Former Manly Sea Eagles executive launches new sport and venues consultancy

Luke Tucker, the former Chief Commercial Officer of NRL club the Manly Sea Eagles has launched a new commercial consultancy picking up work with VenuesLive, the new operator of Central Coast Stadium.

Named Tuxco, the new business will negotiate commercial deals for VenuesLive, including naming rights to the Central Coast facility.

Managing the regional sport and entertainment hub on behalf of Central Coast Council, in July VenuesLive went back to the market seeking a five-to-10 year partnership.

Promotion of the opportunity emphasised how the naming rights holder will gain gives direct access to 350,000 residents of the Central Coast and additional exposure to the 5.5 million people living in Sydney and Newcastle.

Tucker told Sponsorship News that discussions were already underway with brands interested in the naming rights and that the call for proposals would remain open until the end of next week.

He indicated a hope to have about 10 potential partners interested once expressions of interest closed.

He plans to sign off on the naming rights in time for the venue’s first A-League match of the season on 8th October.

Tucker pointed out that the successful sponsor will benefit from a “clean stadium” as the asset has been vacant for a number of years. He added that the winning applicant would enjoy the backing of VenuesLive, which also manages Sydney’s Accor and CommBank Stadiums and Optus Stadium in Perth.

Tucker is ideally seeking a national brand that would add to value to fan’s match day experience. He said the picturesque venue would suit a community-minded and fun sponsor wanting to connect to the region.

Former regional beer-brand, Bluetongue, held the naming rights for the venue from March 2006 to early 2014 when the product was discontinued. Previous holders of the asset also included community newspaper, the Express Advocate (two years from February 2003) and electricity utility, NorthPower (for the same period from January 2000).

Image: Central Coast Stadium.