Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Wildergrave
from News Talk SEDB. You hear it from the biggest
names in sports on your home of sports sports Talk.
It's DJ Gunnerholmes, New Zealand's first trusted homebuilder, News Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Ed B Sheldy.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Good evening and welcome into the first edition of Sports
Talk on News Talk s EDB for twenty twenty five, Monday,
January twenty Happy anniversary to Wellingtonian. She've had a great day.
We're the wise to enjoy on your day off. I'm
Jason Pine Show producer Ans Millisich. We're here talking sport
until eight o'clock. What a weekend at Wynyard Point Sale
(00:56):
GP hit Auckland for the first time and by pretty
much any metric you want to choose, it was a
roaring success. Actually that's not quite true. Hold out crowd
will bring them home. They'd rather see Blackbours, but they're
going to see green and cold. As they've come to
the line. The everage pointing moment goes the way of
the Australian. Yeah, Australia one at the Black Foils didn't.
(01:19):
But in all other ways the event was superb So
how important is it now that sale GP is locked
in as an annual event in Auckland. I would say
pretty important events, Guru Dean Lonigan standing by the chapell.
It's very keen to gauge your view on this as well,
particularly those of you in the Auckland region, and if
(01:41):
you went along to Saal GP over the weekend, we'd
love to hear your experiences. Other matters around tonight, will
keep eyes on Live Sports Super Smash cricket at the
Base in Reserve, Wellington chasing two hundred and sixteen to
beat Auckland and the men's game one hundred and nineteen
for five, although they've just had a six to make
it one twenty five for five. Still a long way
(02:04):
to go though for Wellington and at five down this
is in the twelfth over, quite a bit of work
to do there. The Australian Tennis Open continues. Men's top
seed Yarnick Sinner on court right now in a battle
actually at rod Laver against Danish thirteenth seed Holger Runa
sin him on the first set, run of the second,
(02:25):
sin of the third and Runa leads one love in
the fourth. So yeah, there's still a bit of water
to flow under the bridge, and that one across on
Margaret Court Arena. It is Gail Monfie, the unseeded Frenchman
who continues to make friends everywhere he goes, winner of
the ASB Classic, of course, up against the American twenty
(02:49):
first seed Ben Shelton, three all in the first set
on Serve there and across on John Cain Arena, I'll
freely admit I had never heard of either of these
two players. And we're into round four of the men's singles.
Unseeded Italian Lorenzo Sinego up against the nineteen year old
American learner teen. He had to get through three rounds
(03:12):
of qualifying even to make the main draw then, of course,
and this jog my memory. He beat fifth seed Daniil
Medvedev in the second round. But Lorenzo Sonago, the unseeded Italian,
is currently two sets to love ahead, although ten is
up a break in the third, so we'll keep eyes
on that a bit later. On tonight on rod Laver Arena,
second seed Igish Fiontech in women's fourth round action against
(03:36):
German Eva Liss and then in the men's fourth round
Australian eighth seed in the remaining men's hope Alex de
Mineur against the unseeded American Alex Mitchelson. So we'll keep
eyes on that and also have a look ahead if
we get time to the Wellington Phoenix's A League clash
with MacArthur tonight in MacArthur kickoff at nine. In that
(03:57):
one and twenty twenty five, seize the return of Piney's
Power Rankings, rating the best, the worst and all the
in between bits of the sporting weekend. Before we close
the show at eight, please join us if you'd like
to the offerers there. Eight hundred eighty ten eighty is
our free phone number nine two nine to two for
text messages and emails them to me Jason at Newstalk
(04:17):
SB dot co dot MZ ten and a half past seven.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
The right call is your call on eight hundred eighty
ten eighty Sports Talk call on your home of Sports
News Talks EDB.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Over the weekend, more than twenty five thousand people attended
the inaugural Auckland leg of SUGP, and that doesn't include
those who are watching on and bars and cafes around
the viaduct and out on the water. CEO of SALGP,
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
(04:53):
Camera Raiders and kiwi's representative of course as well, Dean Lonegan. Dean,
first of all, what did you make of SUGP in
Auckland over the weekend? Would you label it us success?
Speaker 4 (05:04):
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 they 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. I ODI's broadcast all around
(05:25):
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 up social media, which
is also distributed, and it brings a lot of people
into town and they've.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Been in the events business.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
That's a sort of event you want to see, you know,
the feeds of the public and feeds and the restaurants,
it feeds into taxis and the hotel room nights and
of course on the same night we had Combs the
Two Knights 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.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
To get a bit more in, but they do. They
do their best on a limited budget.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
Auckland City Council contributed one million dollars to sele GP.
Is that a good investment?
Speaker 4 (06:04):
Personal opinion is yes, one hundred percent 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 2 (06:17):
That running at the.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
Same day as Luke Coombs was probably, I don't know,
to stroke a genius or it could have been spreads
done separately.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
But my personal opinion, it's a great investment and it's a.
Speaker 4 (06:28):
Great way to show off Auckland Harbor, which is what
major events in the city do.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Of course, the counterpoint to this is always that rate
payer money would be better used elsewhere. What's your response
to that view.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Well, you know, rate payer money.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
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 from 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.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
I've got to be.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
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 all night's spent sold in
New Zealand or sold in Auckland. That gets contributed, you know,
putty one to or three dollars per room night as
a bed tax against hotels and airbnbs, just quietly. But
I think it's see a whole lot more revenue raised
(07:22):
to be put back straight into the creation of great
events here.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
And I think I'm bringing.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
Great events here and I think i'd lot to see
a combination of tax payer funded events as well as
you know the bed tax, but that seems to be
pretty controversial and apparently hotel.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Is they can't understand.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
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 resistance to it, but it is what it is.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Yeah, I think Wayne Brown's on record is saying he's
in favor of that as well. Dean, do you think
there's any likelihood of it happening.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
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 pay
a funded four events because made if you want to
have a vibrant city, you've got to have events happening,
and the bigger the cities you go to, you like
(08:13):
if you have a look at say New South Wales
as an example, their event budget per year is something
like one hundred and eighty million dollar. Same visit Victorian
in Victoria in Australia. So our guys are up against
those sorts of budgets to try and attract events here.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
So it's a hard road behome. And the more money
you've got.
