Bulldozing Sydney’s ANZ Stadium and rebuilding it from scratch would be A$132M ($100M) cheaper than renovating the aging sports arena, according to Anna Caldwell of the Sydney DAILY TELEGRAPH. In confidential financial modeling, the NSW government "has put paid to claims a refurbishment of NSW stadiums would be a better financial option than simply razing them and starting again." An ANZ Stadium renovation option reportedly would have cost $1.39B ($1.05B). Instead, the state government agreed to the A$1.25B ($940M) option of bulldozing the Sydney Olympic Park stadium and "rebuilding it to world class standards." It is also understood that one "cut price" option "was considered by the government but rejected by the major sporting codes," including the National Rugby League and Australian Rugby Union. That option would have cost A$944.5M ($713.8M) and "renovated only the stadium’s lower bowl and corporate suites." It was "an alternative that would have seen the NRL and the ARU take matches elsewhere." Accounting firm KPMG reportedly provided modeling for three options and "bulldozing completely had the strongest benefit cost ratio." The second renovation option considered by KPMG "would have reconfigured all seats around a rectangular stadium, bringing every level closer to the field as per world standard." The sporting codes accepted this formation, which cost $1.39B -- "the most expensive option" presented to the government, which offered 75,900 seats. The third option, labeled the "full redevelopment," was to "raze and rebuild the stadium to world class standards from scratch and provide 75,000 seats." NSW Minister for Sport Stuart Ayres said, "In the choice between bringing every seat closer and knocking down and rebuilding ANZ, it’s a lower cost to knock down and rebuild ANZ" (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 12/12).
