Eddie McGuire Wants To Create Australia's Own SoFi Stadium... At The MCG
The former Collingwood president wants to bring SoFi Stadium vibes down under.
It's Australia's most iconic stadium but former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire believes the MCG is due for a facelift.
McGuire, who resigned from his post as Pies president last year, has called for a roof to be put on top of the Melbourne Cricket Ground as part of a $1 billion rebuild of the stadium's Great Southern Stand.
The section of the glorious stadium holds 45,000 spectators when full, which is half of the ground's 100,000 capacity.
McGuire's recent trip to Los Angeles's SoFi Stadium for last week's Super Bowl has seen the influential figure keen to give new life to Victoria's famous coliseum.
He wants the MCG development to include increased seating capacity in the Great Southern Stand, a vibrant precinct around the ground, as well as a roof over the top of Australia's biggest stadium.
"It's got to be a knock-over, because the stand itself is just structurally not the right shape for where we need to go with what we need to build at the MCG," McGuire told SEN.
"To be perfectly honest, we should be looking at even putting a roof on the MCG or at least a sliding roof over the top of it.
"The difference between the stadium and what we saw the other day (at the Super Bowl) was the unbelievable audio-visual opportunities with that screen that was right around the stadium perimeter inside hanging down.
"It's not that long ago that we used to get excited about maybe having a video screen at your seat.
"It has to be a better experience than what you have at home, and we've had two years to be at home."
As part of a Victorian Government feasibility study, first reported by The Age, it is expected to recommend an entire rebuild of the Great Southern Stand to bring it up to the standard of other Australian sporting arenas such as Perth's Optus Stadium and the redeveloped Sydney Football Stadium.
The upgrade would come at a cost of more than $1 billion and it's hoped construction would begin by 2027 or by 2032 at the latest.
AFL and cricket matches would continue to be played at the MCG during construction, which would last at least two to three years.
Featured Image Credit: Getty ImagesTopics: afl, mcg, SoFi Stadium, Australia, Eddie McGuire
Ryan Rosendale