interesting article about Thomond park plans. If they can get this in debt free it will a great achievement. 40 m as well, its not too much really is it, 27k capacity vs 50k capacity for Landsdowne with a budget of about 400 m ??? Wheres the correlation here, both had free sites?
Thomond gets down to business
27 July 2008
The redeveloped Thomond Park will provide Munster fans and local businesses with world-class facilities, but the venues famous intensity will not be lost, writes Linda Maher.
The ongoing redevelopment of Thomond Park in Limerick will be a boost for the city and the local economy, as well as for Munster rugby, according to John Hartery, chairman of the Munster management committee.
I think its fantastic for the city, said Hartery. As we all know, its had its bad publicity down through the years. But it has always received good publicity for rugby, and I think this will add to it.
The stadium will play host to its first match following its 40 million redevelopment on October 3, as Munster take on Glasgow Warriors in a Magners League game. Munster rugby bosses are confident that fans will appreciate the revamp.
For the average fan, Thomond Park has always provided a unique experience, said Glyn Billinghurst, sales and marketing manager for Munster Rugby. But they never really had the facilities that are now going to be available.
I hope that, when the doors open for the first game, fans are going to walk in and think, This is something really special.
Theyre going to get to the ground and see that theres now a big bar with food and catering facilities, theres an interactive museum that they can visit and theres a 2,000 square foot Munster Rugby store. Then, when they get inside the ground, theyll see food and bar facilities on each level. But theyll know weve managed to retain the intensity of Thomond Park.
The terraces are exactly the same as they were. Its as close as its ever been, but now theres 14,000 seats. Match day is more accessible to people. We can provide more people with the opportunity to see Munster in Ireland, rather than having to travel abroad.
The Glasgow match will be followed by the first match of Munsters Heineken Cup defence against Montauban on October 10 and a high-profile friendly against the All-Blacks on November 18.
A tour of Thomond Park with stadium director John Cantwell shows the level of the redevelopment. While most of the stadium still resembles a building site, the potential is clear. The bar area is expected to be a major revenue-spinner, with capacity for up to 1,500 people inside and a further 5,000 people on the outdoor plaza.
This area will be served by mobile catering and will also feature picnic areas to cater for families. It is likely to be used as a cafe on non-rugby days and will also cater for school tours. The non-match day business is a big issue for Munster, according to Cantwell. When youve only got an average of 12 match days a year, it has to be, he said.
The ground will feature a new interactive experience - its organisers are loath to call it a museum - which is designed to cater for fans young and old. While it does include a history of Munster, it will also give fans a chance to test their own skills in a series of virtual reality games, including throwing a ball to a line-out, taking a penalty kick and taking part in a scrum.
But whatever the success of the cafe, the bar, the interactive experience and the shop, it is the commercial side of the business that will determine how profitable Thomond Park will be. The issue of naming rights for the stadium was explored at the outset, but it turned out to be a very thorny affair.
We explored the naming rights issue for Thomond Park, which was always going to be an emotive issue, said Hartery.
It was emotional for us on the board as well, because every one of us on the board played for Munster at Thomond Park at some stage. But we felt it was incumbent on us to explore it anyway, to see what was out there.
There was a level of interest and there was an offer on it but, given the level of emotion involved and the amount of the offer, they didnt really tie up. So we looked then at doing subsidiary rights, like the naming of the stands.
The stands issue has been given a much better reception, and the board is aware that a good deal is essential to success. Our focus is now on selling the naming rights for the stands, said Billinghurst. Weve got two distinct properties.
One is the east stand, the everyday commercial proposition, with the store, the cafe, the main bar, conferencing facilities and the main television exposure. The buyer will hopefully get good visibility for the brand, whether its on the stand itself or on the tickets or programmes.
Were also naming the west stand, but because that hasnt got the everyday use of the east stand, its not of the same value. We have had interest. From an economic perspective, its about choosing the right companies and creating bespoke packages for them, and were flexible in terms of what benefits go with them when we offer them to businesses.
Billinghurst is also keen to get local businesses involved in other ways, as Munster Rugby wants to keep the venture as local as possible.
Were very proud of what were developing and there are still ways for individuals and businesses to get involved, whether its through naming rights or corporate boxes. Weve got 20 suites and are looking to sell 16 of them over a five-year period. The other four will be split between Munster Rugby and the firms that choose the stand naming rights package.
Outside of match day, business is really going to be driven around conferencing. If someone has a suite for five years, theyll want information on how they can use it in a non-match day capacity.
Weve sold six of the suites, with another ten to sell, said Billinghurst. They cost from 100,000 to 150,000, depending on their location within the ground. Obviously the ones closest to the centre line are going to be more expensive. The package works pretty well - youve got your own room, which is guaranteed for the five years.
Outside of rugby, the conferencing business is important for the stadium, although other sports could also throw up opportunities.
From a business perspective, weve got the biggest conferencing facility in Ireland and were working with the hotels and the chamber of commerce to make sure we have enough spaces, said Billinghurst.
Theres so much we can do in terms of providing access to the general community. We want the stadium to be accessible from an everyday perspective, but also from a commercial perspective.
Weve been approached by a number of other sports - football from England, Scotland and Europe; rugby league from Britain; and boxing promoters, he said. Munster Rugby has already been asked about the possibility of staging an Andy Lee fight at the ground following his win last week.
Our catering partner Masterchef is looking to do a Taste of Limerick event, involving all the restaurants and hotels around Limerick, said Billinghurst.
Weve also been asked about staging music concerts. From a concert perspective, we can hold about 45,000 people.
While the cost of redeveloping Lansdowne Road in Dublin has increased since that project started, the Thomond Park revamp has stayed within its original budget. It was a 40 million project from day one and it hasnt escalated past that, said Hartery.
Ten-year tickets made up part of it - we sold 3,000 of them, which was our target. There was also a significant amount of government grants which we applied for and were granted.
The rest of the package came from naming rights, corporate boxes and other rights, such as pouring rights, within the stadium.
We felt that if we got the right amount for commercial rights, then we could do it debt-free. We were never afraid of bringing debt on board because there will be an increased capacity and therefore increased revenue.
We raised close to 13 million on ten-year tickets and theyll obviously roll over again in ten years time, so we would have access to another 13 million. This meant that even if we went into interest-only debt wed be okay.
So were not afraid of going into debt - but if we could hand it across debt-free, all the better.