Eden Park’s New Experiences

Eden Park’s SIX60 concert (above and below)

Nick Sautner explains how Auckland’s Eden Park has adapted to maximise its utilisation

Like the rest of the industry, the past 18 months have been unlike any other in Eden Park’s history.

We’ve had periods where we’ve hosted sold-out gatherings like our triumphant SIX60 concert and the back-to-back Bledisloe Cups games. And then, we have had periods where we have been completely unable to operate within our usual parameters due to the pandemic.

As we faced scenarios like our turf team being forced to work remotely and events without crowds, our business was forced to adopt innovation and diversification more than ever. ‘Creative problem solving’ became our way of life as we navigated our way through Covid-19, building resilience and embracing innovation.

Eden Park has always prided itself on going beyond the game day experience, but this new environment truly forced us out of our comfort zone, challenging our very purpose and identity - and at the end of the day, reminding us of the important role that live sport and entertainment play in the lives of our people.

A Global Leader in Sports and Entertainment As the first stadium in the world to welcome back crowds, Eden Park has played a critical part in reopening the world to live events. This time last year, we were in the midst of an incredibly uncertain time. People wanted to come back together to reconnect, but they were concerned and hesitant. The escapism that stadiums and events provide was acutely missing from everyday life.

Our SIX60 concert was a turning point in demonstrating what’s possible and challenging the hesitant mindset. Experiencing a stadium concert filled with 50,000 other people can have a way of making you forget about your problems!

We are currently witnessing a renaissance for venues around the world- only a few months ago the Australian Grand Prix smashed the attendance benchmark, setting a new record for the highest attended weekend sporting event ever staged in Melbourne. Similarly, Wimbledon’s 2022 event was the most attended in the tournament’s 145-year history with over 515,164 attending over the course of the fortnight. We were

Best known as the All Blacks largest home venue, Eden Park is maximising its utilisation.

proud to lead the industry into this new chapter.

But as we enjoy this period of renewed enjoyment, we also take the opportunity to reflect on the lessons and journey of the last several years.

Committing to the Game Plan At the very core of everything we do at Eden Park is our Game Plan. The Game Plan, in collaboration with our Vision, Mission and Strategic Plan, provides the framework for all of our decision-making and communication.

It’s essential that this Game Plan is lived and breathed throughout the organisation - right from myself as the Chief Executive, to our facilities and turf teams, to our frontline catering staff. We make a point of speaking about the Game Plan at every chance we get; every staff meeting, every induction and every time we gather as a group, we talk through the seven values-based behaviours so that they become internalised rather than just memorised. Our Game Plan is our benchmark on and off the field - our commitment to performing to our very best.

The seven pillars consist of: • Customer Service • Attention to detail • Strong governance and accountability • Building a level of comfort • Celebrating the achievements • Exceeding expectations • Commercialising opportunities through innovation

Over the past 18 months, our ability to perform this Game Plan under pressure has been truly tested. It has been a struggle to deliver on some of the most basic parts of it during periods of lockdown and no crowds - how do you provide customer service and build a level of comfort without people in the stadium?

However, the new and challenging landscape has provided us with the chance to still excel at exceeding expectations and commercialising opportunities through innovation.

Breaking up the Monotony The key to any good venue is delivering experiences. Not all experiences will look the same though - everyone has their own criteria for what makes an experience amazing. But with so much opportunity and competition in the market for discretionary spending, we must continue to ask ourselves: “Is this experience instagrammable!?”

If there’s one thing we’ve learned since returning to live events, it’s that people are searching for a one-off can’t-missit unforgettable experience. They’re not interested in going week in and week out to the same experience, which poses an interesting scenario for venues or teams looking to deliver an entire season. Whether it’s a team or a stadium, the experience needs to be reinvented for the crowds so that each time someone attends, they know they’re in for a unique experience.

People are time-poor, and they crave diversity. With so many competing interests, we must give them a compelling reason to attend each event or opportunity.

Leaning Into Innovation I have always strongly believed that stadiums should be considered a hub for the community — civic buildings that serve a function above and beyond the event day experience no different to a museum or library.

