New GM for Sydney’s Allphones Arena

Venue operator AEG Ogden has moved one of its long time executives, Steve Hevern, current GM of Sydney’s Qantas Credit Union Arena, to head its other Sydney venue Allphones Arena.

He replaces Guy Ngata who, after thee years, is returning to New Zealand to run its biggest stadium.

Hevern in fact began his career at Allphones Arena in 1999, when it was the SuperDome, in building services and operations management roles. He had executive stints at the Sydney Entertainment Centre (now Qantas Credit Union Arena), Auckland’s Vector Arena and Beijing Olympic Basketball Arena (now Mastercard Arena).

He served for a year as interim GM of the AEG Ogden-run Perth Arena following the death of its inaugural GM David Humphreys before taking over the top job at the Qantas Credit Union Arena in December 2013.

Harvey Lister, Chairman and CEO of AEG Ogden, said, "Steve is an outstanding venue manager and has been one of company’s real success stories.

“He has done magnificently in difficult circumstances in his General Manager roles at Perth Arena and Qantas Credit Union Arena and he has earned the opportunity to manage one of the most prestigious and successful arenas in the country.

“I’m confident of him building on its success. Steve embodies the AEG Ogden culture and is an ideal fit for the venue and the team.”

Hevern starts his new post on December 21 after overseeing the closure in December of Qantas Credit Union Arena at which Elton John and Cold Chisel will play its final shows. After 32 years, and 4000 shows which drew 27 million people, the venue will be knocked down to make way for a new multipurpose entertainment facility to open in 2016 as part of the new International Convention Centre (ICC Sydney) precinct.

Nagata will stay at Allphones Arena until December 18. On January 1 he begins as CEO of the Eden Park Trust. It operates the 50,000-capacty sports and entertainment Eden Park Stadium in Auckland.

New Zealand-born Ngata, who started as a rugby coach, worked at Auckland’s Vector Arena, first as Operations Manager between March 2006 to April 2007, and then as its CEO from April 2007 to February 2010. He headed the Mercedes Benz Arena in Shanghai for almost three years before beginning the Allphones Arena tenure in September 2012.

He recently said, “The roar of the crowds is one of the sweetest sounds.”

AEG Ogden’s Lister acknowledged Ngata’s “tremendous job in the past three years in establishing Allphones Arena as one of the most successful worldwide. We wish him every success in his new role at Eden Park.”