AMI ends Christchurch stadium sponsorship

Christchurch’s temporary sports stadium will be known simply as the Christchurch Stadium for first Mitre 10 Cup game this week, after losing its longstanding naming rights sponsor AMI.

The insurance company withdrew its support in March, after 10 years of sponsorship, but the name was only officially removed on 11th August, as promotional material had already been printed for the Super Rugby season.

Attendances at the venue has dipped in recent years, with Super Rugby champions Crusaders only able to sell out one game in the entire season, despite dominating the competition.

Crusaders executives and players have appealed to the Christchurch City Council to fast-track its funding for the new permanent stadium planned in centre of Christchurch, saying the temporary stadium was proving unattractive.

AMI Community Engagement Manager Eve Whitwell released a statement saying they planned to move their sponsorship to more “community-based activities”.

She added “a decision has been made, after 10 years of sponsorship - first at Lancaster Park and more recently at the temporary Christchurch Stadium - to discontinue our stadium sponsorship.

“Our new partnerships will see us providing support to families and communities at the front line, whether that’s new fire alarms ahead of winter, food care packages or supporting young people with driver training skills.”

Reports suggest the Christchurch Stadium Trust is now actively seeking a replacement naming-rights partner.

Venue naming rights are to be expored in an upcoming feature in the printed Australasian Leisure Management.