Julian Keith
THE amazing sporting and entertainment memories of 2017 will stay with us long after Auld Lang Syne is sung to bring in the New Year on Sunday night.
Stadium Australia – Sydney’s home of major events – hosted a gate-twirling 57 events in 2017, with an aggregate attendance of close to 1.7 million.
Thirteen of these events hosted crowds in excess of 50,000 – and nine events in 2017 drew blockbuster crowds in excess of 70,000.
Who will ever forget the heroics that went with the Socceroos winning through two sudden-death qualifiers in October-November to make it to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia?
See our 2017 Year In Review photo reel here
Global superstar Adele’s two sold-out performances in March drew the biggest attendances of the year – a phenomenal 98,364 for Concert 2 on Saturday 11 March after 96,364 on Friday 10 March.
As football fans flocked to witness Arsenal’s first visit to Australia in 40 years, a total of 163,652 fans attended the Arsenal v Sydney FC (80,432) game and Arsenal v Western Sydney Wanderers (83,221).
The football magic didn’t end with Arsenal as the Socceroos added to their rich history at the Stadium by qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia with play-off victories over Syria (42,136) and Honduras (77,060).
In a big year for the round-ball code, the monster Arsenal In Sydney crowds came on the back of a bumper 82,259 for State of Origin II in June, 72,892 for Liverpool v Sydney FC in May, and 44,843 for the Western Sydney Wanderers v Sydney FC A-League Derby earlier in the year.
The aggregate attendance for 2017 was 1,641,024 fans through the gates for events, with a total visitation at Stadium Australia for 2017 reaching 1.7 million.
Of course, this aggregate crowd figure is just for the Olympic stadium on its own. The Sydney Olympic Park precinct will have welcomed almost 15 million visitors this year by the time we ring in the New Year from 12 midnight Sunday.
STATS AMAZING – THE BIGGEST CROWDS AT ANZ STADIUM IN 2017
98,364: Adele – Live 2017 (Concert 2), Sat 11 March;
96,470: Adele – Live 2017 (Concert 1), Fri 10 March;
83,221: Arsenal In Sydney: Arsenal v Western Sydney Wanderers, Sat 15 July;
82,259: State of Origin II: NSW v Queensland, Wed 21 June;
80,432: Arsenal In Sydney: Arsenal v Sydney FC, Thurs 13 July;
79,772: NRL Grand Final – Storm v Cowboys, Sunday 1 October;
77,060: World Cup Intercontinental Playoff – Socceroos v Honduras, Wednesday 15 November;
72,892: Reds In Sydney: Liverpool v Sydney FC, Wed 24 May;
70,166: Justin Bieber – Purpose World Tour, Wed 15 March:
54,648: Bledisloe Cup: Wallabies v All Blacks, Sat 19 Aug;
52,438: Guns N Roses – Not In This Lifetime Tour, Fri 10 Feb;
44,843: Sydney Derby III: Western Sydney Wanderers v Sydney FC, Sat 18 Feb;
42,136: World Cup Asian Qualifiers Playoff – Socceroos v Syria, Tuesday 10 October;
40,522: Monster Jam, Saturday 21 October;
35,984: Good Friday NRL: South Sydney Rabbitohs v Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, Fri 14 April;
35,242: Guns N Roses – Not In This Lifetime Tour, Sat 11 Feb;
30,901: NRL Stay Kind Cup: Parramatta Eels v Wests Tigers, Sun 23 July;
28,249: Easter Monday NRL: Parramatta Eels v Wests Tigers, Mon 17 April;
TOTAL EVENT ATTENDANCE: 1,641,024.
TOTAL STADIUM VISITATION: 1.7 million.
FROM THE FANS, FOR THE FANS
2017 will live long in the memory of the 1.7 million fans who passed through Stadium Australia and to honour the people who make our events so special take a moment to look back at some fan-captured footage at some of our biggest events this year.
