A $24 million state and federal government grant that was supposed to fund "grassroots sport" in western Sydney will instead go towards a conference centre and an underground car park for the mammoth pokies-funded Panthers Group.

Penrith MP Stuart Ayres, now the minister for jobs, tourism and western Sydney, stood at Penrith Panthers with then-premier Mike Baird four days before the 2015 state election to announce a half share in the $24 million grant to build "indoor sporting facilities like we've never seen before".

But five years later, instead of "space for netball, futsal, wheelchair rugby and other indoor sports" and "a large gymnasium", the Western Sydney Community and Sports Centre (WSCSC) became a conference centre after Panthers quietly made new plans that wiped out the sporting promises.

NSW Premier Mike Baird at Penrith Panthers announcing $12 Million for the western Sydney community and sports centre at Penrith Panthers in March 2015. Credit:Brendan Esposito

The site, which is adjacent to Panthers Leagues Club in Penrith, will also contain a 150-room hotel as part of a redevelopment now estimated to cost $88 million in total.