Waikato Stadium rugby fees to drop?

The Waikato Rugby Union and Super Rugby franchise, the Chiefs are in negotiations with the Hamilton City Council in an attempt to secure separate and lower rental agreements for the Waikato Stadium.

The two contracts, which the parties hope to have signed by the end of the month, could see Hamilton ratepayers picking up the expected shortfall between the lower rent and the existing $720,000 annual rent fee plus match-day operating costs.

However, the Waikato Rugby Union says it is determined to pay off its outstanding rent debt - about $1 million for 2010/2011 - as councillors warn that they want every cent owed.

Hamilton City Council acting General Manager of Community Services Lance Vervoort said during recent annual plan deliberations that council should expect to receive less revenue from the stadium in the next financial year as it works with rugby entities to set sustainable fees.

Waikato Rugby Union Chief Executive Graham Bowen was pleased to hear the council was talking about lower rents, saying that moving from paying just rent to a mix of rent and council taking a percentage of ticket sales had been a big part of the discussions.

The Waikato Rugby Union wants the contract signed by the end of June - in time for the ITM Cup in July.

Chiefs Chief Executive Gary Dawson said signing a contract directly with the council rather than continuing to sub-lease the stadium was a continuation of the Chiefs' move to independence from the WRU and would "eliminate the middle man."

Like the WRU, the Chiefs were also looking at a range of payment options for using stadium facilities for games and training.

The Chiefs and council will sign a four-year agreement with a right of renewal if the franchise is renewed for five years with Dawson stating "we are still in discussions with them and those discussions have been very constructive and there's some work to do before we get an agreement."

Dawson added that the Chiefs had not ruled out playing some of their home games elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Hamilton City Councillors reaffirmed that they have no plans to write off the WRU's debt.

The WRU's Bowen said the Union was determined to meet its repayment plan with the council. It was on track to pay off an instalment of $200,000 in July on top of a recently paid $85,880.

The Union is also in the process of trying to attract several new sponsors.

The recent allocation of $3 million in funds to the WRU from Grassroots Trust was ring-fenced for grassroots and amateur rugby and could not be used to pay rent or fund semi professional or professional rugby.

Waikato Stadium image courtesy of Peddle Thorp.