Venues veteran Guy Ngata – former Chief Executive of Coca-Cola Arena Dubai – joined Live Nation in a key new trans-Tasman position (between Australia and New Zealand).
‘The Industry Observer’ stated that Ngata has been named Senior Vice-President, Venue Development, Australia and New Zealand, reporting to Roger Field, President of Live Nation Asia-Pacific.
California (US)-headquartered the Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. is an American global entertainment company that was founded in 2010 following the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. The company promotes, operates and manages ticket sales for live entertainment in the United States and internationally.
‘The Industry Observer’ further stated that Live Nation poaches the New Zealand-born executive Ngata from ASM Global (previously AEG Ogden), where he most recently served as the CEO of the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai.
Prior to that, he served in high-level positions in Shanghai (China) at the 18,000-capacity Mercedes-Benz Arena and Sydney’s (Australia) 21,000-capacity Qudos Bank Arena (then Allphones Arena) along with both the 12,000-capacity Spark Arena and the 50,000-capacity Eden Park stadium in his hometown of Auckland (New Zealand).
During his career, Ngata and the arenas he managed have been recognized in the Billboard Touring Awards.
With Ngata serving as CEO of Eden Park – New Zealand’s biggest stadium – the venue in 2016 recorded its most profitable year outside of a World Cup year.
Commented Ngata, “Live Nation is a world-class venue operator with a proven track record of establishing industry-leading venues that artistes and fans love, and I’m thrilled to be joining at a time of immense opportunity and growth.”
At Live Nation, Ngata will be responsible for building the live entertainment giant’s venue portfolio across Australia and New Zealand and he’ll lead the company’s tenders and bids for upcoming arena projects in Australia.
On his to-do list is the Brisbane Arena tender ahead of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games, which will see Live Nation partner with the Los Angeles (US)-based Oak View Group (OVG), the global venue development, advisory, and investment company, and Plenary Group, Australia’s leading independent long-term investor, developer and manager of public infrastructure.
Alongside Ngata’s appointment, Richard Tsuchida is named Venue Director Japan, reporting to Kei Ikuta, Managing Director of Live Nation Japan, and working closely with Greg Gillin, Senior Vice-President Venue Development for Asia.
Tsuchida comes to the live entertainment industry with a CV stuffed with real estate business development positions for global brands including Gucci, H&M and Coldwell Banker Richard Ellis (CBRE).
Commented Field, “A huge welcome to Guy and Richard to the Live Nation family. With several existing projects in the pipeline, their combined experience and knowledge will greatly enhance our existing venue team to propel and drive our venue development strategy to the next level, with the most compelling proposition for venue construction, operations and management throughout the Asia-Pacific.”
Live Nation also promotes Mark Graham, currently Vice-President of Venue Development, to the new role as Senior Vice-President Venue Mobilization and Operations APAC, with duties for the operational rollout and the advancement and sustainability of the group’s venues.
In related news, Live Nation recently unveiled a partnership with Foxtel’s (Australian pay television company) rewards program.
Through this new arrangement, Foxtel Rewards members can vie for VIP meet-and-greets, invitations to exclusive pre-show parties and reserved ticket allocations for Live Nation’s live events.
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