NSW Government Is 'Working To Lift The Concert Cap' At Allianz Stadium

Last week, it was revealed that a new cap had been imposed on Allianz Stadium for live music, whittling the 45,000-capacity venue’s opportunities to host concerts down to just six a year.

As Chris O’Keefe on 2BG Sydney said on his show last Thursday, “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 Allianz Stadium.

As O’Keefe explained, a new planning mandate has been installed for Allianz that states, “On average, we can only hold four concerts a year every five years because some people complained about a Rolling Stones concert 30 years ago.”

The New South Wales Premier, Chris Minns, has decided to take matters into his own (government’s) hands, revealing on social media yesterday that he’s “working to lift the cap” on Allianz Stadium.

“As soon as I saw this, I knew it was ridiculous,” Minns wrote above an image of 2GB’s headline last week, “Why acts like Beyoncé and Foo Fighters won’t be allowed to perform at Allianz Stadium”.

Minns added, “So we're making it right - bringing the world's best artists back to the world's best city.

“Working to lift the concert cap on Allianz Stadium that has stopped these artists from performing.

“Who isn't crazy in love with that!”

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 Allianz Stadium.

“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,” Minns continued in a ministerial press release.

“In lifting this concert cap to 20 per year, we could bring in an additional $1.3 billion for NSW businesses over the lifetime of the stadium.”

NSW Minister for Jobs and Tourism, Music and the Night-time Economy, John Graham said, “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.”

Meanwhile, the state’s Minister for Sport, Steve Kamper, added, “The Sydney Football Stadium is an $828 million state-of-the-art venue, for it to be lying dormant and unused is an absolute shame.

“We need to remove the red tape that has caused this iconic venue to sit empty when it should be hosting the world’s best performers.”