Innovation key to surviving pandemic - ILT Stadium boss

After a horror start to 2022, ILT Stadium Southland general manager Nigel Skelt is putting a premium on innovation to survive what he hopes is a pinch point in the pandemic.

This year was looking to be a special one for Southland’s major indoor community and events space until the move into the red setting of the Covid Protection Framework and a 100 person limit on events.

“It was our biggest event programme ever on record for 2022, we were set to host just on 90 events,” Skelt says.

“Since we came back in the new year we have had cancellation after cancellation.”

To put that into context, 65 percent of the stadium’s income comes from events.

Last month the stadium should have been hosting the Schick 3x3 Cup, a short-form basketball festival which would have included some of the best players in the country and hours of nationally televised exposure for Invercargill. It was the third time organisers have had to postpone due to impacts of the pandemic. They are hopeful of being fourth-time lucky in October.

“It has a massive financial impact, but an even bigger impact on the mental health of the staff, which is my major concern,” Skelt says.

“When our staff put so much energy and enthusiasm into working with promoters to bring events to the deep south, and 3x3 being a classic example being cancelled three times, the human resource that’s gone into that has been horrific.

“We’ve got lots of support structures in place for the staff, but it’s pretty difficult when you are looking at a blank calendar until mid-April.”

No one knows who coined the term ‘necessity is the mother of invention’, but Skelt fully understands the sentiment.

The stadium has hosted painting and wine evenings, makeup tutorials, laser tag and gaming.

Body painting, a return of the Blue Light disco and offering youth more options on a Saturday night are on the table. Nothing is really off the table, to be fair.

Skelt is sensitive to the struggles that sports are undergoing in the current environment, but he would encourage them to also think differently about their offering, at least in the short term.

“Can we create something else? Let’s be innovative - it’s only for a short period of time and we will come back stronger. It’s not about the financial dollar, it’s about getting something going again and getting on with it. There are lots of challenges, but the team have been incredibly responsive.”

Skelt is less enamoured by the isolated abuse his staff have received, some of it physical, from disgruntled patrons unhappy at the stadium’s rules on My Vaccine Passes and masks.

“It’s not fair to expect young staff to have to put up with that, and there has been some physical abuse. There’s an added financial cost with that and that’s been huge because we didn’t budget for that,” he says.

“You have to have special people on the door doing that role, but what it has done is ensured the community can feel safer coming here because everyone is double-vaxxed and masked. We believe we are creating the best, safest environment we can under the regulations.”

It’s an environment Skelt has offered to both netball and basketball in the event the ANZ Premiership or National Basketball League were forced to go into a Super Rugby-like bubble.

“It’s the logistics of getting all those teams down to the deep south, but there’s no question the facilities and the accommodation all tick every box. It’s really about whether the financial model works. We’ve got plenty of changing rooms, practice courts, entries and exits.

“Is it a long shot? We aren’t a starting favourite, but if it had to come to that we’d be a great option.”