The regional government of Queensland, Australia, has announced a multi-year deal to host an annual Bledisloe Cup tie between the national rugby union teams of Australia and New Zealand.
Through this new agreement, a Bledisloe Cup match will be hosted at Brisbane’s 52,500-capacity Suncorp Stadium in 2027, 2029, and 2031, each made to coincide with the annual ANZAC Day holiday on April 25.
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The other two fixtures in the annual series typically take place during the regional Rugby Championship tournament.
This will be one test that makes up the multi-match annual series, and will be supported by ancillary business-focused events such as the Australian Rugby Summit, the Super Rugby Pacific Summit, and the ANZAC Bledisloe/O’Reilly Cup Breakfast.
The organizers of the game have said that the next edition of the test, on April 25, 2027, will be staged at a “family-friendly early afternoon time slot.”
This agreement further expands Queensland’s burgeoning events portfolio over the next six years.
Brisbane will, most notably, host the Olympics and Paralympics in 2032, and most recently secured a multi-year agreement to stage the NRL rugby league competition’s annual ‘Magic round’ of fixtures.
Indeed, speaking on the capture of the Bledisloe Cup test through 2031, Queensland Premier David Crisafulli said: “This is part of our plan to deliver new signature events for Queensland and raid interstate events, growing tourism and supporting Queensland jobs.
“I promised Queenslanders we’d secure these major events to Queensland, as part of a push to make our State the events capital of Australia, and there’s more to come."
Of the 156 editions of the Bledisloe Cup series thus far, Australia has hosted 74 and New Zealand 78, with the other four taking place in neutral venues such as Hong Kong and Tokyo, Japan.
Although Australia and New Zealand are about even on hosting terms, it is the latter that has dominated the fixture, winning 112 of the 156 editions, with Australia claiming only 37.
New Zealand has held the Bledisloe Cup since 2003, with a record of 18 series wins and five draws from the 23 multi-game series since Australia last successfully defended it.
As a location, Brisbane has been one of the more prominent hosts of the Bledisloe Cup, staging 19 games across the history of the tournament, at venues such as Ballymore Stadium, Brisbane Exhibition Ground, and The Gabba, the iconic cricket venue.
Originally known as Lang Park, Suncorp Stadium has staged seven Bledisloe Cup fixtures in the past, the most recent of which came on November 7, 2020, when Australia beat New Zealand 24 to 22, but lost the test 2-1 overall.
