Quote ="ROBINSON"I can't believe that people are suggesting that the RFL should build a 30,000 seater stadium, or buy the Crusaders stadium for that purpose. I also can't believe that someone has said that said stadium should be on the outskirts of HUDDERSFIELD. Are you out your tiny mind???
"And now to the RFL World Cup Final, live from Hudderdfield International Stadium." For Christ's sake.
If the RFL were to build one, it needs to be 60k so it can accommodate the Grand Final, other sports and rock concerts, needs to have state of the art conference and hospitality facilities and needs to be in Manchester. It's very simple.
Whether the RFL can afford it or not is another matter. And yet another matter is whether they would be inclined to, even if they COULD afford it.'"
Affording it is the main issue but we could sell naming rights to a huge international brand and that would bring in a huge amount of money.
Quote ="Wellsy13"I don't see why it HAS to be in Manchester? Why can't it be in Leeds? It's slap bang in the middle of the heartlands. In fact it's pretty central to a lot of things. Straight up the M1 that goes down the spine of the country.
The main issue is that we don't have the money.
The second main issue is that we don't have enough games to make it worth while.
Unfortunately if we wanted this to happen, we'd have to shack up with someone. Which to be fair, isn't that big a deal. There are a fair few other sports that shack up with someone else for their national stadium.
Now, let's think...
Somewhere central, with a big population, and a sport/club that needs to move and needs help doing so into a bigger and better facility (say 60k)...
Need about 13 games also (that's how many SL home games there are)...
CC semi finals DH, Magic Weekend (2 days), World Club Challenge, 2 mid-season tests, 4 end of season tests, Championship Finals, Northern Rail Cup Final, Nines.
Then any other SL big games local clubs may want to move to a bigger ground.
There's your only option IMO.'"
There is a new media city in Salford so close to that would be a decent place. Leeds would also be suitable. Maybe a joint venture with Leeds United.
You have named many events which the new stadium could be used for but it would open up the chance for RL to do many more events and big games than they do now. We could risk having internationals with cheap tickets because we wouldn't be paying over the odds to use someone elses stadium. Not to mention the non rugby league related events which could be held there. Get the company that owns the O2 arena on board so they can use it as their main concert venue in the North.
I'm sure other sports would be interested in using it, it could be a huge Boxing venue maybe even used for a large tennis tournament (the O2 held one).
I understand this is almost a stupid idea but I think the the entertainment industry is big enough to fill this stadium all year round. RU manages to fund their national stadiums.