tourism, Music and the Night-time Economy, John Graham added, “This government is focused on creating jobs and reinvigorating our night-time economy, by simply raising the concert cap, we can do both.

“If we want to be the home of live music in this nation, we need to support all venues of all sizes.”