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The Warriors face a logistical headache for their two home matches in July, due to the one-off All Blacks test at Mt Smart Stadium.
With the Fifa Women’s World Cup taking Eden Park out of the equation from mid-June to early September, the All Blacks will have a rare outing at the Penrose venue, facing South Africa on July 15.
As part of the commercial agreement covering the test match, temporary grandstands for an extra 6000 fans will be installed, taking the capacity to 31,000.
But the majority of that seating will be at the northern end of the ground, beside and under the big screen, which the Warriors normally use for their fan zone, complete with food and beverage areas, a live band, and numerous sponsor activations.
It’s become a hub on match day, especially as a meeting point before the game, while many fans take in some of the action from there.
That popular part of the game-day experience won’t be available for the clash with the Cronulla Sharks on July 16, along with the visit by the Canberra Raiders five days later.
The Warriors had hoped the additional seating would be removed in time for the Canberra game but that won’t be possible, despite protracted discussions with stadium management.
The club isn’t entirely happy with the situation, especially given their status as anchor tenant for almost three decades.
Auckland Stadiums director James Parkinson said it has been a challenging scenario.
“We have been in discussions with the Warriors around that but the time to demount that fully wouldn’t be possible to achieve ahead of the game,” Parkinson told the Herald. “We will work in with the Warriors around that, to see how we can best enable the delivery of their events.”
“The seating does occupy a space that they normally activate for their events so that footprint isn’t available. We acknowledge that there are things that aren’t possible by virtue of those seats being there but there are positives - those are seats they can sell.”
Parkinson said they have tried to balance the twin demands of an unusual situation.
“We value the Warriors very highly,” said Parkinson. “They continue to be our key tenant and we have no desire to do anything that negatively impinges on them or their events. Equally, when it comes to sporting occasions, an All Blacks test against South Africa rates very highly in the New Zealand sports ecosystem.”
A New Zealand Rugby spokesperson said the test match had been locked in for almost 18 months before the NRL draw was made. They added that NZR was “respectful” of the Warriors’ traditional home and wasn’t trying to “muscle in”.
Parkinson echoed those sentiments.
“New Zealand Rugby are very cognisant of the fact that they are playing a test match here in amongst the Warriors NRL season,” said Parkinson.
He added that NZR was happy for the Warriors to utilise the extra seating for their two matches.
“With the way the Warriors are performing, additional seating capacity could be well received by the fans,” said Parkinson, who pointed out that more than 60,000 spectators could come through the gates across that mid-July weekend.
The Warriors are taking a pragmatic approach, albeit disappointed to lose a key element of their match experience for two games, with only nine at Mt Smart Stadium this season.
“It will have an impact, that’s for sure,” said chief executive Cameron George. “That’s one of the special parts of our experience for our fanbase – the D-zone. To allow people to go down there, relax, have a good time, catch up with their friends, and have a drink and something to eat. Even watch the footy from there.
“It’s unique to us, most stadiums don’t have that opportunity, so we love it and everyone loves it. But the seating can’t be moved apparently.”
However, there is an undoubted silver lining, as the club can go beyond the usual 25,000 capacity for both matches by using the extra bloc.
“I would rather our normal game-day experience was available to our fan base because we pride ourselves on that,” said George. “We just need to get on with it. It is there, we would be silly not to promote the use of it. Our plan is to sell every seat in the stadium.”
Off the back of an impressive revival this year under coach Andrew Webster, the fans have responded, with average home crowds of more than 21,500, the highest since the inaugural 1995 season.
The club has already sold almost 18,000 tickets for the next Auckland match, on June 30 against the Rabbitohs.
www.nzherald.co.nz
