 ANZ Stadium: creating history every day
ANZ Stadium was officially opened in 1999.
Purpose built for the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games, ANZ Stadium was the jewel in a major urban renewal project unveiled in what is now known as Sydney Olympic Park.
ANZ Stadium opened with a seating capacity of more than 110,000 making it the largest Olympic stadium in history and, at that time, the largest stadium in Australia.
Following the Games, an $80 million reconfiguration reduced the capacity to 83,500 (or 82,500 in oval mode). The facelift, completed in 2003, included the removal of the north and south upper stands which meant the lower stands were moved 15 metres closer to the action.
ANZ Stadium's unique design is part of its charm. The venue can be reconfigured from oval to rectangular mode in just 12 hours making it the only stadium in the world which is designed to host five professional sporting codes - rugby league, rugby union, Australian rules, football and cricket.
The Stadium has also hosted a number of global entertainment acts with great success including U2, The Rolling Stones, Andre Rieu and AC/DC.
Since its first event - an NRL double header which attracted 104,583 fans - more than 15 million fans have attended events at ANZ Stadium.
Those fans have helped set numerous crowd records including:
- Olympic record crowd for a single session: 112,524 for track & field in 2000
- World record rugby union crowd: 109,874 at 2000 Bledisloe Cup
- World record rugby league crowd: 107,558 at 1999 NRL Grand Final
- Australian record football crowd: 104,012 at 2000 Olympic men’s final
- Australian record State of Origin crowd: 88,336 in 1999
- AFL record crowd outside Victoria: 72,393 at Swans v Collingwood in 2003
- Australian record aggregate concert crowd: 213,045 over three AC/DC shows in 2010
- Sydney record for international cricket crowd: 59,659 at Australia v India KFC T20 INTL
These events represent only a handful of ANZ Stadium's long list of highlights. For more, please click here.
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