Agency says 35k seats would be ‘selling point’
Christchurch could miss out on a small number of major events at its new $473 million stadium because of capacity, according to tourism and economic development agency ChristchurchNZ.
But the agency’s chief executive said ChristchurchNZ was still ‘‘really comfortable’’ with the stadium’s capacity of
25,000 permanent seats – which was determined when the investment case was revealed in late 2019.
There is a provision, but no funding, to add 5000 temporary seats in the future.
Design of the stadium, which will be built across three central city blocks, is being finalised this year by a consortium of local and international companies that will build it.
ChristchurchNZ expressed its desire for the stadium to seat 35,000 people during a workshop with stadium stakeholders last August, new documents released to The Press under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act show.
Consultants Assurity ran the sixhour workshop and at one stage asked stakeholders about the optimum seating capacity.
A report on the outcomes of the workshop summarised ChristchurchNZ’s response to the seating question as: ‘‘would love ability to go to
35k seats’’. ‘‘This is a selling point when bidding for events.’’
ChristchurchNZ chief executive Joanna Norris said she had indicated at the workshop that there were ‘‘a limited number of significant major events that we would have the opportunity to bid for if it had 35,000 [seats]’’.
Large rugby tests and other major sporting events were examples of what might be missed out on with the smaller capacity, she said. ‘‘But it is a small proportion of what we would bid for.’’
Norris emphasised she was comfortable with the planned 25,000 capacity and the ability to add 5000 more seats if needed. ‘‘That will cover most scenarios or most events that we’re likely to be bidding for.’’
She said having 35,000 seats would bring additional economic benefits to the city, including more bed nights for accommodation providers and more money spent in local shops.
‘‘So the more people you get to an event, the better from an economic contribution perspective.’’
But seating numbers were not the only factor of a successful event bid, Norris said.
Christchurch had other advantages, such as strong international connectivity, more hotel accommodation and a high-amenity city, she said.
The stadium’s planned 30,000 capacity is less than most other major New Zealand stadiums.
Auckland’s Eden Park can seat just under 50,000; Wellington’s Sky Stadium has 34,500 seats and Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr stadium seats nearly 31,000.
Colin Mansbridge, chief executive of the Crusaders rugby team, said he was not sure if the extra investment to host a couple of rugby test matches was a good spend of taxpayer money.
‘‘You get to a point where it’s a tradeoff between what can you afford to build and what you would like to build,’’ he said.
He said he was comfortable with the capacity that was planned.
Alistair Pearson, the council’s capital delivery manager for major facilities, said the number of seats in the stadium could not be changed, as it was constrained by the $473m budget.
There have previously been discussions about whether 25,000 seats would be enough.
When Christchurch City Council signed off on the investment case, staff told councillors that 25,000 seats ‘‘wasn’t seen to be a deal-breaker’’ for All Blacks test matches, but 30,000 seats, which could be reached with the temporary seating, would guarantee them.