Major music festivals like Splendor in the Grass are dropping like flies due to a lack of ticket sales, so it’s no wonder football fans are wondering why event organizers think Storm star, Cameron Munster, can fill an entire stadium.
The five-eighth Melbourne Storm will celebrate their 200th NRL game this weekend, a major milestone in a career that also included 18 appearances for Queensland and 11 caps for Australia.
He has also announced the imminent arrival of his third child with his wife Bianca McMahon.
And now he’s been booked for a puzzling event at the Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast on May 25 called Open Air Live.
Munster will play his 200th NRL game for the Melbourne Storm this weekend in a major milestone for the Rockhampton country boy.
It’s a big week for Munster, who has also announced that his wife Bianca is expecting their third child.
Munster is a popular NRL personality, but fans have questioned whether he has the pulling power to put on a one-man show in a stadium.
In a difficult economic climate, popular Australian music festivals such as Splendor in the Grass and Groovin’ the Moo have closed due to poor ticket sales.
However, the events company that runs Open Air Live believes Munster is a big enough draw to draw a massive crowd to the stadium on its own.
The event will be hosted by Major Events Live, who hosted the first Open Air Live event in December with Matildas stars Alanna Kennedy, Mackenzie Arnold and Caitlin Foord at Sydney’s Commbank Stadium.
That event came on the heels of the Matildas’ giant-killing streak at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, where they broke attendance records and enjoyed historic levels of support.
Even then, the Matildas stars were only able to draw a modest crowd with the vast majority of seats empty in the 30,000-capacity stadium.
Now Munster are hoping to attract a bigger crowd as the headline act of the second Open Air Live event.
Image: The promotion for the Open Air Live event with Cameron Munster that has been circulating on social media.
The response so far hasn’t been great, with only two people saying they will attend on Facebook.
As of April 30, only two people had confirmed their attendance on Facebook.
And football fans have begun to wonder why Munster has been installed as the headline act at a stadium event.
“Surely no one serious is going to do this,” one fan posted.
‘What are you going to talk about?’ asked another.
‘Is this like the rugby league version of The Full Monty?’ asked another.
To answer the last question, no, there will be no nudity.
Instead, it is marketed as a family event offering a variety of entertainment.
The event will be hosted by former NRL star and current NRL360 co-host Braith Anasta and will also feature a live DJ, interactive on-field activities and cheerleading.
Both Anasta and Kennedy have promoted the Instagram marketing post in a bid to garner more support.
CommBank Stadium in Sydney was almost empty when Matildas stars Alanna Kennedy, Mackenzie Arnold and Caitlin Foord headlined the first Open Air Live event.
A small but dedicated group of Matildas fans were able to watch their World Cup heroes perform drills against each other and take part in a question and answer session.
Fans are wondering how Cameron Munster are going to attract fans to a stadium event if the Matildas couldn’t, even after their World Cup heroics.
There were problems with the first event as well.
And although the crowd was modest for a stadium event, fans complained there were too many people to meet and greet the Matlidas stars.
‘The meet and greet was a disaster. You sold too many tickets for that,” one fan posted on Instagram.
“It’s not fair to the players or the people who bought them. It took too long.
“We had little kids who were excited at first, but by the time we met them, everyone was over it, including the players.”
Fans also complained about delays in receiving professional photographs taken at the event with the three Matildas.
‘Any update on the photos? No response to emails and now it’s Friday after saying the link will be sent on Friday last week then changed to Wednesday this week and still waiting? Thank you,” one fan posted.
The organizers then posted that they would send them a link.
