Whangarei’s newest sports facility is seeking expressions of interest from local companies interested in having their name associated with the facility.

The ASB Sports Arena at Kensington Park was completed in 2012 and features the unique situation where gym sports and athletics are co-located in a state-of-the-art facility.

ASB have announced their intention to relinquish their sponsorship of the facility due to other priorities in their sponsorship portfolio, and as such the Northland Athletics and Gymnastics Stadium Trust (NAGST) board are interested in talking to local companies about the naming rights sponsorship of the facility going forward.

NAGST is a charitable trust that owns and governs the $6m facility, which was completed in 2012 to complement the existing all-weather athletics track (that had previously been constructed in 2010).

The sports arena is home to both Athletics Whangarei and Whangarei Academy of Gymnastics, who, as major tenants of the facility, operate their own areas that cater for their respective sports.

The facility rivals any other throughout the country; in fact, the board believes that this facility is truly unique and a first of its kind in NZ – nowhere else have the ‘foundation’ sports of gym sports and athletics combined to co-locate in one facility.

The facility is particularly high-profile in the city, being located on eastern side of the ever-popular Kensington Park in central Whangarei. Over 100,000 people pass through the doors of the facility every year, in addition to the massive traffic volume that passes by on Park Ave on a daily basis – the facility is very visible and the current naming rights signage is very high profile from the road, footpath and adjacent car park.

In addition to naming rights and signage benefits, the package would also include business promotion and generation opportunities with the major tenants, especially given their big membership/participation bases.

Those companies interested should contact Board Chairman James Nair on 021 437 729 or board member Brent Markwick on 027 474 9491.