They should be somewhere that local residents can use and engage with all year round, not huge spaces that are locked down after a match day. People describe stadiums as cathedrals of the 21st century but I think of them more like town halls. We must also remember Rome’s Colosseum started construction in 70 AD within a residential area and was used for “gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. The building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine” - all according to Wikipedia!

I always say that if a toll road, airport or shopping centre was operating at 10% capacity and sitting idle for the other 90%, its chief executive would probably be out of a job! The key to operating a successful stadium is shifting the dial in terms of what it’s used for and embracing utilisation.

We view Eden Park as a blank canvas - ready to showcase content, events and community.

G9 golf at Eden Park. Creating New Experiences The concept of innovation is nothing new for Eden Park. We’re passionate about leading the industry when it comes to creating new concepts and delivering value through new experiences.

The Park is known for its portfolio of award-winning experiences such as Staydium Glamping, Haka in the Park, Art in the Park, Rooftop Tour and the G9 - a 90 minute golf tournament where participants tee off from around the concourse onto the hallowed turf.

During the lockdown, we added two new events to this suite of experiences - the Dulux Super Bash and the Lake Taupo Hole in One Challenge. These were created in response to the environment. Major events weren’t possible due to crowd restrictions, but people were still searching for a way they could connect and participate.

So, we put on our thinking caps and came up with two new innovations that would bring people back to the stadium in a way that was still safe and permitted. It’s important to note that this is a point of difference between our experiences and our traditional events - the experiences are all about participating rather than just observing and consuming.

From concept to delivery, there was a period of about six weeks for the Super Bash. This might sound impossible, but we have developed a culture where our staff buy into utilisation and thinking differently. Truth be told, I think the staff were just as excited as the participants to finally be able to deliver an experience after four months of lockdown! Working Collaboratively Across Departments One of my favourite aspects of leading the team at Eden Park is the collaborative approach to new concepts. In the Turf team office, we have a space we like to call ‘the ideas factory’ - an area where we throw around wild concepts, some of which come to fruition! It’s a humble space but one that delivers exciting new innovations.

I’m fortunate to lead a team that understands the Park’s vision to develop utilisation, sweat the asset and bring concepts from the high street into the stadium context.

As a lean team, we often have people working across multiple departments and roles. We’re not large enough to have separate departments responsible for the marketing, commercial, planning and event delivery - so instead, we work collaboratively to pull off each experience and event.

This means that all our innovations have buy-in across all of our teamand are thought of from a holistic perspective. We think about everything that can contribute - from utilising spaces to secure future bookings for functions, to delivering a food & beverage aspect, to involving our trusted partners and offering them unique opportunities. All of these elements were more important than ever during lockdown as we sought avenues to generate revenue while providing amazing experiences.

People talk about their organisations becoming agile and nimble as a response to COVID. But our response is driven because we were agile and nimble before COVID. When COVID hit we talked about Emerging Stronger and coming out the other side so we could protect our workforce and be ready to deliver major events once again.

Leading from the Front As we now look towards a new era where we’re able to gather with no restrictions, we look to continue embracing innovation and utilisation - no longer out of necessity because we can’t hold events, but because we believe in the stadium being a community asset for our city and a strategic asset for our country.

Events like Art in the Park continue to provide opportunities for New Zealand artists to showcase their creativity; our traditional rugby and cricket games provide a chance for our elite athletes to display their talent on the world stage; and our experiences give everyday people a chance to feel what it’s like to hit a ball on our hallowed turf.

I believe that the biggest error a stadium operator can make in this day and age is to see their venue as solely a stadium. Because in reality, a stadium will at best be used 100 times a year for core content and sit idle for the other 265 days.

We need to embrace creativity and innovation and start to see our stadiums as more like a town hall, church, food court or exhibition hall - full of so many other purposes that can complement the event day experience. Nick Sautner is Chief Executive of Auckland’s Eden Park Trust.

Eden Park’s Sky Sport Rooftop Tour.