SPORT will continue to be the main show, but it won't be the "whole show" in a 10-year future for AFL stadiums that will see venues and clubs target more entertainment options for fans when they head to the footy. 

Outside of the new Macquarie Point Stadium in Tasmania, however, the glitzy rebuilds and new developments like those that now host US sports will remain a long way off in Australia as venues focus on more modest ways to draw AFL fans within budget restrictions.

Clubs know they need to innovate in the next decade and use stadiums in new ways to continue packing out games and competing with TV audiences and other forms of entertainment. 

But they are also aware of the hurdles in front of them, with author and sports business academic Dr Sam Duncan forecasting a period of innovation that will be focused on technology and in-stadium entertainment options, rather than large scale redevelopments.

"I think there should be an expectation that while there will absolutely be improvements, I think they will be within the context of the current economic landscape," Dr Duncan, who is researching stadium builds for the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games, said. 

"To do what they've done in some of these arenas around the world, it's going to cost billions of dollars in some instances, and that will be an issue in Australia because the majority of funding is public funds. 

"We are living in a time of cost-of-living pressures and an economic downturn, so I think governments will be quite hesitant to spend that amount of money at the moment on stadiums."

Just because government funding for stadiums will be hard won, it does not mean AFL venues need to stand still. 

Duncan recently travelled as part of a study tour to Las Vegas, which has emerged in less than 10 years as a sporting focal point by adding NFL, NHL and WNBA teams, hosting major tournaments including the 2024 Super Bowl, and building some of the most advanced stadiums in the world. 

Allegiant Stadium is the US$1.9b home to the Las Vegas Raiders and contains features that are unattainable right now in Australia, including a retractable grass field that sits outside the venue in full sun and then slides into the roofed stadium on a steel deck on game day. 

There are, however, other elements of the US sporting experience that clubs and AFL venues will look to incorporate over the next decade that do not come with the same prohibitive costs.

"A lot of it is to do with the tech, so ordering food and beverages through your apps and picking it up rather than waiting in a queue and ordering, being able to check how big the line is to the toilets, or when the best time is to duck out and get a beer," Duncan said. 

"All of those things are possible in these really high-tech, sophisticated stadiums, but whether it's an old stadium or a new stadium, it can be built in. 

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"If you do a lap in these stadiums too, there is so much from a fan experience perspective, whether it's augmented or virtual reality or experiential activities around it.

"So, you are immersing yourself in everything that's related to the sporting experience, and while the sport is probably the main show, it's not the whole show."

Victoria's Marvel Stadium redevelopment, which was made possible with $225m of public funding, is an example of the move towards adding retail shopping, bars, restaurants, and communal spaces within and at the entry to stadiums.

The next major projects for AFL venues over the next 10 years will be the Macquarie Point Stadium and a proposed redevelopment of the MCG's Shane Warne Stand, which remains the focus of a feasibility study with no determinations yet made. 

There remains uncertainty around a Gabba rebuild ahead of the 2032 Olympic Games, again highlighting the tightrope being walked by governments when it comes to spending public money on sporting venues within the next 10 years. 

James Avery is CEO of Stadiums Tasmania, which will become the owner and operator of the Macquarie Point Stadium when it is completed ahead of 2029 to host the Tasmania Devils AFL team. 

The challenge for the Macquarie Point developers and designers right now is to anticipate what fans will want in five years and beyond. 

"Innovation is one of the biggest considerations for the project given that we're designing and looking to build a stadium that will come online in 2028-29, so it's several years away and it needs to be contemporary as soon as the doors open on day one," Avery said. 

"So, we're really trying to incorporate design flexibility that gives us the opportunity to meet whatever the changing trends are when the stadium opens, whether that be in relation to tech, the fan experience, consumer behaviour, and even something like capacity.

"It's a 23,000-seat stadium, and we've got the Devils who have launched to have almost 200,000 members, 100,000 of which are in Tasmania.

"The interest in attendance will be really high, not just across football, but across cricket, other sports, concerts, entertainment, conferencing. 

"So we need to have flexibility and design to future-proof the venue across a whole range of different users."

Stadiums Tasmania have recently completed a user brief and sought feedback from all sports and event promoters who will use the new venue in an effort to meet their anticipated needs from 2029 onward. 

Those needs for fans will include things like facial recognition as the norm for all transactions in the venue, an ability to organise everything from parking to food and beverage purchases from their phones, and availability of bars, restaurants, and retail shopping within the stadium. 

Avery said developers took some cues from the US while also being careful not to be drawn into innovations that aren't relevant in the local market or remain unrealistic. 

"I don't think anyone expects that we're going to build the Intuit Dome here at the moment," Avery said, referencing the technologically advanced Californian arena, which will be home to the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers. 

"The budget on that is vastly different to the budget we're dealing with on this project, so it's a matter of looking at what works, what's appropriate, what's not.

"We've also been very focused on making this uniquely Tasmanian and a drawcard for people to come to Tasmania more broadly. 

"But this stadium will be very innovative. It will have a translucent roof, which is going to change the landscape of stadia in Australia, and the ability to host events at various times."

The appeal for clubs to continue innovating and drawing fans to their home games is obvious as bigger crowds, particularly for those located outside Victoria, create a natural advantage. 

The financial benefits go beyond membership sales, too, as full stadiums attract potential sponsors and more merchandise sales. There has also been a belief that the television product is greatly enhanced by the atmosphere created and visual appeal of large crowds. 

When it comes to the needs of players and coaches, Optus Stadium is the AFL's newest active venue and has pushed boundaries with world class team facilities that stretch over 1,000sqm and include two of the largest warm-up areas in Australia, hot and cold spas for recovery, and a 60-person coaches briefing room.

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Continuing to innovate for players though, and finding solutions for some of the new hurdles faced by coaches, will be important over the next decade, according to Adelaide chief executive Tim Silvers.

"You've got the challenge now where you've got senior coaches who want to be closer to the action and closer to their players to provide instant feedback, and we can see benefits for that," Silvers said.

"But they don't get a great view of the ground and game trends, so it's about trying to find a way where if you're going to have a coach on the bench, how they can still get vision that will help them make calls from the boundary. 

"If you're the coach on the sideline, you just need to put a lot of those matchday decisions to the coaches in the coaches' box."

While winning and playing finals remained paramount, Silvers said AFL clubs now considered themselves part of the entertainment business and needed to consider all age demographics when enhancing the stadium experience for fans.

The Crows, who have late-season plans to trial some matchday innovations of their own, utilise focus groups and study tours for staff to generate new ideas, with Silvers hoping the League would continue to open the doors to innovation when it came to the stadium experience in the next 10 years. 

"The best matchday experience for me to compare has been the NFL and the build-up to an NFL game. If you go to a New England Patriots game, for example, it feels like it's a celebration and it feels like a Grand Final experience for every one of their matchdays," he said. 

"But what I think the AFL did for a long period of time is we were so confident in our products that we just would deliver a great spectacle, which was the game of football. 

"Now we've started to chase our tail a little bit and realise we've got to innovate for our matchday to make it more of an experience. Our greatest challenge now is to find out, yes, we're open to innovation."