Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
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Speaker 2 (00:16):
On the line is Professor Mark Ormcy is a former
New Zealand and World Champion sailor Team New Zealand member, author,
environmentalist and professor of Sport and Recreation at the Auckland
University of Technology. Very great to have you on this afternoon.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Mark, Yeah, afternoon.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
So when it comes to sale GP and the future
of that event in Auckland, are you a supporter of
ratepayer money going into supporting this event going forward?
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Well, certainly as a sailor, a lifelong sailor and sailing fan,
I am. But when I put my sort of academic,
more analytical hat on, I think a key thing is
and this is true for any event, irrespective of whether
it's a sporting event or other kind of entertainment special event.
When you're using rate payers or taxpayers money, it needs
to be really clear what the return on that investment is.
(01:04):
And we know that an event's portfolio can be a
really positive thing for our economy. Certainly, the vibe over
the weekend in Auckland I don't think we've experienced since
pre COVID times. And yeah, we've got to remember that
Auckland was locked down longer than anywhere else in the country,
and especially the hospitality industry really needed the shot in
the arm that this last weekend gave us with sale GP,
(01:27):
with the Luke Comb's concert, with Auckland FC having a
home game, So we had this real sense of vibrancy
and energy and positivity. And that's hard to put some
numbers on, but it's certainly part of the picture of
making an investment in special events like this.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
Yeah, and as this Texas says here, we went to
the viaduct and watched SALGP on the big screen and
could screen and could see the boats as they went by.
It was awesome and free. So it is there is
an experience that people in Auckland can have. How profitable
is the sale GP enterprise across the world because it's
(02:03):
traveling everywhere through that whole year. You got eleven teams
in there. Are they making a lot of money? I
know a lot of money has been pumped into it,
but is it a successful undertaking?
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Well, yeah, I guess it depends on your perspective. It's
successful in terms of its growth I mean it started
off as an idea hatched by Russell Coots and Larry
Allison off the back of the loss of the America's
Cup to New Zealand and twenty sixteen of coming up
with an alternative professional sailing circuit that in many ways,
they looked at other successful models like Moto GP, Formula one,
(02:37):
other professional sporting franchises and went ahead and said, with
Larry Allison's significant backing, let's give this five years and
see if we can turn it into a commercially viable
sports entertainment product. Now they're well on the way to
achieving that, and that's out of all of the teams
that they have, and remembering they've added teams over time,
(02:58):
all but two of them are independently funded. They're numbers
internationally in terms of the viewership and therefore attracting sponsors.
Rolex we've seen on the Weekend and others and other
events is really growing. So they're doing the work needed
to create something that's commercially successful longer term. I think
(03:20):
they're on the verge of that, but it has really
required a long term and substantive investment by Larry Ellison
to get to this point.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Is it easier to cater for in terms of setting
up from ratepayer funding and the event itself than the
likes of America's Cup. Clearly there's been a lot of
controversy over the hosting and not hosting of America's Cup
in Auckland, But for this event in particular, sale GP,
is this a lot easier to I suppose set up
as a long term event.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
I think it's easier in the sense that it's a
lot more regular. I'm one of the big challenges with
the America's Cup is that it only happens every three
or four years and for a couple of weeks, right,
So that from a commercial sponsorship point of view, is
not a particularly attractive proposition, Whereas sale GP now is
a year long, multi city, multi event franchise where if
(04:10):
you buy in as a sponsor, you're guarantee to not
only get the exposure that you're looking for from that
investment on a long term basis, you've also got multiple
events where you can leverridge off with your clients and
your supporters and your staff as well. So it's not
just about promotion of your brand, it's all the other
things that you can Leverridge off it. So the Sale
(04:32):
GP from a commercial perspective, is a far more viable
proposition than the America's Cup that only happens every three
or four years, and there's no guarantee of where it's
going to go depending on who wins it the next time.
So that's the beauty about the Sale GP product. I
think it's just a more compelling commercial proposition for sponsors
(04:52):
and host cities.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
Wet Mike Oran's a ut sailing professor. So yeah, as
you say, is Auckland, Sydney this year, the SALGP Los Angeles,
San Francisco, They're going to Brazil, they go to New York,
They're going to the UK, all over over the shop Geneva,
they are in the At least it's a global thing.
It's happening all year that there's a huge excitement level.
(05:14):
There's eleven teams. Is it sucking the life out of
the America's Cup?
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Yeah, that's a really good question, isn't it. I mean
the people would say it, including Sir Russell Coots is
the ce of Sale GP says, well, it's an alternative
and not a competitor to the America's Cup. But I
think in reality, there is a competition going on for
what is the pre eminent competitive sailing product out there globally.
(05:40):
The thing that sale GP doesn't have is the one
hundred and eighty year history that the America's Cup has.
But yeah, obviously it's a new product, sale GP. But
it's growing in its success and you have to start somewhere.
And I from my perspective, I just see the growth.
I mean, I understand the viewership now has grown to
something like over two hundred and twenty million viewers internationally.
(06:04):
Now that's substantive for what is really a niche sport.
So you know, the vast majority of those viewers are
not sailors, the people who are entertained by what they're seeing,
the splash and the crash, the sort of the competition
where you don't know who's going to win from one
competition to the next. And that's really what sporting entertainment
(06:25):
in the global marketplace is all about now. So sale
GPS making great inroads. You can never replace the it's
a little bit analogous quite frankly to the Rand Furly shield, right,
you can't replace that history in rugby, but the super
rugby kind of product arguably has become a more high
profile competitive professional rugby event than the Rand Furly Shield,
(06:48):
so perhaps there's an analogy there for where things might
go Sale GP versus the America's Cup.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
Oh, thank you so much for your time. Mark Aram's
a ut sailing professor.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
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