CEO Announced For New Perth Stadium

VenueLive Management Services, which will operate the 60,000-capacity Perth Stadium in Australia when it opens in early 2018, announced sports administrator Mike McKenna as its first CEO.  

Photo: facebook.com/moremusicartsvenuesperth

He begins his role at the A$1.2 billion ($921 million) sports and entertainment venue Nov. 28. McKenna, currently executive general manager of operations at Cricket Australia, previously worked in commercial operations at the Essendon Football Club in Melbourne.

He calls the new venue “one of the world’s great stadiums,” adding, “The plan is to deliver the best sporting and entertainment experiences.”

Aside from football and cricket, the stadium will also be negotiate with Australian rugby and English Premier League clubs, as well as concert promoters. McKenna has a number of immediate changes. K

ey football teams including West Coast Eagles and Fremantle Dockers have threatened to boycott the venue unless the deals struck are suitable.

Some sporting codes are pushing vigorously to open the venue in 2017 for their own games.

McKenna has been emphatic that “We’ve got to be very careful to make sure that the venue is absolutely ready and all the infrastructure around it is ready.”