And it is a challenge acknowledged by Dunedin Venues Management Ltd chief executive David Davies, who yesterday said cut-rate deals and other initiatives would be considered to lure events to the city.
"I think it's probably one of those things that's got to be considered," he said yesterday.
"We are not naive and we know we have got to try every trick in the book."
His comments come after Paul Collins, the chairman of the Wellington Regional Stadium Trust which runs Westpac Stadium, warned of the need to compete with the new roofed stadium being built in Dunedin.
Mr Collins, in the trust's draft statement of intent prepared in March, said competition between Wellington's "Cake Tin" and other venues would increase after next year's Rugby World Cup.
That included Dunedin's new stadium, the upgraded Eden Park in Auckland and AMI Stadium in Christchurch.
Each venue would be under "considerable pressure" to secure major events, to justify significant investment by ratepayers, he said.
"This will result in a lot of competition ... it will mean that some venue deals will be done which will prove to be uneconomic and risks taken that will prove more unsound."
Some events would head to Dunedin or Auckland "as promoters try out the new venues", and Westpac Stadium would need to compete "aggressively" to market itself when faced with increased competition, he said.
"We expect to do some events at reduced margins and we must be prepared to meet the market conditions."
Also on the horizon is a Government proposal to build an international-scale convention centre in Auckland, unveiled last week by Minister for Economic Development Gerry Brownlee.
Mr Brownlee is seeking public views on the idea, which would see the centre - able to seat more than 3500 people - built as part of efforts to develop New Zealand's wider conference and conventions industry.
Mr Davies said it was not yet clear whether the proposed centre would be a competitor, as Dunedin's new stadium would cater more to regional and local conferences while using its relationship with the University of Otago to target larger events.
However, he acknowledged "aggressive" competition was already looming in other areas, more than a year before the stadium was due to open.
"The competition is going to be there ... [the market] is going to become much more crowded."
That would be of benefit to concert-goers and promoters, strengthening their hand in a competitive market, but Mr Davies said reducing margins to attract events was only part of the puzzle.
Promoters already drove a "hard bargain", and margins for rock acts, for example, were "not huge", he said.
Instead, the key would be to secure confidence in the venue as "user-friendly" and able to sell tickets.
While construction remained the focus, talks were already under way with event organisers, promoters and ticketing agencies about their needs, months ahead of any contracts being signed, he said.
"At the moment, we are focusing on our own knitting.
We have got a lot of issues in terms of the stadium, just getting it up and running.
"The reason we have made contact, and kept those contacts going, is I don't want to miss a trick."
Announcements on the stadium's first music events, and the staging of rugby league fixtures and other sports events, were expected early next year, he said.
Smaller conference organisers could sign contracts earlier, by October this year, but the organisers of larger events would wait until closer to the completion of construction before making any commitments, he said.
