City venues popular but deficit likely

More events are coming to Hamilton’s three city venues and almost twice as many people are going to them.

Day-to-day operations at Seddon Park, FMG Stadium Waikato and Claudelands Events Centre are tracking well, Hamilton city councillors heard.

But council is expecting an overall $15.2 million deficit under the 2016/2017 budget.

Councillors discussed a report on venues under H3, council’s events division, at Tuesday’s finance committee meeting.

Attendance numbers across the venues are almost double what they were over the same nine-month period last financial year, the report showed.

About 350,000 people packed into events at city venues between July 2016 and March 2017 – from the ANZ International Cricket series to the Peppa Pig family show.

That compares to 181,225 people over the same period last financial year.

‘‘That is a good example of how, in a single year, the tide can change and things fluctuate according to the mix of business and the type of events we have,’’ venues general manager Sean Murray said.

‘‘We still have a lot of events taking place [in 2016/2017], but the attendance numbers have gone very, very high,’’ Murray said.

Event numbers jumped about 25 per cent, compared to this time last financial year.

Sport and exhibitions pulled in the biggest crowds, the H3 report showed, and business events were the most numerous.

But the steely political gaze has long been on the financial performance of city venues, with Claudelands Events Centre particularly scrutinised.

Councillor Rob Pascoe asked if revenue would help rein in H3’s budgeted $15.20m loss for the year. That’s unlikely, Murray said, though on a day-to-day level, the venues are on track to meet or slightly exceed their budgets.

Once measures such as depreciation are taken into account the budgeted deficit leaps from $4.28m to $15.20m.

‘‘The key driver for the loss at the bottom line is the depreciation level,’’ Murray said. ’’It’s dogging us quite badly.’’

Sevens fever crept into the conversation and Murray said council will hire out the stadium in much the same way as for an All Blacks test or for the recent Warriors game.

Council won’t collect a venue hireage fee but the clients will meet costs such as security and cleaning.

And with Founders Theatre shut, councillors asked about how events moved to Claudelands Events Centre were adapting.

Claudelands gave the NZ Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) about a six-out-of-ten acoustic level, Murray said, but did offer more stage space than Founders.

And Hamilton Operatic Society’s Mary Poppins will be on stage at Claudelands, though Murray said it will be costly to make the necessary stage changes and work around other centre users.

Councillor Paula Southgate praised H3’s management of Claudelands, saying the usage trend was going up and council could keep improving that - especially by attracting conferences.

And H3 has money left in its pot for spending on projects but they’re about to start playing catch-up now the summer season has finished, Murray said.

‘‘If any of you have been to Seddon Park in the last few days, it’s a bloody mess... but to put it in context, it’s exactly as planned.’’