The Newcastle Knights are the envy of other New South Wales based clubs today after the NSW Government announced a major upgrade to Energy Australia Stadium.
After drawing 20,000+ on a regular basis to a grass hill for years, Newcastle can look forward to having an all seater stadium in 2011 with a capacity of 40,000.
Its an amazing upgrade and one thats will hopefully see the Knights grow their crowd numbers even further and ease the financial pressure they are under.
The upgrade will mean that Energy Australia Stadium will be only behind Sydneys Olympic Stadium (ANZ) and the Sydney Football Stadium as far as capacity goes in New South Wales.
You have to wonder if the 40,000 seat stadium in Newcastle could on day host a State Of Origin game.
The ARL would have to set ticket prices higher to offset the lower capacity compared to ANZ Stadium, but even so I would guess that an Origin game with double the current ticket prices would sell out in Newcastle in minutes.
The NSW Goverment, while making this announcement, also said it was commited to upgrading Penrith and Parramatta Stadiums which has to be a boost for their respecting teams and their futures.
What ever the case, its amazing news for Rugby League in Newcastle. They will now join Brisbane, Melbourne, the Gold Coast and Canberra, all of whom will have brilliant stadiums in a few years from now.
