The Cake Tin | |
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 The stadium on a matchday in 2017 | |
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| Former names | WestpacTrust Stadium (2000–2002) Westpac Stadium (2002–2019) |
|---|---|
| Location | Wellington,New Zealand |
| Coordinates | 41°16′23″S174°47′9″E / 41.27306°S 174.78583°E /-41.27306; 174.78583 |
| Owner | Wellington Regional Stadium Trust (Greater Wellington Regional Council andWellington City Council) |
| Operator | Wellington Regional Stadium Trust |
| Capacity | 34,500[2] |
| Record attendance | 47,260[3] |
| Field size | Length (north–south) 235 metres (771 ft) Width (west–east) 185 metres (607 ft) (stadium dimensions, not the playing surface) Area 15,050 square metres (162,000 sq ft)[2] |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 12 March 1998 |
| Opened | 3 January 2000[1] |
| Construction cost | NZ$130 million |
| Architect | Warren and Mahoney Populous (then Bligh Lobb Sports Architecture) |
| Project manager | Beca Carter Hollings & Ferner Ltd |
| Main contractors | Fletcher Construction Ltd |
| Tenants | |
| Hurricanes (Super Rugby) (2000–present) Wellington Lions (National Provincial Championship) (2000–present) Wellington Phoenix (A-League Men) (2008–present) Wellington Phoenix Women (A-League Women) (2022–present) Wellington Firebirds (Super Smash) (2012–2014) St Kilda Football Club (AFL) (2013–2015) New Zealand national Australian rules football team (AFL International Cup) (2002–present) New Zealand Institute of Sport New Zealand men's national football team (some matches) | |
| Website | |
| skystadium | |
| Ground information | |
| End names | |
| Hutt End City End | |
| International information | |
| First ODI | 8–9 January 2000: New Zealand v West Indies |
| Last ODI | 3 February 2019: New Zealand v India |
| First T20I | 22 December 2006: New Zealand v Sri Lanka |
| Last T20I | 26 March 2025: New Zealand v Pakistan |
| Only WODI | 15 February 2000: New Zealand v England |
| First WT20I | 26 February 2010: New Zealand v Australia |
| Last WT20I | 26 March 2025: New Zealand v Australia |
| As of 27 March 2025 Source:ESPNcricinfo | |
Wellington Regional Stadium (commercially known asSky Stadium through naming rights)[4][5] is a major sporting venue inWellington,New Zealand. The stadium's bowl site size is 48,000 m2 (520,000 sq ft).
The stadium was built in 1999 byFletcher Construction[4] and is situated close to major transport facilities (such asWellington railway station) one kilometre (0.62 mi) north of the CBD. It was built onreclaimed railway land, which was surplus to requirements.
The stadium also serves as a large-capacity venue for concerts and is known colloquially as "The Cake Tin".[6]
The stadium was built in 1999 byFletcher Construction and was the first bowl stadium built in New Zealand. It was built to replaceAthletic Park, which was no longer considered adequate for international events due to its location and state of disrepair. The stadium was also built to provide a larger-capacity venue forOne Day International cricket matches, due to theBasin Reserve ground losing such matches to larger stadiums in other parts of the country.[7][8]
Westpac Trust, later known as justWestpac, signed on to be the naming sponsor for the stadium when it opened in 2000. That arrangement continued for twenty years until 31 December 2019.[9] On 22 August 2019, it was announced thatSky had signed a six-year agreement to take over as the naming sponsor of the stadium from 1 January 2020.[6]
In May 2025, it was announced that Sky will relinquish the naming rights at end of their contract, near the end of the year 2025. The Stadium is searching for a new partner.[10]
The stadium is a multi-purpose facility, though used mainly for sporting events. It is the home of theWellington LionsMitre 10 Cup rugby team and theHurricanesSuper Rugby team. The stadium also hosted theWellington Sevens, one of the events that was part of the annualWorld Rugby Sevens Series for nationalrugby sevens teams. Sky Stadium regularly serves as a home venue forAll Blacks rugby matches.
Sky Stadium is also the home venue forA-League teamWellington Phoenix FC, the stadium often referred to as "The Ring of Fire" by Phoenix supporters.[11] It also serves as a major home venue for theNew Zealand men's national football team (the All Whites), notably hosting the home leg of their2010 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Bahrain.
