Bay of Plenty Steamers a capacity of 34,000, Rotorua International Stadium is one of the larger stadiums in New Zealand, but doesn't get the matches that will draw the crowds. It is one of the two stadiums that the Steamers use as a home field, with many considering it the home of Bay of Plenty Rugby. It is also known as "The Hangi Pit", because of the mud-pools around Rotorua. A table showing the Bay of Plenty Steamers placing in previous Air New Zealand Cup/NPC competitions. The Steamers have been unlucky at times with the Ranfurly Shield. However, 2004 saw this changed when the
Bay of Plenty in the region struggled: the climate was ill-suited to sheep farming and the geography was inaccessible, further hindered by a lack of infrastructure. By the end of the century the population had started to dwindle. But after experimenting with different crops, settlers found success with dairy production. Dairy factories sprang up across the Bay of Plenty in the 1900s, with butter and cheese feeding economic prosperity throughout the early 20th century; local Māori continued to live on the fringe of this prosperity. Timber also became a major export in the 1950s, as kiwifruit did later. The present Bay of Plenty