SavvySport critiques Melbourne’s new Bubble Stadium

Last Friday night the 7th of May, SavvySport took the opportunity to trek down Swan Street and check out the unveiling of the latest jewel in the Melbourne sporting precinct crown, AAMI Park. The stadium took an early hit recently after its original tenant the Melbourne Storm were penalised for breaching the salary cap, and therefore cannot play for premiership points for the remainder of the season. Time will tell if this has a serious affect on crowd numbers and predicted revenue for the inaugural season. Despite this, the Bubble Stadium, as it has become known during construction due its unique exterior architecture, ultimately received the thumbs up. But it wasn’t without a few minor (major) teething problems.

It was an awesome sight walking along the Yarra from the city to see the whole town abuzz with the Melbourne/Bulldogs AFL clash at the MCG and the Kangaroos/Kiwis rugby league tie just across the road at AAMI Park. Every skyscraper in the CBD was fully alight as choppers flew overhead to swoop on the freshest Melbourne photo opportunity. Rod Laver Arena, HiSense Arena and the outside tennis courts also lit up for the occasion.

The exterior ‘shell’ of the new stadium was impressive with the green laser lighting being reflected onto it, and this is only going to improve as the much-hyped LED lighting nears completion. Inside, a brief lighting show was followed by an indigenous ceremony to recognise the original owners of the land. Then a presentation on the scoreboard celebrated Melbourne as the world’s sporting mecca and reminded attendees they were a part of history as the latest chapter in Melbourne’s history was written.

Despite no new public parking space included in the design of the Bubble, fans seemed to arrive early and trouble-free just before or right in time for the deluge of rain about 30 minutes before kick-off that didn’t stop until midway through the second half. However, some would find that they hadn’t escaped the rain entirely. Despite reports of the finishing touches – including guttering – being completed and tested during the week, it seems the rainfall on Friday night far exceeded whatever amounts were used to test and approve the roof.

As the moderate but consistent rain continued to fall, it proceeded to run straight over the inside edge of the roof, and then trickle back along the beams and drip down constantly to drench many spectators. There were at least 10 different spots just in the 50-metre vicinity of our seats that were copping the downpour. It was quite a sight to see families seated near us sitting well inside the area the roofing covers, yet forced to watch the entire first half under umbrellas. Many decided minutes after arriving they wouldn’t be able to tolerate the showers all night, and left their seats vacant to seek salvation elsewhere. This is a huge issue that ought to be addressed as quickly as possible coming into winter and a busy schedule of Storm and Four Nations rugby league matches. It also to led to dangerous situations where stairs and walkways were covered in water and extremely slippery.

Despite this dampener, those spectators who managed to find themselves in a dry seat would have been impressed with their viewing experience. The ’boutique’ style arena ensures that no seats are far from the action, and the compact, partly-enclosed seating structure meant the atmosphere was fantastic. The whole place was electric as the thousands of New Zealand supporters around us joined in as their team performed the traditional haka minutes before the game got underway.

The spectator experience was ultimately a pleasant one. We were situated in the north-west corner of the stadium, probably equal to the furthest point from the action for rugby matches, but it certainly didn’t feel like we were far away. Unlike soccer and rugby games played on oval arenas like the MCG and Etihad Stadium, it seemed like we were right on top of the action. I imagine this view would have been echoed by patrons in other closer areas also. Many entrance gates and the electronic swiping system meant it took only a couple of minutes to get from outside the ground to our seats. This was helped by the match being a sell-out and consequently there were no queues to purchase tickets. The concourse area behind the seating aisles was wide enough to ensure exiting the venue was fast enough too.

Although the weather made things a little less enjoyable, the quality of the game didn’t deteriorate much, and as the Kiwis mounted a comeback late in the game, the crowd really became involved. Another moment of great crowd involvement was right as the game was ready to get underway, a vehicle carrying large speakers became stalled on the ground and took several minutes to remove, much to the amusement of the 29,600 in attendance.

Ultimately, though, AAMI Park was a great experience for us as average fans who don’t passionately follow rugby league, and if the leaking issues can be addressed shortly, I look forward to heading back again soon.

The 31,000-capacity stadium custom-built for the rectangular sporting codes, is home to Melbourne Victory, Melbourne Rebels, Melbourne Storm and Melbourne Heart, as well as being the administrative base for many other organisations, including the Melbourne Demons.