South African event, hospitality and rental infrastructure services company Circa has entered into a partnership with Cape Town’s DHL Stadium.
Circa will become a service provider for the 62,000-capacity stadium, which is the new home of United Rugby Championship team the Stormers and domestic club Western Province.
Circa will provide a range of event-related services at the stadium, including hospitality, event management, beverage solutions, venue hire, furniture rental, catering and décor.
The deal has been signed after DHL Stadium in March unveiled a new hospitality offering. The Business Lounge at Cape Town Stadium is designed to be a shared-space hospitality experience, divided into three distinct offerings – sports fanatics, business networkers and family of fans.
Lee Thomas, chief executive of Circa, said: “We are delighted to add our involvement with the DHL Stadium to our already impressive list of clients in the sports, entertainment and events space.
“We look forward to contributing to the success of the stadium by working closely with the City of Cape Town and other stakeholders as we prepare to welcome fans and participants at the stadium post the COVID-19 lockdown period.”
Logistics company DHL Express recently sealed a multi-year naming-rights partnership with the venue, which had previously been known as Cape Town Stadium. News of the deal had first been reported in November last year, while the DHL Stadium moniker had been used during the recent British & Irish Lions tour.
In January 2020, it was revealed that Cape Town Stadium in 2019 cost R79.6m (£3.8m/€4.5m/$5.3m) to maintain, with the City of Cape Town doubling its contribution, as authorities stated they were confident that the venue could shed its ‘white elephant’ image thanks to the deal with Western Province Rugby.
The City of Cape Town took on management of the facility, developed at a cost of R4.4bn for South Africa’s staging of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, back in 2018 under the Cape Town Stadium banner. During the 2018-19 financial year, the City had to subsidise Cape Town Stadium with R55m. This figure increased to R59m during the 2019-20 financial year.
Ian Neilson, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Finance, said at the time that the latest figure would likely have been less if it were not for the impact of COVID-19. The Business Lounge venture, along with the Western Province and DHL deals, have also been accompanied by a project to install a number of executive suites at the stadium.
Image: Captureson Photography on Unsplash
