The city of Cape Town is desperate to be rid of the loss-making Cape Town Stadium, especially as Western Province rugby bosses have shown no interest in being an anchor tenant.
City's ratepayers will thus continue to foot an annual bill of about R54-million to maintain the World Cup showpiece, which only generated R14-million in revenue last year.
Announcing a pre-season game between the DHL Stormers and Boland Cavaliers at the stadium, Cape Town's mayoral committee member for events and marketing, Grant Pascoe, said the match gave many Capetonians an opportunity to experience not only rugby but the stadium itself.
Pascoe said it was better to use the stadium for music concerts and the occasional football match than leave it to decay .
But Western Province Rugby Union president Thelo Wakefield denied the match meant the team had designs on the stadium.
"I want to make this clear - this is just an away game for the Stormers," said Wakefield.
Newlands will remain the traditional home of Western Province rugby, particularly as the Cape Town Stadium lacks debenture suite accommodation .
Pascoe said the request for debenture suites could be accommodated.
There is currently a public participation process on the fate of the stadium, which ends in March.
Mayor Patricia de Lille said the city would ask for a change to a "record of decision", allowing for business activities at the venue.
No comments:
Post a Comment