Stadium Australia (currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship purposes) is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Sydney Olympic Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The stadium, which in Australia is sometimes referred to as Sydney Olympic Stadium, Homebush Stadium or simply the Olympic Stadium, was completed in March 1999 at a cost of A$690 million to host the 2000 Summer Olympics. The Stadium was leased by a private company, the Stadium Australia Group, until the Stadium was sold back to the NSW Government on 1 June 2016 after NSW Premier Michael Baird announced the Stadium was to be redeveloped as a world-class rectangular stadium. The Stadium is owned by Venues NSW on behalf of the NSW Government.
The stadium was originally built to hold circa 115,000 spectators, making it the largest Olympic Stadium ever built and the second largest stadium in Australia after the Melbourne Cricket Ground which held more than 120,000 before its re-design in the early 2000s. In 2003, reconfiguration work was completed to shorten the north and south wings, and install movable seating. These changes reduced the capacity to 80,000, with the capacity to add seating depending on the venue configuration. Awnings were also added over the north and south stands, allowing most of the seating to be under cover. The stadium was engineered along sustainable lines, e.g., utilising less steel in the roof structure than the Olympic stadiums of Athens and Beijing.
Naming rights
The stadium lacked a naming rights sponsor in its formative years, bearing the name Stadium Australia between its opening in 1999 and 2002. In 2002, telecommunications company Telstra acquired the naming rights, resulting in the stadium being known as Telstra Stadium. On 12 December 2007 it was announced by the Stadium Australia Group (SAG) that the stadium's name was to be changed to ANZ Stadium after concluding a deal with ANZ Bank worth around A$31.5 million over seven years. This change took effect on 1 January 2008. In 2014, ANZ renewed the deal through to the end of 2017 and again until its closure for rebuilding in October 2019.
In December 2020, ANZ's naming rights to the stadium expired and it reverted to being Stadium Australia.
In November 2021, multinational hospitality company Accor acquired the rights, with the venue to be known as Accor Stadium.
History
Early history
The first sporting event held at the stadium was on 6 March 1999 when a then-record rugby league football crowd of 104,583 watched the NRL first round double-header, featuring Newcastle v Manly and Parramatta v St George Illawarra Dragons. The attendance broke the old record of 102,569 set at the Odsal Stadium in Bradford, England for the Challenge Cup Final replay between Warrington and Halifax held on 5 May 1954.
The first musical act held at the newly built stadium was the Bee Gees, consisting of Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, on 27 March 1999. The band had embarked on what would be their final world tour as a group before the death of Maurice, the tour ending in the newly built Olympic Stadium. The show was sold out with an attendance of 66,285.
The stadium was not officially opened until 12 June 1999 when the Australian National Soccer team played the FIFA All Stars. Australia won the match 3–2 in front of a crowd of 88,101. Stadium Australia also played host to the national side's historic playoff win over Uruguay in November 2005, a victory which granted Australia FIFA World Cup qualification for only the second time in the country's history. The event attracted a virtual capacity crowd of 82,698.
The 1999 Bledisloe Cup rugby union match between Australia and New Zealand attracted a then-world record rugby union crowd of 107,042. In 2000, this was bettered when a near-capacity crowd of 109,874 (capacity at the time was 110,000) witnessed the "greatest ever rugby match" when a Jonah Lomu try sealed an All Blacks win over the Wallabies 39–35. The All Blacks had led 24-0 after 11 minutes only to see Australia draw level at 24–24 by halftime.
An exhibition soccer match between the Australia national team and English club Manchester United was played on 18 July 1999. Manchester United defeated Australia 1–0 in front of 78,000 spectators.
On 9 June 1999, the stadium hosted its first ever State of Origin series game between New South Wales and Queensland. The match, Game 2 of the three-game series, saw the record Origin attendance in Sydney when 88,336 saw the Blues christen their new home with a 12–8 win. The attendance broke the Origin attendance record of 87,161 set at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for Game 2 of the 1994 series.