The Gabba

So, I'm here at The Gabba, which is actually short for Woolloongabba, the suburb it's in. It's pretty impressive, a major sports stadium here in Brisbane. You wouldn't believe all the stuff they've hosted here over the years: athletics, Australian rules football, baseball, concerts, cricket, cycling, rugby league, rugby union, even soccer, and pony and greyhound racing. Right now, it's home to the Queensland Bulls for cricket, the Brisbane Heat for the Big Bash, and the Brisbane Lions for AFL.

Apparently, this spot was set aside for a cricket ground way back in 1895, and the very first match was played on December 19, 1896, between Parliament and The Press. Before that, cricket happened at a place called Green Hills since at least the early 1860s. The Gabba even had greyhound racing in 1928, and then a dedicated greyhound track was installed in 1972, with weekly night meetings for 21 years!

They started a huge redevelopment project in 1993, turning it into an all-seater stadium. The last greyhound meeting was on February 5, 1993, and then they removed the track to make room for Australian rules football. The Brisbane Bears moved here from the Gold Coast, and they refurbished stands and built new ones. This whole redevelopment, which finished in 2005, cost a massive $128 million. They even installed five light towers for night games, though one was removed later for expanded grandstands. The stadium actually overhangs some of the surrounding streets and even the East Brisbane State School, which is pretty wild and caused some issues with expansion plans.

The playing field is pretty big now, 170.6 meters east-west by 149.9 meters north-south, perfect for AFL. The seating capacity used to be 42,000 in 2010, but it's been reduced a bit because of new scoreboards and corporate facilities. For international cricket, it's down to 36,000, and for AFL, it's slightly more at 37,478. They even replaced the video screens in 2017 and did a $35 million refurbishment in 2020, just before hosting the AFL Grand Final that year.

It's kind of bittersweet though, because after the 2032 Summer Olympics, this whole place is slated for demolition. They originally planned a huge $1 billion, then $2.7 billion, rebuild to make it the main Olympic stadium with a 50,000 capacity, but that idea got scrapped due to the cost. So, it looks like this iconic venue will eventually be replaced by a new stadium in Victoria Park after the Games.