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January 20, 2025 6 mins

Discussions have begun about future events after SailGP brought Kiwi fans to Auckland's waterfront in droves.

Over 25,000 spectators turned up for yesterday and Saturday's regattas.

Promoter Dean Lonergan joined Piney to explain why New Zealand needs to keep up the momentum.

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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Duncie Wildergrave
from Newstalks EDB. The Right Call is your call on
oh eight hundred and eighty to eighty Sports Talk Call
on your home of Sports News Talks EDB.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Over the weekend, more than twenty five thousand people attended
the inaugural Auckland leg of sau GP, and that doesn't
include those who are watching on and bars and cafes
around the viaduct and out on the water. CEO of SUGP,
Sir Russell Coots, has signaled interest in a long term deal.
Let's bring in one of New Zealand's biggest and best
events promoters. Also former professional rugby league player with the

(00:45):
Camera Raiders and kiwi's representative of course as well, Dean Lonegan. Dean,
first of all, what did you make of SAUGP in
Auckland over the weekend? Would you label it as success?

Speaker 3 (00:56):
I would label a massive success. I think there's a
great synergy between Auckland and the water and particularly sailing.
You know, we're not called the City Sales for nothing,
so it's a perfect kind of event. Seeing we didn't
have the America's Cup to have here and I think
you know, those boats are absolute rocket ships on the water.
It's quite incredible watching them go. It's a great way
to show off Auckland Harbor and ogi's broadcast all around

(01:18):
the world to all sorts of different countries now and
all sorts of different formats. You're going to have to
have a whole lot of stuff cut up social media
which is also distributed, and it brings a lot of
people into town and they've been in the events business.
That's a sort of event you want to see, you know,
the feeds and the publican feeds and the restaurants.

Speaker 4 (01:35):
It feeds into.

Speaker 3 (01:35):
Taxis and the hotel room nights and of course on
the same night we had Combs the two nights selling
out Bloody Eden Park. So Auckland City you're doing a
good job to attract some of the major events. It'd
be nice to see them have a bit more money
to get a bit more in, but they do. They
do their best on a limited budget.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
Auckland City Council contributed one million dollars to sal GP.
Is that a good investment?

Speaker 4 (01:56):
Personal opinion is yes, one hundred percent.

Speaker 3 (01:58):
You know because sale GP in particular or sailing brings
a certain high end of town from all over the place.
So you know, at the end of the day, the
metrics that they run, how many hotel rooms were full.

Speaker 4 (02:09):
That running at the same.

Speaker 3 (02:10):
Day as Luke Combs was probably, I don't know, to
stroke a genius or it could have been spreads done separately.
But my personal opinion, it's a great investment and it's
a great way to show off Auckland Harbor, which is
what major events in the city do.

Speaker 2 (02:24):
Of course, the counterpoint to this as always that rate
payer money would be better used elsewhere. What's your response
to that view, Well.

Speaker 3 (02:32):
You know, rate payer money. It's not as if we
get a million dollars in a rate payer funding. And
that's what it goes to is events. It spread across
a huge amount of stuff, from building public toilets to
parks to improving roadways. All sorts of money gets spent,
all sorts of different places. And of course, coming from
the event industry and wanted to see a vibrant city,
I'd like to see a lot more. I've got to

(02:53):
be honest, I would love to see And this happens
in Las Vegas, it happened in New York, A bed
tax put on every single hotel and it's spent sold
in New Zealand or sold in Auckland, that gets contributed,
you know, putting one to or three dollars per roam
room night as a bad tax against hotels and airbnbs
just quietly. But I think you'd see a whole lot
more revenue raised to be put back straight into the

(03:16):
creation of great events here. And I think I'm bringing
great events here and I think i'd lot to see
a combination of tax per funded events as well as
you know, the bed tax. But that seems to be
pretty controversial and apparently hotel is they can't understand. They
seem to think it's going to cost them room nights
when a three dollar charge goes on a two and
fifty dollars room night. So I don't understand with the

(03:36):
resistance to it, but it is what it is.

Speaker 4 (03:38):
You know.

Speaker 2 (03:38):
I think Wayne Brown's on record of saying he's in
favor of that as well. Dean, do you think there's
any likelihood of it happening.

Speaker 3 (03:45):
Well, from what I can understand, in the council, the
mayor and Wayne Brown are only one vote. But I
think Wayne Brown's a bit of a genius and I'd
love to see him get an initiative like that through
while maintaining the current level of taxpayer funded or ratepayer
funded for events, because made if you want to have
a vibrant city, you've got to have events happening.

Speaker 4 (04:04):
And the bigger the cities you go through.

Speaker 3 (04:06):
Like to look at say New South Wales as an example,
their event budget per year is something like one hundred
and eighty million dollars. Same visit Victorian in Victoria in Australia.
So our guys are up against those sorts of budgets
to try and attract events here.

Speaker 4 (04:19):
So it's a hard road to home.

Speaker 3 (04:21):
And the more money you've got to put into funds
that allow events to come here, the better it's going
to be for the vibrancy the city and ultimately economically
sound business.

Speaker 2 (04:31):
Well let's go from ratepayer to taxpayer money. What do
you view on central government, Dean being more active, even proactive,
in bringing big events to New Zealand.

Speaker 3 (04:40):
I'm not going to argue with you there on that one, Pliny.

Speaker 4 (04:43):
I'd like to see more of it.

Speaker 3 (04:44):
I personally think the ten million dollars at the Major
Events Fund has got as nothing short or pathetic when
you've put it up against the single states of Australia,
you know, where they've got one hundred and eighty million
dollars per state to spend on events, and it makes
it difficult to attract major events. But on the flip
side of the corn, they have special funding for special events.
When a woman's Rugby World Cup came here, I think

(05:06):
they the usually gave up put one hundred million dollars
in there. And also we've had the you know, the
Rugby World Cup in the past, so you know, they
do when when it's required.

Speaker 4 (05:15):
They do come to the party.

Speaker 3 (05:16):
And of course the controversy of the America's Cup was
held here, it was certainly funded centrally by a huge
amount of money. So they do step up when they
need to. But I'd like, again, because I'm in the industry,
I'd like to see more of it done.

Speaker 2 (05:27):
And you alluded to it before, but how important are
major events to the overall vibe of a big city.

Speaker 3 (05:34):
Well, if you have they're incredibly important, you know, And
if you have a look at what's happening internationally with
major events, you know, particularly for right now, Saudi Arabia
they're sport washing for one of the better terms. But
they're trying to trying to bring their vibrancy to the
the Saudi that they don't currently have, and they're doing
through events, and they're doing a huge amount in boxing.
I wouldn't surprise me if they try and score a

(05:55):
Soccer World Cup there, and they're not too distant future
in a number of other major events because they've got
the one thing that events desperately need an event organizer.

Speaker 4 (06:02):
The it's money. So it comes down to you know.

Speaker 3 (06:05):
What, what do you got That is different, but on
the whole, basically money is the driver of these things,
and money creates money when it comes to events, So
you just got to I think you've got to invest
and keep investing, and you've got to try and find
it from all over the place because it's politically sensitive
and some people like it but some people don't. But
ultimately it creates jobs and that's how you really at
to the vibrancy of the city.

Speaker 2 (06:25):
Plenty of fod for thought, Dan, thanks as always for
joining us here on ZEDB.

Speaker 4 (06:29):
Always a pleasing jas.

Speaker 2 (06:30):
Thanks mate, Dean Lonigan.

Speaker 1 (06:31):
There for more from sports Talk, listen live to News
talk zed B from seven pm weekdays, or follow the
podcast on iHeartRadio.
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