Record year for Stadiums Queensland venues

Stadiums Queensland’s (SQ) latest annual report has revealed record attendances across the Australian agency’s nine venues in the 2022/23 financial year.

SQ venues hosted more than 4.9 million people over the last 12 months, contributing A$1.1 billion (€664.7 million) to the state’s economy and prompting a temporary easing of the concert cap at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium “to capitalise on the extraordinary post-Covid concert resurgence from some of the world’s biggest music acts”.

Highlights included Heritage Bank Stadium staging Guns N’ Roses first Gold Coast show and Harry Styles’ only Queensland gig, with the latter attracting a record 49,957 crowd.

In addition, Cbus Super Stadium staged KISS’ Australian farewell in front of 13,200 people and Suncorp Stadium hosted three back-to-back Ed Sheeran concerts, breaking the venue attendance record by pulling in a total of 173,387 fans across three nights.

“We’ve witnessed a steady stream of concerts including international acts like Harry Styles, Ed Sheeran and The Red Hot Chili Peppers,” says SQ chair Cathy McGuane. “The period has also seen incredible demand from international music promoters, so much so that we’ve worked with government to temporarily increase the concert cap from six to 12 major events per year to ensure Queensland does not miss out on opportunities to host world-class acts.”

“The music came back with a vengeance, with concerts from international heavy hitters Red Hot Chili Peppers, Elton John and Ed Sheeran kicking off the year”

The 14,500-cap Brisbane Entertainment Centre (BEC) also hosted around 550,000 fans and 43 main arena performances during the period, and has upcoming shows with acts including The Chicks, Sam Smith, Paramore, 50 Cent, Blink-182, Jonas Brothers and Niall Horan.

“They’re incredibly impressive figures, which are the highest since inception and reflect our importance in the community and across the events industry,”adds McGuane. “Live experiences are well and truly back on the agenda, with ticket sales, event attendance and onsite spend all indicating incredible demand for live events.”

SQ’s venue portfolio is completed by The Gabba, Sleeman Sports Complex, Queensland Tennis Centre, Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre and Nissan Arena.

“In stark contrast to recent years, 2023 started with a bang,” adds CEO Todd Harris. “The music came back with a vengeance, with concerts from international heavy hitters Red Hot Chili Peppers, Elton John and Ed Sheeran kicking off the year, helping to smash several years of pandemic-induced quiet on the entertainment front.”

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