The city can now host bigger indoor concerts, after Mercury Baypark Arena increased its venue capacity and partnered with a leading ticketing provider.
Tauranga’s largest indoor venue for concerts and other events has increased its venue capacity and partnered with a leading ticketing provider, opening the door to bigger and better events for the city.
Mercury Baypark Arena in Mount Maunganui can now host up to 6,000 people inside its Lion Foundation Centre, which makes it one of the larger spaces in the country of its type.
This increased venue capacity allowance was on full show on New Year’s Eve when Mercury Baypark Arena hosted the popular drum and bass event Famous Last Words.
Bay Venues – the organisation that manages Mercury Baypark Arena and 23 other community facilities on behalf of Tauranga City Council – has also signed a preferred ticketing partnership for Mercury Baypark with Ticketek, a leading provider in the sports and live entertainment industry in New Zealand and Australia.
“Our partnership with Ticketek means we can now offer event promoters and organisers access to a full-service ticketing option, and they will be working alongside a reputable provider and trusted brand with significant reach,” Michelle Stevens, Head of Events at Bay Venues, said.
“This is going to give our event clients and their patrons a range of benefits, including targeted marketing opportunities and amplified promotion, data analytics, and advanced ticketing technology.”
Stevens said the work undertaken by health and safety and engineering experts to review and improve Mercury Baypark Arena’s capacity to host higher occupancy events has also brought the venue into the same category as the likes of TSB Arena in Wellington and GLOBOX Arena/Claudelands Events Centre in Hamilton.
“Our increased venue capacity and our new partnership with Ticketek, when combined, could mean many exciting things as we look ahead to the future, including bigger and better concerts for New Zealand’s fifth biggest city and the wider Bay of Plenty region,” she said.
Ticketek General Manager James McKee said the additional capacity in Mercury Baypark Arena now makes it one of the larger spaces in the country of its type, “and will bring a range of meaningful content to the region from quality international family shows to major comedy, spoken word and artists from all around the world”.
“As the flexibility and capacities of Mercury Baypark continue to evolve, a partnership with Ticketek and our content partner TEG just makes more sense,” he said.
Nelita Byrne, Tauranga City Council Manager Venues and Events, said the increase in capacity of Mercury Baypark Arena is “a game changer” for the city.
“It makes it more viable for promoters and event organisers to bring the larger indoor concerts to the city, meaning our community don’t have to travel out of town to attend these wonderful entertainment experiences and instead spend their money locally.”
About Mercury Baypark
Mercury Baypark in Mount Maunganui is an extensive events and sporting precinct, hosting a wide range of indoor and outdoor activities across Mercury Baypark Arena, Mercury Baypark Stadium, and Mercury Baypark Open Air. Whether it is a concert, conference, meeting, expo, gala dinner, live sporting event, or recreational activity, we do it all in one convenient location. There is also in-house catering, audio visual and marketing services, and ample free parking.
About Ticketek
Ticketek is the leading ticketing provider to the sports and live entertainment industry in New Zealand and are proud partners of NZ Rugby, NZ Cricket, NZ Rugby League, NZ Football and Netball NZ, as well as the country’s leading arenas and stadia.
Offering a full-service ticketing solution that combines the expertise, relationships, and knowledge held within its NZ-based team, Ticketek is supported by world leading technology, marketing, and analytics platforms. Ticketek is also proud to have local Client Service Managers and event staff on the ground to work alongside great partners like Bay Venues to support its business and community stakeholders.
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