The stadium has sold out every major event it has hosted since it opened, most recently the NRL match between the New Zealand Warriors and the North Queensland Cowboys.<\/p>\n
This weekend\u2019s match represents the last of the stadium\u2019s opening series of events, which is estimated to have so far generated more than $25 million into the Christchurch economy through visitation alone, according to Venues \u014ctautahi – the Christchurch City Council-owned management company. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat number will get bigger again by the end of the weekend when the All Blacks test is taken into account. Aside from the commercial value, it has been special watching how vibrant and exciting our city centre has been in the lead up to each event,\u201d Venues \u014ctautahi chief executive Caroline Harvie-Teare said.<\/p>\n
The temporary seating completes the bowl at One NZ Stadium. Photo \/ Anna Heath. <\/p>\n
The new configuration will showcase the enclosed stadium with a completed bowl of seating. When tickets went on sale in March, the match sold out in just four hours. <\/p>\n
The new seating will also bring about a new feature- the \u201cnight market\u201d. It\u2019ll include food stalls, a live DJ, and a bar. Harvie-Teare says the space will be exclusive for those in the North Stand and the Northwest corner. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt is an exciting opportunity to launch the Night Market for such a momentous occasion. The return of the All Blacks to \u014ctautahi, Christchurch is something we\u2019ve been waiting for a long time. <\/p>\n
\u201cWith an additional 5000 fans, we can\u2019t just push everyone into the concourse as it\u2019s not made for such volume. Ensuring everyone has an exceptional experience is important to us. The Night Market has given us an opportunity to create a unique offering in the outdoor area for the fans in our temporary stand,\u201d Harvie-Teare said.<\/p>\n
The temporary Northern Stand. Photo \/ Anna Heath. <\/p>\n
Fans in the Northern Stand and the northwest corner will be able to access the full stadium concourse for the first hour after gates open at 5pm. <\/p>\n
The first test match will add another new feature for fans with the All Blacks\u2019 team bus pulling up to Gate A, providing an opportunity for supporters to get up close as they welcome the team on game day.<\/p>\n
Venues \u014ctautahi CEO Caroline Harvie-Teare. Photo \/ Alyse Wright<\/p>\n
The next phase of events for the stadium will include NPC matches, a Black Ferns test, a Rugby League World Cup match and its first international concert. Robbie Williams will perform under the roof in November. <\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Venues \u014ctautahi says it hopes to have \u201cmore \u2018firsts\u2019 to announce in the future\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mike Thorpe is a senior journalist for the Herald, based in Christchurch. He has been a broadcast journalist across television and radio for 20 years and joined the Herald in August 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The stadium has sold out every major event it has hosted since it opened, most recently the NRL…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":503789,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[5263,806,8136,12509,4487,1888,1221,2070,1861,4508,12022,41722,10543,111,139,69,90,5270,72726,20488,46767,5976,213,16674,199,765,2044],"class_list":["post-503788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-all","tag-as","tag-blacks","tag-capacity","tag-christchurch","tag-first","tag-france","tag-full","tag-history","tag-hits","tag-host","tag-maiden","tag-match","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-one","tag-prepares","tag-reached","tag-seating","tag-short","tag-sports","tag-stadium","tag-take","tag-test","tag-time"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=503788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/503789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=503788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=503788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=503788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}