During the summer the stadium generally hosts international and occasionally domesticlimited overs cricket, with the home team being the New ZealandWhite Ferns orBlack Caps for the international contests andWellington Firebirds for the domestic competition.
The stadium has also been used forrugby league matches, including national team fixtures andNew Zealand Warriors away fixtures. TheSt Kilda Football Club, anAustralian rules football club in theAustralian Football League (AFL), played home games onAnzac Day at the venue from 2013 to 2015.
Off-field facilities built into the stadium also included the New Zealand Institute of Sport, and a campus for the Wellington School of Cricket, run by theWellington Cricket Association.
In 2000, the then-Westpac Stadium hosted theEdinburgh Military Tattoo. This was the first time the event was hosted outside Edinburgh, Scotland. They returned to Wellington to play at the stadium again in February 2016.[12]
In 2002, during an England versus Black Caps cricket match, directorPeter Jackson recorded 30,000 fans chanting inBlack Speech for the sound of 10,000 chantingUruk-hai during theBattle of Helm's Deep in the filmThe Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
On 4 March 2006,WWE's first New Zealand show,WWE SmackDown Road to WrestleMania 22 Tour, was held at the stadium. 23,875 people attended the televised event. There were nine matches, including a triple threat match betweenKurt Angle,The Undertaker, andMark Henry for theWorld Heavyweight Championship (WWE)
Also in 2006, a concert was held bythe Rolling Stones, which ended the Australasian leg of itsA Bigger Bang World Tour,
On 14 October 2007,Australia defeatedNew Zealand in the Centenary Test rugby league game. The 58–0 defeat set a new record for the largest loss by the New Zealand national rugby league team.
On 1 December 2007, the stadium hosted an exhibition match between Wellington Phoenix FC and theLos Angeles Galaxy. LA Galaxy won 4–1 in front of 31,853 spectators, the largest crowd for non-nationalfootball (soccer) match in New Zealand history.[13]
On 17 January 2008, the stadium hosted the kickoff show of the Oceania leg ofthe Police Reunion Tour[14] and over Easter the inaugural two-day "Rock2Wgtn" music festival, headlined byKiss andOzzy Osbourne. Attendance over the two days was around 50,000.[15]
New Zealand hosted the2008 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. Six pool matches and two playoff matches were played at the then Westpac Stadium. Due toFIFA rules disallowing host stadia to be named after non-FIFA sponsors, the stadium was officially known as "Wellington Stadium" during the event.
The stadium hosted the national team's 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying match on 14 November 2009 againstBahrain. New Zealand won the match 1–0, with a record crowd at the time of 35,194 for a football match in New Zealand.[16]
On 28 January 2010,AC/DC kicked off the Australasian leg of itsBlack Ice World Tour at the stadium. The concert quickly sold out so a second was scheduled for 30 January.[17] The stadium was also a venue forBon Jovi'sThe Circle Tour in 2010.
The stadium hosted eight games during the2011 Rugby World Cup including two quarter-final matches.
On 25 April 2013, the stadium hosted the first AFL game outside of Australia for premiership points with St Kilda hostingSydney with Sydney winning by 16 points in front of 22,546 spectators.
