The centerpiece venue of the 2032 Summer Games in Brisbane is now set to be demolished and rebuilt, further accelerating a wave of stadium development across much of Australia, as well as Europe.
The publicly owned Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as The Gabba, will be torn down and replaced with a new $1.8 billion venue that will represent one of the most expensive stadiums in the world.
The conversion will replace a 128-year-old, 36,000-seat venue with a new one seating up to 80,000. The project more directly reflects the ambitions of Brisbane, not only for the Olympics and their Opening and Closing Ceremonies, but broadly across sports, entertainment, and the city’s overall redevelopment.
“It will be a well-connected stadium, but — most importantly — it will trigger the urban renewal that we want to see,” said Queensland deputy premier Steven Miles. “It will be one of the best parts of the city to live in.”
Work on the new stadium will stretch from late 2025 to 2030.
Push To Rebuild
The Brisbane work extends a run of redevelopment and demolition of Australia’s and Europe’s aging facilities, some of which are also more than a century old.
The new Sydney Football Stadium — described as a “stadium in the park” — played a key role in the 2023 Women’s World Cup. The Premier League — including prominent clubs such as Chelsea, Everton, Fulham, Liverpool, and Manchester City — and AC Milan and Inter Milan in Serie A are among those that have advanced what has been a heightened push to introduce modern facilities more in line with those commonly seen in the U.S.
