Caroline Harvie-Teare: Venues Otautahi CEO on the possibility of Christchurch becoming the Events Capital of New Zealand

Christchurch believes it's gaining VIP status when it comes to events. 

The Wellington Phoenix have joined the Warriors in signing a three-year deal which will see fixtures played at the new Te Kaha Stadium. 

Construction of the facility is still underway, with plans to open in April 2026. 

Venues Otautahi CEO Caroline Harvie-Teare told Mike Hosking it makes sense for the city to be the home of new teams. 

She says the city has a wonderful portfolio of infrastructure and is setting itself up to be the events capital of New Zealand. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
What about Canterbury. I can we do anything wrong at
the moment of the Wellington Phoenix. They've joined the Warriors in
locking in fixtures at christ Church's new stadium, which I
suppose raises the question will we see an A League
or an NRL create franchises in that particular part of
the world anyway. Chief executive of Venues at Attacky, Carolyn Harvey,
tears with us on all of this. Carolyn, morning to you,
Good morning, Mike. Does it feel I mean, this is

(00:21):
a softball question, but does it feel like christ Church
slash Canterbury is on a bit of a roll at
the moment and everything you touch turns to something that
equates to money.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Yeah, it kind of does, really, But it's kind of
our time, isn't it. We've been through a bit, so
I guess what's happening at the Mont is we're sort
of hopefully bearing the fruits of a pretty tough few years.
So we can't wait for the next eighteen months and
to see the new stadium open. But it really just
adds to this to the whole kind of set of
infrastructure that we have now here in Canterbury.

Speaker 1 (00:53):
And in doing these deals with the A League in NRL.
What's the how do you deal with the timeline because
I mean you're not the thing. What if it blows out?
What if it's delayed? You know, when's the opening date?
Do they get some sort of surety? How do you
handle all that?

Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yeah, we're lucky because we're really close. We're a CEO,
so we're part of the design and construction program, so
we have pretty much confidence in terms of look, it's
on track. At the minute, we're in the pretty high
risk time, so they're building the roof, which you know
what spring wins the light down here in christ Use,
so it's a tricky time. But early next year March April,

(01:30):
we will have far greater confidence of that opening date.
But in terms of doing these deals, you know, we're
doing long term partnerships, so we know in twenty twenty
six will be open. April is the date, and we're
hoping that it's about right and we've got pretty much
confidence in that. But it means we can traverse both
the Tebury Stadium and the new Stadium, which shows not
just a commitment to the new stadium, but actually confidence

(01:53):
in christ Use generally.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
Exactly do you see yourself on a path from being
you know, a place that attracts events like a couple
of games a year or whatever, to potentially you build
that infrastructure and you become the hometown for new teams permanently.

Speaker 2 (02:08):
Look, I think that's the aim. You know, we want
to see that. We want to leverage the opportunity that
is one New Zealand Stadium and all of the other
investment that the city's made in new infrastructure. It makes
sense for us to be the home of new teams.
We're going to have the best infrastructure in the country
and we've got a wonderful portfolio of it. You know,
you look at the town Hall, you look at the arena,

(02:29):
you look at the stadium, the new sports facility, TIPI.
You know, we really are setting ourselves up to be
the events capital of New Zealand.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
Fantastic, Carolin go Well, Carolyn Harvey to here venues Otatar.

Speaker 2 (02:42):
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