Nick Sautner: Eden Park CEO on Auckland Council endorsing it as the city's main stadium

Eden Park has triumphed in its battle to be Auckland's Council's preferred stadium - over building a new facility near the city's waterfront.

The council has voted to endorse, in principle, the first stage of upgrading the park, with 17 in favour and two against with one abstention.

Eden Park chief executive Nick Sautner says his team is delighted by the vote. 

"We've had 125 years of history and tradition, we've had some of New Zealand's most memorable sporting moments - and this decision today is a special day in our history."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Eden Park is the got the votes from Ugland Council
this evening. If you're just joining us, as happened in
the last fifteen minutes, lots of people are texting in
about the stadium and there's a lot of interest in it.
And it's not just from people who are in Aukland,
it's some people all over the country. Because the eden
Park two point one means that we'll all taxpayers have

(00:20):
to throw in one hundred million dollars. Ryan, the stadium
better have a roof for that price.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Ryan.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
The seats that a lot of people asking about the seats.
Are they going to be soft or will we be
stuck with the hard ones? These are the important questions
and we're going to put them right now at twenty
three minutes away from six to Nick Sautner, who's the
chief excative at eden Park. That good evening.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
Good evening, Ryan, and thanks for your time.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
How are you feeling about the vote?

Speaker 2 (00:47):
Well, I've had a number of staff they can't take
the smile of their face. You can imagine that there's
been over two years of work. This process started. Who
was going to take three months, It's been two years.
We've invested over a mints million dollars in our business case,
our planning associated with it, but also during that time
delivered some more memorable moments for our national stadium.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
Do you think this actually settles the debate because we've
been here, you know, we've been to places like this before, am.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
We Well, it's one of those things that I've worked
in stadium economics and stateium management for twenty five years
and everyone has an opinion. You can only look across
the ditch at Brisbane and we had a Premier of
the state go to an election saying he wasn't going
to build a stadium and two days ago here now
it's building a four billion dollar stadium for the Olympics.
So there's always going to be a motion associated with it.

(01:37):
But that's one of the things that we harnets here.
We've had one hundred and twenty five years of history
and tradition, We've had some of New Zealand's most memorable
sporting moments. Now with our entertainment content and this decision today,
it is a special day in our history. It's taken
seven years of work with a number of the councilors
who supported Eden Park. Today when we approach them funding.

(02:01):
During Phil Goss when he was Mayor of Auckland, they
didn't support it. They have now changed their perception. We
put forward a case around a staged approach and it
was unanimously supported Nick.

Speaker 1 (02:14):
But just because they've supported and backed Eden Part two
point one doesn't mean that they have said how much
they might support you financially right. In fact, that was
one of the problems they had the council staff had
earlier in the week, so can you tell us exactly
how much you want from council and how much you
want from government.

Speaker 2 (02:31):
So one of the conversations prior or one of the
agenda items prior to the conversation around the stadium was
about an investment strategy across the network. Currently Mount Smart
and then Western Springs and North Harbor Stadium get significant
funding from Auckland Council and the conversation and that agenda
item talked about looking at it at a strategic level

(02:52):
across the assets in the city and what's best for
the city. And we look forward and welcome the opportunity
to talk with counselor around where they could best invest
that money. Noting the SARAH opens next year will be
seven minutes from town. We are a hydrid multi person
It all shown next week.

Speaker 1 (03:09):
Little that Nick, But how much do you want?

Speaker 2 (03:11):
So in the first stage of the one hundred and ten
million we are able to demonstrate with the business case,
with the pipeline of content, whether it be the Indian
cricket series in twenty twenty.

Speaker 1 (03:20):
Six, No, no, I get all that. But is that
a one off one hundred and ten million or is
that that's correct?

Speaker 2 (03:24):
Right?

Speaker 1 (03:24):
That's great?

Speaker 2 (03:25):
One on the further stages that we're put forward would
be funded by a private public partnership, but we need
the foundations and the Stage one guarantees that that holds
cricket and rugby.

Speaker 1 (03:38):
Cricket and rugby. So that's what we're getting for one
hundred and ten million. In terms of what we will
actually see when we go to the stadium for one
hundred and ten million dollars the initial stage, what will
it look like.

Speaker 2 (03:48):
That's different, It'll be transformational. The North stand will have
a retractable stand that will bring you within twelve meters
of the rugby field and will extend out the boundary
for cricket to seven four meters, So it then becomes
both Test match compliant and short book short form cricket.
So it's a hybrid, multi purpose solution for a country

(04:10):
of five million people in a city of one point
seven million people. That doesn't necessarily mean that those facilities
won't then be adopted. In increasing the capacity for concerts
to seventy thousand, that is a game changer for us
in terms of competing against venues on the East Coast
of Australia when we're looking to attract the likes of
each Year and or Taylor Swift, or indeed the artists

(04:31):
that we've had in the last three years.

Speaker 1 (04:33):
Nick, I appreciate your time. I know you and your
team will be very happy with that result. I appreciate
you coming on the program, Nix Sautner, who's the teach
executive at Eden Park.

Speaker 2 (04:42):
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Speaker 1 (04:46):
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