NRL State of Origin and Grand Finals  (2013 – 2022) and Magic Round (2019 – 2022)

Spectrum Manager

After two bad experiences that generated front page headlines for all the wrong reasons, ANZ Stadium were advised that they needed to engage a Spectrum Manager to coordinate frequencies for large events and ensure that the stadium’s reputation of “world class” was not tarnished.

The P.A. People, as part of their contract to operate the Stadium’s existing system were asked to locate and contract a suitable Spectrum Manager. Based on many previous engagements, they turned to PRM.

Key events at the stadium each year are the NRL State of Origin and Grand Final matches. PRM had been successfully managing spectrum for these events since 2013 in Sydney when the NRL started to experience issues at their other major events interstate. The NRL approached PRM in 2018 to manage the spectrum for all State of Origin matches around Australia and the Grand Finals.

The NRL Grand Finals continue the trend of requiring more frequencies. In 2019 over 400 were managed for 30 stakeholders, both inside and around the stadium precinct. This includes UHF 2-way frequencies, Wireless Audio, and 2GHz Camera links.

In 2019 the NRL engaged PRM to manage the spectrum for Magic Round – all matches for the round are played over three days at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. Whilst not on quite the same scale as a Grand Final it is equally complex in terms of RF demand, as there are more artists and entertainment between matches and two broadcasters. Channel Seven take one match each day for Free to Air, and Fox Sports take the other matches.