Australasia News: Accor Stadium Study; Veteran Promoter Garry Van Egmond Dies; NZ: Eventfinda Launches TixSuite

AUSTRALIA

Feasibility Study For Accor Stadium Roof

New South Wales (NSW) took another step towards a $300 million (US$197 million) non-retractable roof for Sydney’s 80,000-seat Accor Stadium.

The state government commissioned Sydney events company MI Global Partners to conduct a feasibility study.

Sports minister Steve Kamper was impressed with how the state-of-the-art roof of Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas in March kept the calm inside during two Aussie rugby league games while wild winds and storms created chaos outside.

Music promoters have long pushed for a roof for Accor Stadium or Sydney’s Allianz Stadium.

One of four Taylor Swift shows at Accor in Feb. saw the audience evacuated briefly and her entrance delayed 20 minutes due to storms.

In January 2013, GA crowds at an Elton John show at Allianz were drenched while the piano man himself was rushed off stage due to torrential rain at a 2020 show near Melbourne.

The feasibility study will also investigate how many A-list concerts a roofed Accor will attract as Sydney pushes to be events capital of the Asia Pacific.

Attractions are high priority after Swift generated $145 million ($95.2 million) for Sydney with four shows, while P!NK broke the attendance records at Allianz and generated $50 million ($32.8 million) with two shows in Newcastle, NSW.

Veteran Promoter Garry Van Egmond Dies

Concert and theatrical promoter Garry Van Egmond, who sold 30 million tickets in Australia and New Zealand over 50 years, died following a long illness.

With a reputation for honesty and handshake deals, the Dutch-born Van Egmond’s major achievements bordered on the epic. Dire Straits “Brothers In Arms Tour” in 1986 generated 950,000 tix to a Guinness Book of World Records entry.

Bette Midler sold out 72 dates. In 2010, AC/DC’s Black Ice Tour was the fastest selling in local history shifting 520,000 stubs in under three hours and ultimately 750,000 in Australia and New Zealand.

A 1992 return of “Jesus Christ Superstar” had 1 million patrons over 84 nights, grossing $40 million ($26.2 million) in 16 weeks. Other tours included Dolly Parton, Prince, Elvis Costello and the Bee Gees.

In 2020, the Van Egmond Group was acquired by TEG.

Mona Foma Ends Run, Pandemonium Downsizes

After 16 years of controversy and artistic triumphs, the Mona Foma festival came to an end. Its founder David Walsh said, “It’s been magical but the spell has worn off” and it became too costly.

The festival, curated by Violent Femmes’ Brian Ritchie, drew 40,000 patrons.

The inaugural three-city Pandemonium Rocks in April downsized. It lost one of two stages. Deep Purple and Dead Kennedys were among acts gone, leaving Alice Cooper, Blondie, The Psychedelic Furs, Wheatus and Wolfmother.

NEW ZEALAND

Eventfinda Launches TixSuite Platform

Auckland-based ticketing company Eventfinda launched its new ticketing software TixSuite in Australia April 10 to address cashflow problems facing venues, promoters and events.

These are caused by what CEO James McGlinn calls “an outdated ticketing model and legacy ticketing services, which leaves them with little or no control over fees or cashflow.”

TixSuite sells three-tier subscriptions to its proprietary software, allowing customers to collect 100% of ticketing revenue before showtime, and decide whether to charge fees for their customers.

“Technology has made it the right time for disruption in the Australian market,” McGlinn added.

Eventfinda, which launched in NZ 2016, entered the Australian market 2011, generating ticket sales of NZ$100 million ($60 million) in both countries.

It has a presence in Singapore and licensed its software in European territories such as Austria. TixSuite’s Australian launch is the start of an eventual global roll-out, McGlinn reported.