Sports matches are proving less popular than music concerts and other events at Westpac Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand, according to new figures released by the venue.
The Stuff.co.nz website reports that rugby matches at the 34,500-capacity stadium saw a drop off in attendance numbers for the 10-year period through to 2016.
About 301,000 people attended Super Rugby, provincial rugby or rugby sevens matches at the venue in 2006, with 101,000 turning out for concerts and other events. In 2016 those figures had swung to 160,000 and 250,000 respectively.
Paul Eagle, Wellington’s Deputy Mayor, said the council has discussed people’s event-viewing habits with the Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency in order to gauge what the venue’s strategy should be going forward.
“The first thing is, let’s better understand why people are attending events, and why they’re not attending events.,” Eagle said, according to Stuff.co.nz. “We’re just posing the question and trying to get a better understanding.”
Westpac Stadium chief executive Shane Harmon insisted the venue is in a healthy position despite the changing viewing habits. “Certainly you may look at individual sports and see declines, but overall the picture is healthy,” he said.
“Increasing a membership base can insulate against the vagaries of team performance, and both the (Super Rugby franchise) Hurricanes and (A-League football team) Phoenix have made big strides in that area.”
The figures revealed that sports events attracted 83 per cent of stadium visitors in 2001, 80 per cent in 2006 and just 59 per cent in 2016.
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