Over 20,000 international visitors are expected to follow the Lions tour around New Zealand.
International broadcast of matches will also reach over 200 million people. Whangarei, Auckland, Hamilton, Rotorua, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin will all be hosting matches and this provides opportunity for local hospitality operators to identify ways to capitalise on the extra foot traffic and associated wallet-opening that will follow. This will hopefully have a flow on effect for those regions outside the host cities as in past years.
Click here for the full schedule.
Things you need to know:
1. The Series has been declared a Major Event under the Major Events Management Act 2007 to protect the rights of the event owner, organiser and sponsors. By protecting the commercial rights of event owners and sponsors, the Act helps to make New Zealand an attractive event host. Businesses don’t need to be an official sponsor of this event to benefit from it. There are many different ways to get involved, particularly through increased business-as-usual trade.
If your business is within the clean zone, you can support the event the same way any other business can, as long as you aren’t using protected words and emblems or suggesting an association that doesn’t exist. See if the Act applies to your business by either reading the detailed guide or a quick guide here.
Summary:
When an event is declared a ‘major event’, the legal protections offered by the MEMA prevent unauthorised commercial exploitation by prohibiting the following unauthorised commercial associations:
- representations that suggest individuals, businesses, brands, goods or services have an association with the major event when they do not.
- advertising and promotional activity (including in declared clean zones or transport routes (if any)) that intrudes on the major event activities and/or the attention of the associated audience.
- activities that might compromise the smooth running of the major event such as ticket scalping and pitch invasion.
Certain emblems and words are prohibited to be used during the event except by official sponsors or organisers of the event.
2. A number of areas have been declared clean zones during the event which means that unless your business is located inside one of these areas you are prohibited from unauthorised advertising within their bounds. If your business is located inside a clean zone you are only prohibited to advertise as you would under ordinary circumstances.
A quick guide on the prohibited emblems and words along with maps of each Clean Zone for DHS NZ Lions Series 2017 is available here .
Additionally, a more detailed explanation of the restrictions that Major Events impose can be found in the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s (MBIE) Guide to the Major Events Management Act 2009.