Speaker 4 (08:30):
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 3 (08:38):
Well let's go from ratepayer to taxpayer money. What you
view on central government Dean being more active, even proactive
in bringing big events to New Zealand.
Speaker 4 (08:48):
I'm not going to argue with you there on that one,
planing I'd like to see more of it. I personally
think the ten million dollars at the Major Events Fund
has got as nothing short or pathetic when you 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.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
It makes it difficult to attract major events.
Speaker 4 (09:07):
But on the flip side of the corn, they have
they have special funding for special events like when a woman's.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Rugby World Cup came here.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
I think they they usually government 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, they do come to
the party. And of course the controversy of the America's
Cup was held in 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
(09:34):
in the industry, I'd like to see more of it done.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
And you alluded to it before, but how important are
major events to the overall vibe of a big city.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
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 term, but
they're trying to trying to bring the vibrancy to 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 Soccer World
(10:03):
Cup there and they're not too distant future in a
number of other major it's because they've got the one
thing that events desperately need and the event organizers there
and it's money, So it comes down to know what
you got. There's different but on the whole basically money
is the driver of these things, and money creates money
when it comes to events.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
So you just got to I.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
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
and some people don't. But ultimately it creates jobs and
that's that's how you really ad to the vibrancy of
the city.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Plenty of food for thought, Dean, Thanks as always for
joining us here on.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
ZB Always a pleasing jas.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Thanks mate, Dean Lonigan. There you've heard his view. Let's
get yours now, oh eight hundred and eighty ten eighty.
How important is it that sale GP stays in New
Zealand stays in Auckland. For the meantime, Auckland Council pitched
in one million dollars to help secure and stage the
event over the weekend. Now one million dollars in the
overall scheme of things seems like a pretty small price
(11:00):
to pay for the economic benefit that the event brings
to the city and the exposure on a global stage
that the city gets from the coverage. I mean the
aerial shots I saw on the television coverage were absolutely spectacular,
showing off Auckland's harbor, the skyline, the kind of shots
that you would pay thousands, tens of thousands of dollars
(11:22):
for in a tourism campaign. Now, sal GP CEO Sir
Russell Cootz told me on news talks he'd be yesterday
that they have already started talking to Auckland about hosting
a sale GP leg annually. He's talking about a five
year deal. And if I'm a decision maker in the
(11:44):
Auckland region with some influence on these sorts of things,
I'd be getting around a table quick smart and working
out how to make that happen. Yes, the money might
go up over time, but the economic benefit and I
know it's always difficult to quantify, but I'm sure they
have algorithms around these things that are several times million
(12:06):
dollars being pumped back into the Auckland economy through hospitality,
food and beverage, retail, accommodation, all of those things. A
eight hundred eighty ten eighty nine two nine to two
on text. And if you were there, if you went
along and Across the weekends, twenty five thousand people in
total watched, at twelve and a half thousand each day.
(12:28):
How was it? Tell us about your experiences at sale GP.
I was lucky enough to be there, and I'm certainly
not what you would call a sailing fan. It's not
a real sweet spot as far as the sport that
I follow is concerned. But I thought as an event
and as a spectacle, it was terrific. The on water
(12:49):
action exciting, It was bite sized. The speed of the
boats man just spectacular. Nobody actually got up to the
one hundred kilometers per hour that many what hoping would happen,
but it was fast and furious, and the proximity to
shore is a real feature of sale GP. The thousands
that packed into the grandstands got a truly, truly close
(13:11):
up view. You can see the expressions on the sailor's
faces as they came close into the shore. The finish
line was right in front of the grandstand and the
vibe in and around the complex wine yard point positive upbeat.
The sailing village that was set up there was really cool,
had a bit of a Formula one feel to it.
(13:32):
Lots of merchandise stands, food and beverage. Of course, opportunities
to have a go. They had, you know, grinding machines
set up you could get on and have a crack at.
And the sailors themselves seemed really accessible as well to
the media but also to fans. I saw plenty of
autographs being signed, lots of selfies being taken. Now, when
it comes to the crowds that turned up, there are certainly,
(13:56):
without doubt what you'd call a sailing set, those who
are more deeply invested in the sport and love to
watch it live, and they were all there. But there
were all sorts of different types of people there, families, couples, grandparents,
lots of kids, all sorts. As I was leaving yesterday
(14:16):
after it was all over, all sorts of people. And
then out on the water the spectator craft dotted all
around the fringes of the course just added another dimension. Honestly,
I really couldn't fault it. But maybe I'm looking through
rose tinted glasses.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
What did you think? Was it what you'd hoped it
it'd be? Was it value for money? I eight one
hundred eighty ten eighty let's talk sale GP, your experiences
of it and how important it is that we retain
a slee GP event for now it's in Auckland. We
all know what happened in christ Church last year which
(14:55):
compelled it to be brought to Auckland this time around.
Sir Russell Coots is a fan. What about you? I
eight one hundred and eighty ten eighty seven to twenty one.
We're back with your calls right after this.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
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