Wollongong's recently-revamped WIN Stadium precinct will be strained to breaking point on March 15 next year following confirmation of two key sporting events being hosted simultaneously on the same night.
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In a blow to sporting fans, the Mercury can reveal that St George Illawarra will proceed with hosting the Brisbane Broncos at WIN Stadium - the same night the Wollongong Hawks take on the Sydney Kings next door at WIN Entertainment Centre.
The two games, which will begin 40 minutes apart, are poised to fetch around 25,000 patrons combined, creating a logistical nightmare for organisers and fans.
Significantly, the scheduling bungle forces fans into an unavoidable decision of choosing which game to attend.
The Kings-Hawks match is traditionally one of the biggest drawcard games in the NBL and, significantly, could have profound consequences on the overall finals picture given that it is the penultimate game of the regular season.
While the Dragons-Broncos clash involves two of the highest profile teams in the NRL and cannot be moved due to television scheduling cemented when the NRL released its official draw last Friday. It is also the Dragons' first Wollongong home game of the season.
WIN Entertainment Centre general manager Stuart Barnes was confident the centre could host both events simultaneously.
"We are taking it very seriously and we are working with the parties to come up with the best solution to this situation.
"At the end of the day we need to come up with a game plan that works for all parties, if we possibly can," he said
Issues yet to be resolved include the fact that both the Dragons and Hawks use the same corporate area under WIN Stadium's northern grandstand during matches.
Stadium staff will also need to facilitate outside broadcast trucks which will beam both games locally and interstate on free-to-air television.
The Mercury understands that Dragons officials were handed a comprehensive list of events scheduled at either venue in September, which included weekends when WIN Stadium was unavailable.
That list of unavailabilities did not include the weekend of March 15-17, leaving the Dragons to choose between the round-two fixture or delaying their opening Wollongong appearance to a later date.
"The decision to schedule the Dragons opening home game of the season at WIN Stadium was seen as very important for the Illawarra community given the issues experienced during the construction of the western grandstand," Dragons chief executive Peter Doust said.
"The Illawarra community deserve the opportunity to host the Dragons season opener particularly as there has been no NRL games played in the Illawarra prior to June in both of the past two seasons.
"This decision was made after consultation on venue availability, as evidenced by the round-five home game against the Knights being ruled out as an option for WIN Stadium because of commitments to the Nitro Circus that weekend.
"WIN Stadium was not deemed unavailable for the weekend in question and ultimately Channel Nine made the decision on which day and time the game would take place on.
"We will certainly work with the Illawarra Venues Authority and all stakeholders on logistical requirements for the game to proceed."
Hawks general manager Mili Simic told the Mercury he was still awaiting a response from the IVA on the issue.
