A $10 million function centre to host high-end corporate guests for the Rugby World Cup has been downsized due to poor ticket sale projections.
Initial plans for the Eden Park Pavilion were for a 5000-seat, two-storey structure outside Eden Park to entertain guests before and after Cup matches.
The new
pavilion has only one storey, with capacity for 3000 people and will cost $7 million.
It is being built by French company GC Events and will feature six restaurants and a central atrium. Ticket packages include covered seating for the games.
Rugby Travel & Hospitality is the company appointed by Rugby World Cup Ltd to take care of cup hospitality.
Operations director David White said the market had indicated people wanted a less formal experience - and that meant not at the pavilion. "There's been good demand up to 3000," he said. "The people who are left want a less formal experience."
Ticket sales for the pavilion were less than organisers had predicted, which were based on numbers in France for a similar pavilion for the 2007 World Cup.
Local rugby fans preferred a more relaxed experience - such as less-expensive sports packages that seat people in the north and south stand function rooms within Eden Park.
Some of the games - such as the final and the semifinals - have almost sold out the pavilion, but others such as Samoa-Fiji have sold fewer than 1000 tickets.
Tickets start at $995 and go up to $10,995 plus GST for final and semifinal packages.
- Kieran Nash
