out Wellington test highlights NZ stadium dilemma

But the decision to have kickoff at 5.10pm rather than the standard 7pm has created a more family-friendly environment on a holiday weekend and the sold-out sign has gone up.

For NZR, it is a goal achieved, but the celebratory headline perhaps disguises the challenge the national body faces in trying to fill stadiums and extract more income from playing test matches.

NZR staff have intimated that the days of sitting back and being confident stadiums will always sell out are long gone.

Some tests – such as last year’s Eden Park fixture against the Springboks – require no effort to generate interest. But increasingly, it seems that more marketing hours – and possibly greater expenditure – are required to fill stadiums in New Zealand.

What’s complicating the picture to some extent – or at least generating a split market – is that the stadium experience in the two smallest regular venues is superior to the one offered in the two largest (Wellington and Auckland).

That difference is being starkly illustrated by the July schedule. Last week, the All Blacks played under a roof in the brilliant new Te Kaha Stadium – the venue being a contributing factor to the flow of the game and the quality of the entertainment.

This week a test against Italy in Wellington where conditions could be inclement, in a stadium that is round rather than rectangular, may not have anywhere near the same vibe.

The experiences are not comparable and Christchurch, and Dunedin with its Forsyth Barr Stadium, have set the benchmark for fan experience.

These two venues will likely continue to be comparatively easier to fill for All Blacks tests than either Hnry Stadium in Wellington or Eden Park in Auckland, unless – or until – the latter two invest in significant upgrades that enable the fan experience to be comparable.

The reality that needs to be addressed is that New Zealand’s climate has reached the point where roofed stadiums are a necessity to provide the long-term certainty around the nature of the fan experience being offered.

Wellington and Auckland might get lucky this weekend and next. They might strike calm, settled weather on their match days, but the potential risk they won’t is a massive factor in determining whether fans see themselves as habitual stadium-goers or exclusive TV watchers.

In the post-Covid age, everyone has become more comfortable consuming entertainment from home, and stadiums have to be offering a match-day experience that competes favourably with the one offered by the modern lounge.

The major Northern Hemisphere unions have known this for years, which is why they have each built a dedicated rugby venue.

That gives them certainty and consistency of experience, and with it, comparatively enormous match-day revenues.

England, for instance, made 55% of their total revenue last year from hospitality and ticket sales at Twickenham.

They turned over $270 million from that stream, which compares with the $33.8m NZR made from match-day revenue last year – a figure that constituted 11% of its income.

NZR wants to grow that figure but is hampered by the relatively small portfolio of stadiums at its disposal, and more specifically, the relatively small number of corporate hospitality options.

It can offer world-class fan experiences in Dunedin and Christchurch, but neither venue has the seat capacity or hospitality volumes to deliver the sort of financial returns NZR would ideally like.

Eden Park, with a significant number of uncovered seats at a ground re-engineered to also host cricket, does not offer a comparable fan experience to either Dunedin or Christchurch, but it does generate an estimated $7m of total gate and hospitality receipts before costs.

Wellington, though, falls into the middle of the pack in terms of the fan experience and financial returns it delivers, and with the British and Irish Lions coming in 2029, NZR may have to make some tough choices about which venues host tests.

The last time the Lions were here in 2017, the first and third tests were at Eden Park and the second in Wellington – a schedule that was made to accommodate the enormous demand for tickets from travelling fans.

Christchurch wasn’t an option in 2017 but it will be in 2029 and potentially NZR will repeat the formula of playing two tests at Eden Park, but give the other one to Christchurch.

The alternative would be to give one each to Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, but that would greatly reduce the total windfall NZR could generate from hosting the Lions.

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