National Stadium bid already fatiguing Aucklanders
If you’re feeling bombarded by Auckland’s “National Stadium Debate”, I have bad news . . . it’s not going away.
The committee formed to provide a recommendation to the Auckland council on its future stadia strategy has already delayed that until the end of next month.
Then the councillors get their say. That will ensure the NSD drama drags through most of the rest of this year. Oh, joy.
The Herald’s Chris Rattue this week aptly summed up the “stadium fatigue” Aucklanders are already feeling. And it’s only February.
But here’s a plea from somebody who is now into the second decade of the interminable Eden Park v The Waterfront saga and watched in despair during the years ahead of the
2011 World Cup final as council waved away an offer from Labour’s Trevor Mallard to build a decent stadium.
Hang in there because there’s a lot at stake. And, encouragingly, it also seems Mayor Wayne Brown is determined to flush out some councillors’ misplaced parochial interests which are costing Aucklanders money.
So here are three simple guidelines that, amid the blur of racy renders and creative accounting, might assist in staying focused on what the real issues are in this debate . . .
1 Remember your history
This is particularly relevant when it comes to Eden Park and the council itself.
Eden Park was referred to as “the elephant in the room” in an independent review of Auckland’s Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs), secretly presented to councillors behind closed doors in February 2019 — meaning it was penned more than five years ago.
The report noted that as an independently-owned stadium, Eden Park sits outside the CCOs mandate.
Yet the stadium had a huge influence on what it could and couldn’t do while representing a massive financial liability to the council because it requires council funding to operate and doesn’t have cash for maintenance and expansion.
It also pointed out that “despite this considerable financial help” from council, it appoints none of the nine directors to the Eden Park Trust Board.
“In short, Eden Park, like the Auckland War Memorial Museum, enjoys the protection of special legislation, is heavily funded by the council but is not accountable to it or ratepayers,” the report noted.
The year before the report, the council’s chief executive had tried and failed to work out an agreement with the Eden Park Trust that would allow it to be run alongside a joint venture with Auckland’s three other main stadiums while still leaving ownership in the trust’s hands.
That was a sensible and logical direction to take, one adopted about that time in 2020 when the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust and Venues NSW merged under one board.
Sydneysiders now have a sports precinct (AFL, NRL, A-League, Super Rugby, cricket) in Moore Park that Aucklanders can only gaze upon from this side of the Ditch with envy.
2
Do the maths: We can’t afford four stadiums
The same confidential report also made it clear to councillors Auckland did not need — and could not afford — four major sports stadiums (Eden Park, Western
Springs, Albany and Mt Smart).
And that sitting on their hands was not an option for councillors.
It highlighted multiple issues with the city’s stadium stock beyond just Eden Park, including roof and stand issues at Mt Smart and Albany, and warned of the council suffering “financial and reputational risks” if it continued to procrastinate.
Then this biggie: Doing nothing would commit the council to a capital spend of more than $600m over the next 20 years versus just over $300m if it implements a new venue development strategy.
Remember this report and recommendation is now more than five years old and nothing has happened. No wonder the mayor isn’t happy.
That $600m forecast capex was also made before Eden Park presented itself to the public to try to remain a contender in the National Stadium Debate.
Add in the post-Cyclone Gabrielle remedial work needed at Western Springs of up to $120m and upgrades to Mt Smart and a couple of parochial North Shore-based councillors trying to save Albany . . . you get my drift.
The cost to the ratepayer of keeping the status quo and supporting Eden Park in the national stadium debate is terrifying and not being made clear to the public.
It also means it will be cheaper to build a new stadium on the waterfront than sticking with what we’ve got.
One last thing with Eden Park: the smoke and mirrors around how it recently reported its financials is warning enough of treating its campaign with ongoing cynicism.
What its reporting conveniently ignores is that in the statutory accounts, it posted a $21m-plus deficit versus a $3.6m deficit in the previous year. By avoiding interest, depreciation and impairments in the public relations puffery, it clouds the bigger picture.
3 For God’s sake, show some vision
Okay, this is less a guideline and more a personal view.
I got an email from an acquaintance this week with a subject headline reading: “Even Uzbekistan is getting a new stadium”
It’s bemusing but in reality it’s embarrassing.
Auckland is the only major city in Australasia not to have either built a new major sports stadium or significantly restructured one in the past 25 years.
Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington . . . even Townsville are already doing it or have done it.
For those reasons alone — let alone the false economics of continuing the funding of Eden Park and three other stadiums — we must run with a waterfront option.
Two of the three on the table are compelling (I am told the fanciful “Crater” below sea level Bledisloe Wharf venture is dead in the water with the council as an option).
That leaves the long-running Quay St campaign which last week issued a blizzard of beautiful renders and convincing narrative for its proposal, and the somewhat late-to-the-party but noteworthy Wynyard Point/Tank Farm bid.
It’s a pity that when the Quay Park option first began fermenting in 2017 with project lead, former Warriors chief executive Jim Doyle, that the Tank Farm was not available for consideration due to the America’s Cup defence.
That has changed and early suggestions are its bid, led here by former New Zealand Rugby board member Richard Dellabarca, can be delivered at a lower cost in a site that is arguably more iconic than the other end of the waterfront.
In some ways, it’s a pity those involved in both bids can’t combine forces and settle on the best site and outcome for the Auckland public.
NRL bid’s Vegas reveal
While on stadia talk, the backers of the South Island bid to join the NRL will reveal more detail of the expansion campaign in Las Vegas when the competition hosts an historic double header at Allegiant Stadium — the same venue that just hosted the Super Bowl.
The Sydney Roosters and Brisbane Broncos will square off, with Russell Crowe’s South Sydney Rabbitohs and Manly Sea Eagles clashing in the other game on March 2.
Hollywood actor Crowe has been the face of the NRL video campaign trying to woo Americans to fill the iconic Vegas stadium.
In the ad, Crowe explains the basic rules of league to Americans. Lucky it wasn’t rugby, or the ad would have been longer than Band of Brothers.
It will be intriguing to see how many Yanks turn out at the stunning Allegiant Stadium after the “it’s football but not as we know it” focus on the collision elements of rugby league.
South Island bid boss Tony Kidd confirmed to Sports Insider following last week’s exclusive on the 2026 expansion bid that he will be in Vegas for the double header and the consortium would use the opportunity to reveal more details.
That includes their own Hollywood factor by revealing the details on the “face of the bid” teased last week. The likes of Jason Momoa, Taika Waititi and Sam Neill have been touted as possibilities.
Kidd will also use the Vegas trip as an opportunity to woo potential American investors.