Optus Stadium welcomes largest Australian sports crowd since before Coronavirus

April 20, 2021

With Western Australia’s COVID-19 restrictions eased to allow 100% capacity at venues, 54,159 fans attended Friday’s AFL match between the West Coast Eagles and Collingwood at Perth’s Optus Stadium.

The attendance figure is not only the largest sports crowd in Australia since the beginning of the pandemic, but also the largest in the southern hemisphere since March 2020.

It’s also the largest AFL crowd recorded since the 2019 Grand Final at the MCG.

The past year has seen only two T20 International matches in India recording larger attendances in the world, with crowds of 67,200 and 66,352 reported at Narendra Modi Stadium last month - the three remaining matches in the series were played behind closed doors due to a spike in cases.

Restrictions were eased in Western Australia on Monday to allow its stadiums to be filled to full capacity, including up to 60,000 at Optus Stadium.

Also on Friday night in Perth, 11,485 spectators attended RAC Arena for the NBL match between the Perth Wildcats and Illawarra Hawks - the highest crowd of the NBL21 season to-date.

Western Australia joins Queensland, NSW and the ACT in allowing 100% crowds at sporting venues.

16th April 2021 - Returning to full capacity operations sees Perth’s Optus Stadium and RAC Arena look to recruit

16th April 2021 - Powderfinger bandmates lead call condemning Queensland Government’s ‘double standard’ on venue capacities for sport and live music

13th April 2021 - Uncertainty over Victorian stadia returning to full capacity

10th April 2021 - Optus Stadium looks to welcome capacity crowds as Western Australian venue restrictions lifted

8th April 2021 - Western Australian event organisers warned to keep advertising accurate

25th March 2021 - NSW to move to 100% seated capacity at entertainment and sporting venues

19th March 2021 - Live Performance Australia calls for 100% capacity in all live entertainment venues

18th March 2021 - Western Australian Premier reveals leisure portfolios in post-election landslide cabinet

11th March 2021 - AFL aims for 2021 grand final to return as a full capacity daytime fixture at the MCG

9th February 2021 - Naming rights for Perth’s Optus Stadium emerges as Western Australian election issue

4th February 2021 - Western Australian lockdown impacts leading sport leagues

31st January 2021 - Local Coronavirus case sees Western Australian Government close aquatic facilities, cinemas, entertainment venues and gyms for five days

20th January 2021 - Western Australia’s live entertainment sector unhappy with state’s tighter event restrictions

14th January 2021 - TCWA says one in five Western Australian tourism businesses at risk if JobKeeper ends

1st March 2021 - Optus Stadium launches The Ozone attractions hub

14th February 2021 - Wellington’s Sky Stadium hosts largest crowd for a concert anywhere in the world for nearly a year

21st September 2020 - MSL agrees multi-year POS agreement for Perth’s RAC Arena

6th June 2020 - Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium ready to claim world first with return of fans

2nd July 2020 - RAC Arena reopens with exhibition netball game in front of a crowd

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