Kardinia Park Stadium has strengthened its place as Australia’s premier regional sporting and major events destination with the venue generating more than $190 million in social and economic value, and 1,200 direct and indirect full-time equivalent jobs for the Victorian economy in the 2024/25 financial year.
Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Steve Dimopoulos and Kardinia Park Stadium Trust John Eren have welcomed the release of the Social and Economic Value of Kardinia Park Stadium Trust in 2024/25 which also showed the ground in the heart of Geelong, hosted more than 480,000 visitors across 44 on-field events.
Led by another jam-packed AFL and AFLW schedule featuring the home town Geelong Cats, Kardinia Park Stadium also held two exciting Big Bash League cricket matches, saw the Matildas return for their friendly match against Chinese Taipei and remained a heartbeat for community events for groups across Geelong and the Bellarine.
The list of world class events saw 190,000 visitors from outside the local region, travel to Geelong to experience the elite venue. For Geelong locals, more than 21,000 participants took part in five community events at Kardinia Park Stadium.
This economic impact and visitation was made possible thanks to the completion of the $142 million Stage 5 Redevelopment, highlighted by the newly delivered Joel Selwood Stand which increased the overall stadium capacity to 40,000.
The redevelopment also included exciting new activations at the venue delivered over the past 18 months including Djilang Plaza, the Barwon Regional Cricket Centre and the Geelong Sports Museum.
Construction on the redevelopment, managed and delivered by the Kardinia Park Stadium Trust, was a culmination of five separate stages of upgrades with the Victorian Government investing $121 million in Stages 1 to 4 between 2003 and 2017.
Kardinia Park Stadium Trust Chair, John Eren said “Kardinia Park Stadium will soon reach the end of its first decade of operation under the Victorian Government. The KPST social and economic report highlights how important the stadium is within Victoria and how we must continue to evolve to meet the growing needs of the community. Kardinia Park Stadium exists to foster social, economic and livability outcomes for Geelong and the Bellarine, and we will continue to build on this charter.”
Kardinia Park Stadium Trust CEO, Gerard Griffin said “Kardinia Park is a unique place in Australia and we look forward to continuing to host elite events and community activities for the Geelong and the Bellarine, as well as delivering for the visitor economy and supporting local jobs.”
