In what is believed to be a first for a major stadium in New Zealand, Westpac Stadium will offer local independent craft beer at Phoenix games.
This Saturday the Phoenix play the Brisbane Roar and two local craft beers will be poured at a dedicated cart opposite Aisle 22.
Westpac Stadium CEO Shane Harmon is excited by the initiative. “Wellington is the craft beer capital of New Zealand and Westpac Stadium is host to Beervana, New Zealand’s largest craft beer festival, so it’s only fitting that we take this initial step to support this vibrant local industry”.
“In a recent fan survey, craft beer was one of the top requests towards improving the fan experience”, he said.
The change was made possible by both Wellington Phoenix and its partners Independent Liquor and Carlsberg supporting the initiative.
Wellington Phoenix General Manager, David Dome said “Local craft beer is an issue that is constantly raised by our fans, and we are very appreciative of our partners Carlsberg and Independent Liquor for their support on this initiative”.
The first beers offered for this weekend’s match will be Garage Project “Beer” and “Hāpi Daze”.
“This is a small initial step, and ideally we would like to see this expand over time and to other events, however we are very respectful of the sponsorship arrangements that our teams and events have in place and recognise the important of these partnerships”, said Harmon.
“In an ideal world, we’d love to see a dedicated local craft beer bar at the Stadium similar to many venues in the USA, and this is a discussion that we will open up with our hirers and pourage partners in advance of a planned concourse upgrade in 2016/17”.
