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When does New Zealandââ'¬â"¢s Rugby World Cup cease to be about a Stadium of 4 million, and more about a Stadium of 1.3 Million?
The catch cry from New Zealand Rugby World Cup promoters is ââ'¬Å"a Stadium of 4 Millionââ'¬Â meaning that all New Zealanders will get behind and support the event, regardless of where the games are being played.
In terms of financial backing, this is certainly the case, with the New Zealand Government, (New Zealand tax payers) under writing the expected loss generated by the event.
In terms of emotional buy in and support, yes the majority of us New Zealanders are going to support the Rugby World Cup regardless of where the games are played.
If we look at the games with regard to tourist dollars however, this is where I see the stadium size shrinking from 4 Million to somewhere closer to the greater Auckland areas population of 1.3 Million, as the event becomes more and more Auckland centric.
Most New Zealanders realise what a difficult, but probably correct decision it was to take Christchurchââ'¬â"¢s Seven games from them, and even that the two biggest games (the two quarter finals), had to go to a venue that could accommodate the ticket sales that had already been made, which really only left Auckland and Wellington as options, and Wellington is already hosting the other quarter final matches on the same day, so Wellington wasnââ'¬â"¢t really a viable logistical option, so yes, Auckland is left as the only viable option.
Where the issue gets contentious for me is what happens to the remaining five games, and in particular, the two bigger pool games, England V Argentina, and Australia V Italy.
Many are advocating, rumours abound with articles appearing on the Radio NZ website, that these two matches should now be played at North Harbour Stadium ââ'¬â€œ these people are, what I like to call ââ'¬Å"Wrongââ'¬Â
Every effort should be made to keep all five of these games in the South Island, with Dunedin being the beneficiary of two larger pool games if they have the only stadium with the capacity to hold them.
By geographically spreading the games throughout New Zealand, it truly does make the event a New Zealand event, and provides the Rugby tourist with the incentive and the opportunity to see much more of New Zealand, and not just a particular region of New Zealand. The tourist dollars get spread geographically too.
If we look at this from the people that have lost out the most (Christchurch), retaining these games in the South Island makes sense, as Christchurch is the central spot in the South Island, so they are bound to get some benefit from the fans passing North to South, and South to North.
For those Cantabrians that have been hit hard financially by the quakes, and hold tickets to these matches already, itââ'¬â"¢s also a cheaper travel option if the South Island retains the games, rather than traveling to the North Island.
My opinion might be seen by some as anti-Auckland region, but thatââ'¬â"¢s not the way I intend it to be, although you are, through no fault of your own, starting to resemble the fat kid who eat all the pies
.
Seriously though, I could just as easily have been advocating as many games as possible stay in the North of the Country, had some disaster made it necessary for Aucklandââ'¬â"¢s games, with Christchurch being the major beneficiary.
A clustered event is not as good for the whole country as one thatââ'¬â"¢s geographically split, and weââ'¬â"¢ve seen this before in New Zealand with the Americas Cup Yachting regattas of the 1990ââ'¬â"¢s, while most of New Zealand got behind Team New Zealand, the beneficiaries in terms of tourist dollars, was the host region, and not the rest of New Zealand.
As my final words on this blog, I want to make a disclaimer of sorts ââ'¬â€œ I am not a Politician that will gain any advantage by these games being played anywhere in particular, Iââ'¬â"¢m not employed by a tourism board, I am unlikely to see any RWC game live, no matter where itââ'¬â"¢s played ââ'¬Â¦ In short, I have no vested interest in where these games are played ââ'¬â€œ If you are going to New Zealand to see these games,have a great time, and I hope you get to see as much off the country you possibly can, itââ'¬â"¢s a great place.
