Boozing habits of Optus Stadium’s first two million punters revealed

Two million people have walked through the gates at Optus Stadium and drank one million litres of beer in its first year.

The stadium’s operator VenuesLive says more than 122,000 regional, interstate and international visitors have booked tickets and travelled to its events, making the stadium a tourism bright spot.

There have been 43 major events, 1450 stadium tours and 420 meetings held at the venue.

The stadium’s catering division placed food and beverage orders to suppliers worth $21.8 million. More than 500,000 buckets of chips and 225,000 pastries were sold.

VenuesLive say on average cricket fans ate more chips and ice cream and drank more beer than AFL supporters but concert goers put away more cider than people at sporting events.

The McGowan Government says there has been a big take-up of public transport to stadium events with about 76 per cent of people taking a bus or a train to get there.

Optus Stadium chief executive Mike McKenna said the numbers had exceeded expectations and surveys showed that fan satisfaction was high. The stadium has hosted several major events, including an AFL preliminary final, which broke the WA record for highest sporting attendance, with 59,608 ticket holders.

Mr McKenna said 11 blockbuster events would be held in between June and August, including “the biggest sporting team on the globe” Manchester United playing two games.

“Throw in the AFL grand final replay between West Coast Eagles and Collingwood and a Saturday night western derby clash and there is every chance we will see 500,000 fans visit Optus Stadium over that period,” he said.

“We are expecting more than 50,000 fans at the sold-out Eminem concert later next month and the possibility of more big concerts being announced.”

Premier Mark McGowan, who will attend a breakfast today celebrating the birthday milestone, said the stadium had been an overwhelming success for the State.

Tourism Minister Paul Papalia said Perth was set to take the crown of sporting capital off Mlebourne this winter with events such as the National Rugby League State of Origin, Bledisloe Cup and football matches.