Does the State Government know it is building the new home of the Penrith Panthers?
All of us in Penrith have watched in recent months as the old Penrith Park has been demolished, making way for a new $309 million stadium that will open in 2027.
You would think the State Government and Infrastructure NSW would be proud to be building a new stadium for the six-time NRL champions, who have called the site home since 1967.
But so obsessed is the Government with convincing itself it is building a venue for Penrith itself, and for multi-purposes, that Panthers has seemingly become a banned word when it comes to the project.
I pondered this when driving past the construction site the other day, with none of the signage that wraps around the project site noting that the new home of the mighty Panthers was being built.
Plenty of NSW Government logos, but no Panthers logo in sight.
Plenty of artist mock-ups of concerts and various sports being played, but nothing distinctively Panthers.
And so off I went to the project’s official website, housed by Infrastructure NSW.
It mentions that it is building a “super venue for sports events, live music and entertainment”, and says it will “cater for the increasing demand for NRL and NRLW regular season and representative matches”.
No mention of the Penrith Panthers though, who will be the anchor tenant and are the real reason the venue is being upgraded.
I tried to find something, anything, that mentioned the Penrith Panthers.
The team that represents the very city this stadium is being built in.
The team that will call this stadium home from 2027, probably for the next 50 years or more.
But not even the artist’s impressions of what the venue will look like indicate a Panthers game in action.
So I headed to the May 2025 Project Snapshot, a newsletter of sorts put out by the NSW Government. Surely it would note the mighty Panthers.
Finally, success. It mentions that the project team has been liaising with key stakeholders, such as the Penrith Panthers.
Panthers! Blasphemy to use such a word.
Why are we so afraid to shout from the rooftops that this will be the home of the Penrith Panthers?
Why are we so obsessed with making sure we have pre-answered any criticism by forcing down everyone’s throat that this will be a multi-use venue.
The vast majority of people who utilise this venue in any given year will be Penrith Panthers fans.
The vast majority of people interested in this venue and its progress are Penrith Panthers fans.
So why ignore their team?
Let me take you across the world to Nashville, Tennessee.
The project website for the major new Nissan Stadium being built in the city is super impressive, as you would expect.
But the first thing you notice is the logo of the Tennessee Titans.
Granted, the NFL franchise has fronted some of the $2.1 billion cost of the venue, but it will be owned and operated by the Government of Nashville (which has contributed $500 million to the project).
Literally the second sentence of the project biography notes that this will be the future home of the Tennessee Titans.
Sure, it’ll host other events too, but this is Titans Stadium. No bones about it.
Still in the United States and in Buffalo, the new Highmark Stadium is being built – to become the home of the Buffalo Bills.
Again, this is all about the Bills.
Renders may show concerts and the like, but the majority of the images show Bills games in action with the brand front and centre.
Again, the venue is not owned by the Bills. It’s owned by the State of New York and operated by Legends Hospitality, which operates a number of international venues.
Despite this, there is a pride that this is the home of the Bills.
And yet back here in Penrith, it feels like the State Government is doing everything possible to not call this the home of the Panthers.
There is nowhere that even declares the Panthers will call the venue home from 2027.
Who is the State Government winning over with that approach?
It’s certainly not Panthers fans, who feel their beloved stadium has been ripped down and will be replaced with a bland, cookie cutter venue.
It’s certainly not general Penrith residents or the wider NSW population, whose mind over whether the $309 million spend is justified will not be changed because of the potential of concerts and other sports being staged.
We get it, you’re building a multi-purpose venue.
We get it, it’s for everyone.
But why not be proud that the most successful rugby league franchise in half a century is going to call it home?
Why not cover the construction signage in Panthers colours?
Why not have Penrith players all over the website?
There is already a lot of scepticism about the stadium project.
It’s not winning over any Panthers fans, or any community members in general, to ignore the team that this whole project is based around.
The Government has a couple of years to convince us this was all worth it.
Actually being proud of the Panthers and Penrith would be a start.
Troy Dodds
Troy Dodds is the Weekender's Managing Editor and Breaking News Reporter. He has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working with some of Australia's leading media organisations. In 2023, he was named Editor of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.