{"id":549385,"date":"2026-07-29T10:18:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T10:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/549385\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T10:18:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T10:18:11","slug":"auckland-stadium-being-reborn-as-western-springs-bowl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/549385\/","title":{"rendered":"Auckland stadium being reborn as ‘Western Springs Bowl’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The former Western Springs Stadium has a new name, brand and redevelopment plan, with the historic Auckland venue set to be known as Western Springs Bowl from this year.<\/p>\n

A four-month, $2.5 million transformation is underway, funded from venue owner-operator T\u0101taki Auckland Unlimited’s existing capital budget at no additional cost to ratepayers.<\/p>\n

The sporting configuration will be complete early next month, ahead of the venue’s first event under its new name \u2014 an NPC<\/a> Auckland Rugby fixture against Wellington on August 8.<\/p>\n

A new stage and hospitality facilities will be completed in October in time for the summer concert season.<\/p>\n

Western Springs Bowl will host concerts and festivals of 15,000 to 30,000 people over summer, before switching to a boutique sports stadium for crowds of up to 5000, including NPC rugby. <\/p>\n

Ponsonby Rugby Club will continue to be based there under a new five-year lease, with community access retained year-round.<\/p>\n

T\u0101taki Auckland Unlimited chief executive Nick Hill said the redevelopment would provide a “clear point of difference” within Auckland’s stadiums.<\/p>\n

“This venue will be part of keeping Auckland \u2018always on\u2019 by creating opportunities for more regular high-profile outdoor events, while ensuring Aucklanders can continue to enjoy this important regional asset.”<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

An artist’s rendering of the Western Springs Bowl after it’s redevelopment. (Source: Western Springs Bowl)<\/p>\n

The success of the stadium’s summer concert series had shown the impact the venue could have on the city’s economy, he added.<\/p>\n

“Two concerts generated an estimated $10m in net regional benefit for the Auckland economy, so we are excited to be able to cater for even more events moving forward.”<\/p>\n

American rock band Foo Fighters are already scheduled to perform at the venue<\/a> in January 2027.<\/p>\n

The concept was confirmed in March, after Auckland Council’s Governing Body voted 15-6 in favour, following an expression of interest process that began in 2024. <\/p>\n

It was put forward by veteran Auckland concert promoters Campbell Smith and Brent Eccles, working alongside Ponsonby Rugby Club.<\/p>\n

Smith, who has facilitated concert content at Western Springs for years, said the venue would be one-of-a-kind in New Zealand. <\/p>\n

“Western Springs Bowl fits perfectly in the industry as a ready-made outdoor venue in a green, city park environment, and the natural amphitheatre makes it the ideal music venue.”<\/p>\n

Eccles said the new infrastructure would cut costs for promoters. <\/p>\n

“We can say \u2014 you bring the act and we’ve got a stage ready to go for you. It’s a cost-effective but high-quality option,” he said.<\/p>\n

A new name and logo draw on the shape of the natural amphitheatre and the name Te Wai \u014crea \u2014 “the waters of the eel”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The former Western Springs Stadium has a new name, brand and redevelopment plan, with the historic Auckland venue…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":549386,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2567,51,111,139,69,97379,213],"class_list":["post-549385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-arts-and-culture","tag-auckland","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sport-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549385","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=549385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/549386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=549385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=549385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=549385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}