AFL Aussie rules football club the Gold Coast Suns has secured financial services group Heritage Bank as its new stadium naming rights partner ahead of the 2023 season.
Terms of the deal were not officially disclosed, but the Australian Financial Review newspaper said Heritage Bank, one of Australia’s largest customer-owned and longest-standing financial institutions, has committed to a five-year contract for what will now be Heritage Bank Stadium.
The Queensland-based organisation has been a mainstay in the local community since 1875, expanding in recent times to develop a nationwide customer base, with branches in Queensland and New South Wales.
The Suns open their 2023 AFL campaign with a home match against the Sydney Swans on March 18, but the new Heritage Bank Stadium brand will debut as a Harry Styles concert is staged at the venue on February 28.
Heritage Bank said it will also use the community asset as a focal point to give back to the people that support them. CEO Peter Lock said launching the Heritage Bank Stadium name would help propel the brand further onto the national stage ahead of the bank’s merger with People’s Choice Credit Union on March 1. The merger will create Australia’s leading mutual banking institution.
“Naming this complex the Heritage Bank Stadium name will provide us with incredible national exposure, as well as providing a platform to engage with and support the community of the wider Gold Coast region,” said Lock.
“This facility is much more than a sporting stadium. It’s an important community facility that plays an integral role in the region’s social fabric. We’ll be looking to maximise those community benefits throughout our partnership.
“As a mutual bank, we will be offering people around Australia the chance to switch to a genuinely customer-centric alternative, one that doesn’t put the pursuit of profit ahead of customer service.”
Heritage Bank will take over as the stadium’s naming rights holder from Metricon Homes. Australia’s largest home-builder signed a four-year extension to its deal with the Suns back in March 2019. Under that deal, Metricon retained naming rights to the 25,000-seat Metricon Stadium until the end of 2022, along with holding the exclusive rights as the club’s official residential construction partner.
The Suns announced in October that the agreement would not be further extended, news that came after the sudden death of Metricon founder and CEO, Mario Biasin, in May. Metricon has also been experiencing financial difficulties.
Commenting on the new agreement, Gold Coast Suns chief executive, Mark Evans, said: “Today (Wednesday) marks a historic occasion for our football club, to be able to partner with Heritage Bank to help them give back to their members and the people of Queensland.
“Heritage Bank Stadium is a community asset, it’s for the people of the Gold Coast and alongside Heritage Bank, we will continue to strive to bring engaging and diverse content to the region, for its people.
“We are a community-focused club with a commitment to our members, just like Heritage Bank, so we are thrilled to be able to partner with an organisation that shares the same values as we do.”
