'Cake Tin' rated NZ's best sports venue

ANTHONY PHELPS/Dominion Post

CHAMPION: New Zealand sports fans have rated Wellington's Cake Tin as the best venue in New Zealand.

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New Zealand sports fans have rated Wellington's Cake Tin as the best venue in New Zealand.

Officially known as Westpac Stadium, it came out tops in a national survey that also found atmosphere was the most important attribute for sports venues.

The survey by Nielsen Company/BrandAdvantage asked 1,989 sports fans aged 18+  in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin who had patronised at least one of the venues in the study's orbit in the last year to rate 12 attributes on a scale of one to five (very important to not important at all), and the level of satisfaction they experienced on each count (very satisfied to not satisfied at all). A three rated as neutral.

Atmosphere came in as the most important attribute for fans, followed by overall value for money, seating lay-out, seating comfort, toilet facilities and parking.

Nearly 60 percent prioritised the time it took to get into the venue, and transport and distance were important for about half. The quality of food and beverages was the most polarising attribute - almost (45%) said it was important, while (25%) per cent said it wasn't. Pre-event and halftime entertainment were the least significant factors in enjoyment of events.

Westpac Stadium was the outstanding performer in terms of overall net satisfaction - the balance of satisfied respondents minus the unsatisfied - with a rating of almost 85%.

In the last 12 months more than 80 percent of Wellington sports followers had attended an event at the venue, which placed second to the Basin Reserve for atmosphere and led the field in seating comfort, seating layout, toilet facilities, transport, pre-event entertainment and overall value for money (58%). However, the report says no venue came close to meeting the (77%) importance rating that value for money had for fans.

Waikato Stadium delivered the second most satisfactory experience overall (81%); the Basin Reserve (80%) came in third.

Although Eden Park was the most frequented venue, its (58%) satisfaction rating was the survey's lowest. The gap between patrons' expectations and their experience was most evident in the areas of parking, seating comfort, overall value for money and toilet facilities, but atmosphere and the quality of food and beverages at the park rated poorly, too. 

Overall, the survey revealed that New Zealand sporting venues are struggling to fill stadiums in a fiercely competitive ticketing market. In the last five years, increased rugby fixtures and netball competitions, coupled with new facilities such as Vector Arena and a significant growth in concerts, festivals and shows have created a myriad of choice for the New Zealand ticketing dollar.