First shots fired in stadium arms race between southern cities

Friday, 5 October 2018

Terry Davies, of Dunedin Venues Management, is keen to ensure Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium remains the number one stadium venue in the South Island.

A Dunedin challenge to Christchurch's planned new stadium has drawn fighting talk in response.

The boss of Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium has sounded a warning for Christchurch's proposed new venue: 'We are going to be massively competitive.'

Ed Sheeran drew huge crowds when he played three concerts in Dunedin over Easter.

'We are endeavouring to get our heads way above our competitors in the South Island,' Dunedin Venues Management LTD chief executive Terry Davies told Stuff.

'We are not hiding from that; we want to dominate the South Island when content is being handed out.'

A suggested design for Christchurch's planned roofed stadium.

Councillor Tim Scandrett, chairman of Christchurch City Council's venue management company Vbase, said Christchurch has big advantages over Dunedin for big concerts and sports events.

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Cr Tim Scandrett says Christchurch has many advantages over Dunedin as a venue.

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The site for the proposed multi use arena on Madras St.

The two cities had competed before the earthquakes, and would do so again when Christchurch got its new stadium, said Scandrett, who is also a board member of ChristchurchNZ

'We have a history of excellence. They're doing a good job down there – I don't want to take anything away from Dunedin – but we'd do better.'

Singer P!nk performs live on stage at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin.

Scandrett said that as well as a more central location and bigger population, Christchurch had the benefit of five-star hotels, great bars and restaurants, and an airport able to take wide-bodied jets carrying stage sets and gear.

For Dunedin's Pink concert last month, 70 tonnes of equipment had to be trucked south from Christchurch Airport as Dunedin's airport is too small.

Ed Sheeran raises a bottle of water to the crowd. Sheeran played three shows at Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium earlier this year.

Christchurch's 30,000-seat roofed stadium, planned for a central site across three city blocks, will be funded with $220 million from central government and $253m from the council. The council's contribution has been bought forward two years to 2020-21.

A formal investment case for the stadium is under way and should be largely finished by the end of the year. This will feed into detailed design plans, which will then be costed.

In the meantime, events at Forsyth Barr Stadium stadium have pumped $55m into the Dunedin's economy in a year, including $38m during Easter's Ed Sheeran concerts and $10m from June's All Blacks v France rugby test. More big acts are in the pipeline for the venue, which opened in 2011.

Davies said the stadium was 'delivering massive new numbers to the city'. He said they had worked hard to build up relationships with promoters, and made no secret of pairing with Auckland for New Zealand tours.

He sounded a warning to Christchurch's plans: 'We are not afraid to say we are going to be very competitive … no stadium, or new stadium.

'Build it and they will come is a bit of a myth … you still need to have an operational team that is excellent, and you still need to cut deals with content providers.'

He said the southern venue would not settle for second – 'we are going to be massively competitive' – and a new South Island venue could lead to a price bidding war benefiting no-one.

'We have to be knocked-off our perch and we are still going to go hard.'

The reality was stadiums were 'bloody expensive', Davies said.

Scandrett said Christchurch had developed excellent relationships with event promoters, agents, and stars.

'If you are going to look at excellence, Vbase is well and truly ahead in its game'.

Promoters had a fine line between loss and profit, and Christchurch would be offering a better product, he said.

'It comes down to the numbers. That's just business.'

Hospitality NZ South Island manager Amy McLellan-Minty said Christchurch had excellent bars, restaurants and hotels, which needed the patronage brought in by major events.

'We need to put our best foot forward and get cracking with it.'

She said venues in the main centres could try work together and attract events.

'Let's just hope there are enough things coming to New Zealand that everyone gets a slice of the pie.'

At a Christchurch City Council meeting discussing stadium funding last month, property developer Richard Peebles called the venue plan a 'once-in a-lifetime opportunity to build the best arena in the southern hemisphere'.

Christchurch could not afford to have thousands of people leaving town for concerts and it was 'an arms race' the city was losing, Peebles said.

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