Source: Radio New Zealand
After a mammoth three-day rugby extravaganza at Christchurch’s new One New Zealand Stadium, fans and central city business-owners are delighted with how the weekend went.
Around 75,000 people went to the five Super Round matches, with bars having some of their busiest days ever.
Greg May, one of the owners of Smash Palace, said it was a huge weekend at the bar with large crowds each day.
“It was what I would have hoped for at my best estimation. It was really a wonderful increase.”
He said it was also clear there were a lot of people meeting up in Christchurch from out of town, including a lot of Australians.
Christchurch’s new One New Zealand Stadium Stan McFerrier/RNZ
Tomoki Peters was one of those who travelled all the way from Melbourne for Christchurch’s Super Round, as well as to visit family.
He went to all five games over the three days and had nothing but praise for the new stadium, even the beer prices.
“Not a bad seat in the house,” said Peters. “I sat in a lot of different locations over the weekend. Great atmosphere, fans were great, staff were great. Cheap beer, food was great.”
Michael Zohrab went along to the Highlanders game on Sunday, and said the atmosphere was magic.
“You can’t help but be a bit giddy. You walk here and its a brand new building and you’re in awe of how beautiful and pristine the whole building is. You get up there, and we were in the cheap seats, but no seat is a bad seat. You get so close to the field. Its such a nice experience compared to the other stadiums we have here.”
Toby Perry, who also went to the Sunday game, said he had a great time, and he also noticed the crowds over the weekend at the bar he works at.
“Super busy, it was really awesome to see. The vibe was great. No complaints. We had a really great crowd of people as well. It was one of our busiest weekends since we opened.”
Fans during the Super Rugby Pacific Super Round match between the Crusaders and Waratahs at One NZ Stadium, Christchurch, 24th April 2026. Photosport
Dux Central is a short walk from the stadium, and owner Richard Sinke said he thinks everyone in Christchurch would agree the city had a ball over the weekend.
“We saw great numbers of people both before and after the games, and even during the games. A surprising number of people stayed and watched the games here. I think people were just excited to be out and about, either in the stadium or in town.”
The city’s economic development agency Christchurch NZ was expecting about 13, 000 out-of-towners and a visitor spend of more than six million-dollars, although final figures are still being tallied.
Te Kaha Stadium RNZ / Nate McKinnon
The head of Venues Otautahi, which manages the stadium, Caroline Harvey-Teare, said she was delighted at how smoothly things went.
She said after Friday staff made a few minor tweaks, mostly around increasing signage.
“Most of those issues came around way-finding and a little bit of wrist banding in the corporate areas. So just getting more familiar with those areas, better signage for how people get around. So pretty small things, and I certainly didn’t hear of anyone having a compromised experience as a result.”
Some players have said the covered stadium resulted in hot humid conditions, with one describing it as a greenhouse, and there have been anecdotal complaints about expensive warm beer and cold food.
Ms Harvey-Teare said she wasn’t aware of any issues.
“I mean you’ll always have the anecdotal bits and bobs but all we know is our pricing is consistent with the central city and all of our hospitality providers, our beveridge pricing, is consistent. And actually lower than you’ll probably find than elsewhere. So we feel pretty comfortable. And we also know, and in fact we made sure, that everyone has an option. We definitely have ten dollar and under ten dollar options in all of our offerings.”
The Crusaders will play the Blues at the stadium next month, with rugby chiefs and city leaders hoping for another sell-out.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
