Coronavirus: Eden Park loses $700k after Covid-19 restrictions cancel games

Thursday, 17 September 2020

Eden Park has seen it all in sport - but 2020 and Covid-19 has brought new challenges

The country’s biggest stadium, Eden Park in Auckland, has taken a $700,000 profit hit after coronavirus cancelled major games.

The stadium’s trust board said it had lost two sell-out games, the North vs South rugby match and the Blues vs Crusaders clash, and All Black tests against South Africa and Wales had been postponed.

The consequences of restrictions on large gatherings due to Covid-19 were spelled out in a presentation to Auckland Council, which agreed a $63 million bailout in March 2019.

Eden Park has taken a big hit from Covid-19.

“We have just coped, but it’s like riding a roller coaster,” Eden Park Trust Board chairman Doug McKay said.

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“Cancelled games and no Rugby Championship, but on the upside Super Rugby Aotearoa was fantastic and a great fillip in the depths of Covid-19.”

Covid-19 also had an upside for Eden Park – big crowds for Super Rugby Aotearoa such as July’s Blues vs Chiefs clash.

McKay also said discussions were moving on possible changes to how the stadium runs.

Traditional part-owners Auckland Rugby and Auckland Cricket were happy to surrender benefits, including use of the number two ground, if alternative venues in the city were available, he told councillors.

He had also talked with Minister of Sport Grant Robertson, who appoints five of the board’s trustees, about the stadium having a closer relationship with Auckland Council.

“He is happy to work with [the trust board and council] on legislative changes to give the council more of an active governance role in Auckland, as we look to combine potentially the big four stadia in Auckland into one operating management entity,” he said.

Football’s Phoenix side is keen to repeat successful Eden Park appearances. It is shown here playing against Melbourne City in February.

On the financial side, this year’s revenue loss was partly offset by a 35 per cent cut to wage costs during alert level 4.

Eden Park said its function, conference and event business had been seriously affected, and revenue from memberships, corporate suite hire and sponsors was at risk.

On the upside, there were big crowds for the domestic Super Rugby Aotearoa competition, which replaced the international version.

In the nine months to July, the stadium was heading for an operating profit of $2.7 million instead of a budgeted $3.4 million depreciation took it to a $4.8 million loss.

The trust board, at its previous meeting in March when Covid-19 restrictions were just beginning, had forecast a worst-case scenario of a $7 million revenue hit through extended lockdown.

While the stadium is privately owned, an Auckland Council bailout totalling $63 million, including a bundle of loans and a $10 million grant for maintenance, means it now reports its progress to the politicians.

A review of the council’s agencies recommended closer integration of Eden Park with the council’s own stadia, something that is already underway as a consequence of the bailout.

The stadium’s chief executive Nick Sautner said Eden Park was looking forward to a sell-out on October 18, for the Bledisloe Cup clash between the All Blacks and the Wallabies.

“We still remain positive coming out the other side, with three women’s world cups (Rugby in 2021, Cricket in 2022 and Football in 2023) and Te Matatini,” he said.

The stadium is using part of the $9.8 million council grant to replace the turf next year, along with the two large video replay screens which have begun failing.

Planning hearings in November will consider the trust board’s bid to, as of right, stage up to six concerts a year, rather than having to apply for each one individually.