Eden Park News: Perspectives

There is something special about the All Blacks playing at Eden Park. It doesn’t matter who the opposition is or how confident they might be, every time the All Blacks run onto the field, there is a sense of anticipation in the crowd that goes beyond the game itself. Will The Fortress hold? On Saturday…

Lately, I have found myself noticing some of the phrases people in sport use to stay focused. “Pressure is a privilege, and it won’t last forever.” “Start again.” They are simple words, but they can carry considerable meaning when the pressure builds, the scoreline goes against you, or the work required begins to feel overwhelming.…

When someone buys a ticket to an event at Eden Park, they don’t think they are purchasing separate services from a promoter, ticketing provider, transport agency and venue. They have bought one experience, and from their perspective it begins well before they arrive at the stadium and continues until they return home. While the organisations…

As you would expect, this week I want to reflect on the historic occasion we had the privilege of hosting at Eden Park on Sunday. The result was not what the One NZ Warriors or their thousands of supporters wanted, but the scale and significance of the occasion were undeniable. With 48,511 fans packing Eden…

For the second week in a row, our team is preparing to make history at Eden Park. Last week, we announced that Bruno Mars will perform three concerts here next March, including a Sunday show that would not have been possible under our previous planning rules. This week, our focus has shifted from one of…

Last week was historic for Eden Park, but perhaps not for the most obvious reason. Within 45 minutes of the Bruno Mars presale beginning, demand was strong enough to add a second concert on Sunday 14 March 2027. A third followed, resulting in three sold-out concerts and giving tens of thousands more people the chance…

While we all know how to describe the infrastructure that makes a city work – roads move people, rail connects communities and airports connect us with the world, it can be harder to define what makes a city feel alive. Parks, theatres, galleries, museums and public spaces all play an essential role. They give us…

When people hear “built for the world stage”, they probably picture exactly what the image shows – a full stadium, a huge production, lights, screens, an international sports match or one of the world’s biggest artists performing in front of tens of thousands of people. But that is really only the final product. What makes…

On 16 June 2027 State of Origin is coming to Auckland, but do we really understand what is about to arrive? I ask that question having delivered and attended multiple State of Origin fixtures during my career in Australia and having been at Suncorp Stadium for Game III this year alongside 52,452 Queensland and New…

I have an office at Eden Park and a laptop sitting on my desk, but the reality is that I spend a large part of my working day somewhere else in the stadium. When your workplace stretches across 50,000 seats, technology becomes an important part of staying connected to the people, information and decisions that…

“It’s on in Auckland.” This was the theme Annie Dundas from Tātaki Auckland Unlimited discussed at an event I attended this morning as part of the New Zealand Events Association conference. It is a simple phrase, but for me, it captures something important. People want to live in a city where things are happening, a…

And why I’m calling for the establishment of a long-term, cross-party approach to attracting internationally signficant events to New Zealand 40,112 football fans came through our gates on Sunday to watch Tottenham Hotspur play Auckland FC, setting a new attendance record for a senior men’s football match in New Zealand. While this is a significant…