On 11 May 2013, the stadium and Wellington hosted its firstNational Rugby League fixture since 2004 with theAuckland-based New Zealand Warriors hosting theCanterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs at the stadium for 'The Capital Clash'.[18] The Warriors wore their 'Capital Clash' jerseys which incorporated the black and gold colours of Wellington and a design based on a strip worn by Wellington Rugby league teams in the 1970s. The Warriors lost the game late in the match in front of 28,096 fans.[19]
On 20 November 2013, the stadium hosted the second leg of theWorld Cup qualification inter-confederation play-off against Mexico, which resulted in New Zealand failing to qualify for the2014 FIFA World Cup.[20]
On 15 November 2014, the stadium hosted the2014 Rugby League Four Nations Final. It was the first Four Nations Final held in New Zealand, though theMount Smart Stadium in Auckland hosted the inaugural final of the tournament, then known as the Tri-Nations, in1999.[21]
The stadium was one of the venues for2015 Cricket World Cup which was co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia. It hosted a total of four matches during the World Cup which included aquarter-final clash between the hostsNew Zealand andWest Indies.[22]
Guns N' Roses performed at the stadium during theirNot in This Lifetime... Tour on 2 February 2017.[23]
On 11 November 2017, the stadium hosted its thirdWorld Cup qualification inter-confederation play-off with the New Zealand men's national football team drawing 0–0 against Peru in front of a new record crowd for a football match in New Zealand of 37,034 fans thanks to extra seating install in the stadium for the match.[24]
On 2 March 2019, the stadium drew its second largest crowd to date with an attendance of 46,474 forEminem's Rapture concert.[25]
On 5 February 2020,Queen + Adam Lambert performed at the stadium during theirRhapsody Tour.[26]
On 8 December 2022, Guns N' Roses performed at the stadium during their2020 Tour.[27] TheFoo Fighters were supposed to play a week later on 15 December, however it was cancelled after the death of Foo Fighters' drummer Taylor Hawkins.[28]
On 2 February 2023,Ed Sheeran performed as part of his+–=÷× Tour. The crowd of 47,000 was the largest ever attendance for an event at the stadium. Organisers said just over a third of the crowd (16,200) were from outside the Wellington region.[29]
On 27 January 2024 The Foo Fighters played for the first time in Wellington on their World Tour.
The stadium hosted several matches for the2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.[30]
| Date | Team #1 | Res. | Team #2 | Stage | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 July 2023 |  Spain | 3–0 |  Costa Rica | Group C | 22,966 |
| 23 July 2023 |  Sweden | 2–1 |  South Africa | Group G | 18,317 |
| 25 July 2023 | New Zealand | 0–1 |  Philippines | Group A | 32,357 |
| 27 July 2023 |  United States | 1–1 |  Netherlands | Group E | 27,312 |
| 29 July 2023 | Sweden | 5–0 |  Italy | Group G | 29,143 |
| 31 July 2023 |  Japan | 4–0 | Spain | Group C | 20,957 |
| 2 August 2023 | South Africa | 3–2 | Italy | Group G | 14,967 |
| 5 August 2023 | Japan | 3–1 |  Norway | Round of 16 | 33,042 |
| 11 August 2023 | Spain | 2–1 (a.e.t) | Netherlands | Quarter-finals | 32,201 |
The stadium hosted the semi-finals forOFC qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
| 11 September 2011 | South Africa | 17–16 |  Wales | Regional Stadium,Wellington Attendance: 33,331 |
| 17 September 2011 | South Africa | 49–3 |  Fiji | Regional Stadium,Wellington Attendance: 33,262 |
| 23 September 2011 | Australia | 67–5 | United States | Regional Stadium,Wellington Attendance: 33,824 |
| 25 September 2011 | Argentina  | 13–12 |  Scotland | Regional Stadium,Wellington Attendance: 26,937 |
| 1 October 2011 | France  | 14–19 |  Tonga | Regional Stadium,Wellington Attendance: 32,763 |
| 2 October 2011 | New Zealand | 79–15 |  Canada | Regional Stadium,Wellington Attendance: 37,665 |
| 8 October 2011 | Ireland  | 10–22 | Wales | Regional Stadium,Wellington Attendance: 35,787 |
| 9 October 2011 | South Africa | 9–11 | Australia | Regional Stadium,Wellington Attendance: 34,914 |
Reference:[31]
Since its opening in 2000, Wellington Regional Stadium has hosted sixNew Zealand rugby league internationals. The results were as follows;.[33]
| Date | Opponent | Result | Attendance | Part of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 July 2001 | Australia | 10–28 | 26,580 | |
| 12 October 2002 | 24–32 | 25,015 | 2002 New Zealand Kiwis tour | |
| 11 November 2006 |  Great Britain | 34–4 | 16,401 | 2006 Tri-Nations |
| 11 October 2007 | Australia | 0–58 | 16,681 | 2007 All Golds Tour |
| 23 October 2010 | England | 24–10 | 20,324 | 2010 Four Nations |
| 12 November 2014 | Australia | 22–18 | 25,093 | 2014 Four Nations Final |
| 18 November 2017 | Fiji | 2–4 | 12,713 | 2017World Cup |
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