Murray Stott explains why it is difficult for Forsyth Barr Stadium to attract big entertainment acts and why the new stadium chief executive should be given time to make his mark.
The new chief executive of Dunedin Venues has a blank canvas of Forsyth Barr Stadium, to make his mark going forward.
To turn this hitherto loss-making asset's fortunes around will call for no small amount of entrepreneurial skill and sound business acumen, and his ability to restore the confidence in the venue with a couple of market-leading Australian promoters, which the ODT has reported in the past were caused upset by previous management over booking cancellations and various other shenanigans.
As a result of several Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act disclosures obtained from the Dunedin City Council by mathematician Beverly Butler, a consciousness of accountability has now permeated through the council and Dunedin events, evidenced by the new progressive chief executive of the council putting in place a long overdue audit/assessment of the stadium.
The ''build-it-and-they-will-come'' philosophy is no longer valid in these days of digital convergence, where pay-per-view royalties are often greater than gates. It is also important to understand that, on average, New Zealand gets a limited allocation of only three play nights for a major headline act; and Auckland's hugely successful Vector Arena (five concerts per week) is able to facilitate a soft/pay/booking system whereby a promoter pays the deposit for night one, with soft side-by-side bookings for nights two and three etc.
These are factored so they don't have to pay a deposit for two until you have sold one, and so on. Ask yourself, why would you go anywhere else in the nation, at a greater logistical cost?
From my global experience, when new-build stadia promoters refer to the term ''multi-purpose'' they are dreaming of big concerts blowing out the numbers.
However, U2, Eminem, and the Stones are essentially eight to 20-year cyclical periodic events. A stadium could not build a sound business case in New Zealand for these hyper concerts. Mt Smart has only once over the past 15 years achieved paying attendance of more than 300,000 in one year, even with 84,000 U2 fans over two nights.
And to now hang one's hat on the prospect of B-grade acts, Dunedin would be required to compete on gate money against many other better-funded cities. Clearly, there was no small amount of fantasy and dreaming in a report commissioned by the Carisbrook Stadium Trust that purported a figure of 951,000 was a reality each year.
ASB Show Grounds in Auckland with its food show, Easter Show, Speed Show, Home Show et al, attracts a mere 1.2 million paying attendees a year, on average, with 1.5 million people right on its doorstep.
However, Dunedin is a most creative and resourceful city and there are enough well-intentioned citizens who would like to see the stadium prosper, myself included.
We must therefore allow the new chief executive a reasonable six months at least to show us what he can do.
Dunedin has always made its mark with boutique events such as the iD Fashion show and perhaps more selected iconic events will provide the platform for integration with the city's assets of other attractions.
My closing recommendation to Dunedin Venues would be to replace some directors with a board, where at least one has had demonstrably profitable experience in putting bottoms on seats with their own money at risk.
Another idea would be to invite one of the hottest entertainment properties in the world, Lorde, to also have a seat on the board with her manager, and/or mother, Sonja Yelich; thus providing a perfect fit with Dunedin's literary ambitions.
Perhaps Lorde would even do a couple of sellout concerts, and let the stadium ''live that fantasy''?
- Murray Stott is a trademark agent and sponsorship broker.
