Mac Rating: 5.00 | Votes: 1 | Date: 04/06/2026 14:03:00

Opened in January 2018 on the Burswood peninsula beside the Swan River, Optus Stadium is the largest sporting and entertainment venue in Western Australia and the third largest stadium in the country. Construction began in 2014, and the finished arena, designed by Hassell, Cox and HKS, holds a little over 60,000 for football and stretches toward 65,000 for rectangular sports and as many as 75,000 for concerts. It replaced the ageing Subiaco Oval as Perth's premier ground and quickly became a fixture of the city's calendar. The stadium is the home of the West Coast Eagles and Fremantle Dockers in the Australian Football League and of the Perth Scorchers in Big Bash League cricket, and it hosts international cricket, rugby league and union, soccer and a steady run of major concerts. Its fans-first design keeps spectators close to the action and was recognised internationally, winning the Most Beautiful Stadium in the World award at the 2019 Prix Versailles a year after opening. Surrounding the bowl is Stadium Park, a landscaped precinct with playgrounds, public art, barbecue areas and food and drink outlets that stays busy on non-event days. The Matagarup pedestrian bridge links the ground to East Perth and the city, and a dedicated rail station and bus network move the large crowds that gather for the biggest fixtures. For visitors not attending an event, guided tours take in the changing rooms, coaches' boxes, media areas and the field itself, while the Vertigo rooftop walk and the HALO zip line offer views over the river and city from the roofline for those after something more adventurous. The venue also holds its record crowd from an Ed Sheeran concert in 2023, when more than 73,000 packed in. Owned by the state government and operated by VenuesLive, the stadium has welcomed many millions of fans since opening and was named Venue of the Year at the 2022 Stadium Business Awards. Its mix of striking architecture, a riverside setting and a packed program of sport and music has made it one of Perth's defining modern landmarks and a regular stop for travellers passing through the west. The precinct also includes a riverside boardwalk and the Camfield, one of the largest pub venues in the state, so the area draws people even when no game is on. Cricket dominates the summer calendar with Test, one-day and Big Bash fixtures, while winter belongs to the two AFL clubs, and the drop-in playing surface and movable seating let the ground switch between oval and rectangular configurations within days. That flexibility, combined with the rail line built specifically to serve it, has made the stadium a model other Australian venues have studied.