Attracting fans a major issue for WA Cricket
Perth’s Optus Stadium is one of the most impressive venues Australia has to offer. Despite this being the case, it has not proved to be one cricket fans seem to enjoy that much.
The 60,000-seat stadium saw less than 50,000 fans turn up for last year’s test matches against the West Indies. Generally speaking, Optus Stadium does not sell out for cricket outside of marquee matchups against such as England and India.
With Pakistan coming to Perth this December as a part of the Western Australian Cricket Association’s “West Test” series, event organisers needed to make big changes. To attract more fans.
Changing the layout of Optus Stadium appears to be WA Cricket’s solution to its fan problem. What changes exactly? They are adding a hill.
#FillTheHill say WA Cricket
As nice as it is, Optus Stadium can definitely be called cavernous. To address this WA Cricket will be removing several sections of seats to add what it is calling ‘The West Test Hill.’
The hill will feature three tiers and up to 500 patrons at a time. According to WA Cricket, ‘The West Test Hill’ is “Inspired by Test cricket’s rich history at the WACA Ground, with a nod to the world-class Perth Stadium.”
The WACA Ground, which itself features many fan-friendly stadium features, is currently under renovations. WA Cricket expects the WACA Ground to be out of commission until at least late 2025.
WA Cricket go on to say in its statement that “CA has teamed up with NRMA Insurance to prioritise patron comfort and a great event experience, The West Test Hill will include a family area with games for children and ample shaded seating spaces for fans to relax and enjoy the first Test match of the summer.”
It is unclear whether fans will flock to the Optus Stadium like WA Cricket expects. If they do, WA Cricket is asking them to use the rallying call ‘#FillTheHill’.
“Fans will be called upon to #FillTheHill and welcome home the ICC World Test Champion Australians when they take on Pakistan from The West Test Hill, to be built across four bays within Perth Stadium,” said WA Cricket.
What is ‘The West Test’?
The ‘NRMA Insurance West Test' series is a new test cricket series between Australia and other visiting nations. Pakistan will be the Aussies inaugural opponents.
The first test against Pakistan will be played on December 14-18 at Optus Stadium. The second will be at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on December 26-30. The third and final test will be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground just after the New Year on January 3-7.
The Australian women's teams test series against South Africa in February will also be played under the ‘West Test’ branding.
