Can a grant pay for your club’s scoreboard? Sometimes, but fewer programs fund scoreboards than most clubs expect. We read the official guidelines in October 2026, and only three programs named scoreboards as something they fund: one each in NSW, Victoria and South Australia. In WA, the main facilities fund rules scoreboards out, although a program for school and club partnerships has paid for several.
Here is what we found, state by state, and what to have ready before you apply. Rounds and rules change every year, so check the program page before you start.
Before you apply
- Don’t buy first. Many programs, among them the NSW Local Sport Grant Program, Victoria’s Local Sports Infrastructure Fund and Queensland’s Gambling Community Benefit Fund, won’t pay for anything ordered or bought before the grant is approved.
- Get quotes. Many programs ask for quotes, and the NSW programs want them less than six months old. Victoria’s Local Sports Infrastructure Fund also asks scoreboard projects for clear product specifications and a concept plan.
- Check the land. For a fixed scoreboard, programs such as the NSW Local Sport Grant Program ask for the landowner’s consent and a development approval, or proof that you don’t need one.
- Talk to your council and your state sporting association early. In several programs the council lodges or ranks the application, in Victoria the council is the applicant, and in NSW your local MP assesses Local Sport Grant projects.
- Know whether your board is fixed or portable. Some programs fund only one kind.
Western Australia
CSRFF does not fund scoreboards. The Community Sporting and Recreation Facilities Fund, run by the Department of Creative Industries, Tourism and Sport, rules out fixed sports specific equipment, giving electronic targets and scoreboards as examples, and it rules out non-fixed equipment too. The fund is under review, with rounds due to open in February 2027 (CSRFF).
The school route has funded scoreboards. The Community Use of School Sporting Facilities program (CUSSF) is for WA public schools that share their facilities with a community club. Its guidelines don’t name scoreboards, but the program’s own list of funded projects includes scoreboards at five schools: Butler College, Bunbury Senior High School, Girrawheen Senior High School, Mindarie Senior College and Fremantle College, each with a local club as its partner. Only the school can apply. Round 5 is open until 12 March 2027 (CUSSF).
Lotterywest doesn’t name scoreboards either way, and its list of things it won’t fund includes “general or competitive activities of sporting clubs or codes”, so ask before you apply (Lotterywest grants).
Your council may run its own club grants for equipment or minor works. The City of Cockburn, for example, has capital works grants for sporting clubs, and the City’s share is at most half of the project. Talk to your council’s recreation staff before you apply.
New South Wales
The Local Sport Grant Program names scoreboards. The Office of Sport’s guidelines give installed electronic scoreboards and non-fixed scoreboards as examples of what it funds. Incorporated clubs and associations apply directly, quotes are mandatory, and the local MP assesses the projects in each electorate. The 2026/27 round closed on 24 August 2026, with outcomes due in December 2026 (Local Sport Grant Program).
Two other NSW programs don’t name scoreboards but do fund equipment as part of capital works, so check with them: the Community Building Partnership, and ClubGRANTS Category 3 infrastructure grants, which are open from 1 to 22 February 2027. The NSW Rugby World Cup Legacy infrastructure stream rules scoreboards out.
Victoria
The Local Sports Infrastructure Fund names LED scoreboards. Its Community Facilities stream lists LED electronic scoreboards and fixed equipment. Only councils can apply, so a club works through its council. The 2026-27 round closed on 28 July 2026 (Local Sports Infrastructure Fund).
Other Victorian programs help less with scoreboards. The Sporting Club Grants Program and the Emergency Sporting Equipment program both exclude them, and the Country Football and Netball Program funds a scoreboard only as a minor part of a larger project. Councils run their own grants as well: Yarra Ranges Council’s capital development grants, for example, ask the club to fund at least half.
Queensland
No current Queensland program names scoreboards. The Games On! Grassroots Infrastructure Program excludes non-fixed equipment. The Gambling Community Benefit Fund pays for equipment and facility improvements without naming scoreboards, so ask before you apply. Its Round 127 closed on 28 September 2026 (Gambling Community Benefit Fund).
One precedent: after Tropical Cyclone Alfred, the Sport and Recreation Recovery Grant paid to replace an electronic scoreboard at a junior rugby league club in Toowoomba. That grant only opens in disaster areas, and none is open now. The Queensland Government has also announced new grants to help clubs with equipment and training, with no details yet.
South Australia
The Active Club Program names portable scoreboards. The Office for Recreation, Sport and Racing lists non-fixed scoreboards as an example of technology for participation or club sustainability. These are small grants for incorporated clubs. Round 56 closed on 14 October 2026, with clubs notified in January 2027 (Active Club Program). The larger Community Recreation and Sport Facilities Program rules out equipment purchases and portable infrastructure.
Federal programs
The Stronger Communities Programme (Round 10) lists equipment for sports grounds as eligible, although it doesn’t name scoreboards. Your federal MP invites the applications. MP nominations close on 30 November 2026, and MP offices set their own deadlines, which can be earlier, so contact yours soon (Stronger Communities Programme).
The Australian Sports Foundation isn’t a grant, but clubs can run fundraising campaigns through it, with tax deductible donations, for facilities and equipment (Australian Sports Foundation).
Other ways clubs pay for a scoreboard
- Sponsors. A full colour board can play sponsor promos and video at every break, which gives a sponsor a reason to help pay for it.
- Finance. Spread the cost with Ledge Finance and start using the scoreboard straight away.
- Portable first. A portable board suits a shared ground, and portable boards are the kind SA’s Active Club Program names. See portable or built-in scoreboard.
What we can send for your application
Grant programs ask for quotes, product details and sometimes a plan of where the board will go. Send us a few photos of the ground, your sport and roughly where the scoreboard will stand. We will send back a drawing and a quote you can use in your application, along with the product details. If the scoreboard needs council approval, we help with that application at no extra cost. To plan the budget, read what affects the cost of an electronic scoreboard.
See our electronic and LED scoreboards, read how electronic scoreboards work, or ask for a quote. We install scoreboards anywhere in Australia, and have pages for clubs in Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide. Call Aaron on 0416 053 335 or the office on (08) 9335 7944.
We make LED signs and scoreboards; we aren’t grant advisers. This guide reflects the official program pages as we found them in October 2026. Check the current guidelines, or call the program, before you apply.
