What industry expert says about McDonald Jones Stadium concert plan

BIG NAMES: TEG boss Geoff Jones says McDonald Jones Stadium could host artists who play at Melbourne's AAMI Park and Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium if plans to hold concerts at the venue are approved.

One of the country's largest music promoters has revealed what sort of concerts McDonald Jones Stadium could host if plans to stage live music at the venue are approved.

The Herald reported last week that Venues NSW had lodged plans with Newcastle council to hold up to five non-sporting events at the Broadmeadow stadium each year, including concerts.

TEG, which owns Ticketek, is the biggest promoter at Newcastle Entertainment Centre. CEO Geoff Jones said the entertainment centre held about 5000 people, meaning the 35,000-person capacity at the stadium would allow for much bigger artists.

"To make it viable at the stadium you'd need to get at least 12,000," Mr Jones said. "You don't need 30,000 but you'd want 12,000."

Mr Jones was confident the Hunter could deliver this, and believed it was far enough from Sydney to provide a different market.

"We bring dozens and dozens of things to Newcastle Entertainment Centre every year, we bring things to various wineries around the Hunter," he said.

"We know the strength of the Newcastle market. Because it's a proven market, there's a lot of opportunity.

"To give you an example, we're bringing Kiss to Townsville's Queensland Country Bank Stadium.

"McDonald Jones is probably equal to the capacity of Townsville if not bigger and McDonald Jones has got the benefit of a much, much bigger catchment area than North Queensland."

Mr Jones said they had "a group of artists in mind" for Newcastle who would perform at the stadium level down from the Melbourne Cricket Ground and Sydney's Accor Stadium.

"We're talking AAMI Park in Melbourne and Suncorp in Brisbane," he said.

"We took Queen and Adam Lambert and now Guns N' Roses to Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane and Metricon Stadium in the Gold Coast.

"So Metricon and Suncorp are closer to each other than Sydney and Newcastle. And last time I checked, the population of Sydney was bigger than Brisbane and the population of the Hunter is still bigger than the Gold Coast region, so there's no reason that a concert that is going to a stadium in Sydney wouldn't go to McDonald Jones."

It was still "a little bit early to say when" they aimed to put on concerts at the stadium, Mr Jones said, with the development application still being assessed. However he didn't rule out this upcoming season.

"The touring season for outdoor shows is October, November, December, January, February," he said. "I would think it's going to be difficult to get something in late this year or early next year, but not impossible."