Optus Stadium’s maiden Western Derby has broken more attendance records – with 56,521 fans turning out to yesterday’s Fremantle Dockers-West Coast Eagles match.
The attendance not only breaks the record for the most people at a Western Derby – smashing the previous mark of 43,500 at Subiaco Oval in 2006 – but also surpasses the record for the largest-ever attendance at an AFL match in Western Australia, breaking the 54,500 crowd at Optus Stadium for the West Coast-Geelong match earlier this month.
Since Optus Stadium officially opened with 70,000 attending the Community Open Day in January, the venue has hosted:
- Record Western Australian cricket crowds for the One Day International between Australia and England, and the Big Bash League semi-final between the Perth Scorchers and Hobart Hurricanes;
- The AFL Women’s match between Fremantle and Collingwood on February 10, where 41,900 attended, breaking the record for the biggest-ever crowd for a standalone women’s sporting match; and
- A National Rugby League double header which saw more than 38,000 people attend, sparking expansion talks for the NRL.
For the remainder of 2018, Optus Stadium will host a further 16 AFL games as part of the 2018 AFL Premiership Season plus any finals, a blockbuster football friendly between Premier League club Chelsea and Perth Glory on July 23, and a Taylor Swift concert on October 19.
International and Big Bash League cricket matches are also expected to be played at the stadium as part of the 2018-19 cricket season.
In 2019, alongside AFL and cricket, the venue will host Game II of the State of Origin rugby league series and a Bledisloe Cup rugby union match plus six World T20 cricket matches in 2020.
Image: Optus Stadium. Credit: tamaleaver – Flickr