The planned Macquarie Point stadium has attracted substantial unsolicited interest in its naming rights, with a deal expected to be secured before the venue opens.
Stadiums Tasmania chief executive James Avery told a budget estimates hearing on Tuesday several large organisations had already approached the agency directly.
“There has already been substantial interest from various parties around naming rights partnerships from a number of the blue-chip organisations you would usually expect to see operating in this place,” he said.
Avery said the agency had not put out a call for partners or begun a formal process and that the “interest has been organic”.
“We’re literally just fielding approaches at the moment,” he said.
He linked the interest to the scale and profile of the project, the inception of the Tasmania Football Club and the range of events the venue would bring to the state.
Avery said naming rights deals were usually long-term agreements designed to build brand equity over time and a partner was likely to come on board before the stadium became operational.
“The preference would be and we think it’s realistic to expect a partner to come on board before the doors open,” he said.
He said the agency was mindful of strong public interest in any future partner and the need to ensure sponsors were appropriate.
Naming rights have become a significant revenue source for Australian venues.
Disney’s 2018 deal to rename Melbourne’s Docklands Stadium as Marvel Stadium was reported to be worth about $8.75 million a year.
ANZ paid $27 million over seven years for the naming rights to the main stadium at Sydney Olympic Park under a 2008 agreement.
Avery told the hearing the venue would be multi-purpose and capable of hosting business events and conferences of up to 1,500 people, as well as trade shows and exhibitions not currently catered for in Tasmania.
He said the successful Foo Fighters concert in Launceston earlier this year had opened the door to talks with concert promoters about larger events at the stadium.
Avery said expressions of interest for major events could begin now because concert booking timelines were lengthening, with discussions already underway for dates as far out as 2031.
