McDonald Jones Stadium could host the world's biggest music acts in a bold plan to stage open-air concerts at the sporting venue.
Government agency Venues NSW has lodged an application with Newcastle council to hold five non-sporting events a year at the Knights home ground for crowds of up to 35,000 people.
The venue has only ever hosted one concert, and that was 32 years ago when Midnight Oil, The Angels and Crowded House rocked what was then the International Sports Centre for the Newcastle Earthquake Relief Concert.
The earthquake benefit concert attracted more than 42,000 people and raised $900,000.
The Herald understands plans are already well underway to bring a major international music act to the Newcastle stadium early next year if the application is approved.
Venues NSW chairman Tony Shepherd said the idea would be for acts to add Newcastle to their list of stadium shows when they tour the country.
The likes of Justin Bieber, Harry Styles, Guns N' Roses and Ed Sheeran are making their way to Sydney for stadium gigs over the coming warmer months in a sign of what promoters would be aiming for in the Hunter.
"The NSW government's goal is to bring more big events to Newcastle, the Hunter and the Central Coast, including the international concert artists who tour their stadium shows around Australia over the summer," Mr Shepherd said.
The development application before council aims to extend the use of the sports stadium for entertainment, including live music as well as more motorsport events.
The arena has previously hosted international stunt show Nitro Circus and supercross event Super X.
The maximum capacity of the gigs would be 35,327, made up of 28,000 seated and the rest on the field.
Venues NSW says Newcastle is a compelling location for major events as the stadium has good capacity, there is an abundance of accommodation options and the transfer of stages from Sydney would be logistically simple.
The agency has also touted the potential economic boost of the proposal for the city.
An Oxford Economics report on the United States concerts and live entertainment industry estimated the average out-of-town attendee who spent $100 on a concert ticket would contribute an additional $343.92 to the local economy.
Documents submitted as part of the application say the existing infrastructure "is underutilised and can accommodate more frequent large events outside the sporting mode".
"The existing maximum capacity of the stadium is rarely achieved for sporting events, and this proposal for non-sporting events, while large in scale, are low in frequency. Over the duration of a year, this overall impact is not expected to be significant," the proposal says.
Traffic management is expected to be the same as for large sporting matches, including park and ride services, signage, road closures, special event bus services, pre-event advertising, increased public transport services and incentives.
The proposed events would operate between 10am and midnight.
