Waikato Stadium

Waikato Rugby Union ( Rugby) Chiefs (Rugby) Waikato FC ( football)

The Waikato Stadium is a major football and rugby union stadium in the New Zealand city of Hamilton. It has 26,350 seats and standing places, the capacity can be expanded to 30,000 spectators when needed.

In the stadium, owned by the city of Hamilton, three teams have home:

• The Waikato Rugby Union in the National Rugby Championship Air New Zealand Cup
• The Chiefs in the Super 14 international rugby championship
• Waikato FC in the Football Championship New Zealand Football Championship

In addition, here are held sporadically matches involving the All Blacks and home games of the Australian Rugby League side Parramatta Eels.

Was built in the Waikato Stadium on the grounds of the former Rugby Park stadium. In 1996, the city of Hamilton plans, both the Rugby Park and the Cricket Stadium Westpac to replace Park by a single new building. Later it turned out that the city could contribute only 27 million NZD instead of the required 52 million. The city council decided to build two smaller stages, thereby reducing the cost to 30 million.

Construction began in 2000 and were completed in late 2001. The first game in the new stadium took place between the Chiefs and the Crusaders on 1 March 2002.