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For the cricket venue in Hamilton, New Zealand, see Westpac Park.

Westpac Stadium
"The Cake Tin" or "The Ring of Fire"
Location	Wellington, New Zealand
Coordinates	41°16′22.84″S, 174°47′8.91″E
Broke ground	1998-03-12
Opened	2000-01-03
Owner	Wellington Regional Stadium Trust
Operator	Wellington Regional Stadium Trust
Surface	Grass
Construction cost	$130 million NZD
Architect	Architecture Warren & Mahoney Ltd, Bligh Lobb Sports Architecture
Project Manager	Beca Carter Hollings & Ferner Ltd
Main Contractors	Fletcher Construction Ltd
Former names	WestpacTrust Stadium
Tenants
Hurricanes (Super 14) Wellington Rugby Football Union (Air New Zealand Cup) Wellington Firebirds (State Shield) Wellington Phoenix (A-League) (2007 - ) University of Otago[1]
Capacity
36,000; ~40,000 with temporary seating
Dimensions
Length (North to South) 235 metres, Width (West to East) 185 metres

Westpac Stadium, previously known as WestpacTrust Stadium, is a major sporting venue in Wellington, New Zealand. Due to its shape, it is colloquially known as The Cake-Tin in other parts of New Zealand, although the locals refer to it by either its proper name or simply as The Stadium. Fans of football (soccer) team Wellington Phoenix refer to the stadium as The Ring of Fire. The stadium was built in 1999 by Fletcher Construction^[2] and is situated close to major transport facilities (such as Wellington Railway Station) one kilometre north of the CBD. It was built on reclaimed railway land, which was surplus to requirements.

The stadium has a capacity of nearly 36,000 including the corporate boxes; 40,000 with temporary seating. It was built to replace Athletic Park, the city’s old rugby stadium, which had fallen into disrepair and was poorly situated for the demands of modern sport. It has since been redeveloped for residential use.

The stadium is a multi-purpose facility, though used mainly for rugby union and one-day cricket. It is the home of the Wellington Air New Zealand Cup and the Hurricanes Super 14 teams and is the home venue for the Wellington Phoenix for A-League games. The stadium has also been used for rugby league matches. Australian rules football exhibition matches were played in 2000 and 2001.

In 2000, The Westpac Stadium had the honour of hosting the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. This was the first time the event was hosted outside of Edinburgh, Scotland.

During a cricket match, director Peter Jackson recorded 30000 fans chanting in Black Speech for the sound of 10000 chanting Uruk-hai during the Battle of Helms Deep in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

2006 events at the stadium have included a concert by The Rolling Stones which ended the Australasian leg of their A Bigger Bang World Tour, and World Wrestling Entertainment's first ever New Zealand show, part of the WWE Smackdown! Road to Wrestlemania Tour (March 4th).

On October 14, 2007, Australia defeated New Zealand 58-0 in the Centenary Test rugby league game.

On December 1, 2007, the stadium hosted a game between Wellington Phoenix and Los Angeles Galaxy. The Galaxy win 4-1 in front of over 32,000 fans, the largest crowd for a football (soccer) game in New Zealand since 1981.^{[citation needed]}

Crowds filling in before a Tri Nations match

The Stadium entrance

The stadium during a One Day Cricket match in January 2005.

• Basin Reserve - Wellington's other international cricket ground

• Westpac Stadium website
• Cricinfo Westpac Stadium page
• Official website
• Westpac Stadium at Austadiums