The next America's Cup will not be held in Auckland.
Auckland Council's events arm, Auckland Unlimited, has confirmed the city is unable to proceed with its bid for the 2027 event.
The agency says its bid was contingent on a three-way funding partnership between Auckland Council, central Government, and the private sector.
AUT sailing professor Mark Orams says this development is unsurprising - as it was a long shot for Auckland given the current economic climate.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
You're listening to a podcast from News Talk Z'B. Follow
this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Mark Worams is a former World champion sailor Team New
Zealand member, author and currently Professor of Sport and Recreation
at the Auckland University of Technology. Mark, Very good afternoon
to you.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Good afternoon, Mark.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
How gatta are you that the America's Cup isn't coming
back in twenty twenty seven.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Well, to be honest, I'm disappointed, but I'm not surprised.
It was always a bit of a long shot. I
own in some ways I was a little surprised that
they were even exploring that option. And when they said
that they were, then of course your hopes get raised
a fair bit. But realistically it was always going to
be difficult in the current economic climate that we're in
(00:53):
here in New Zealand to make the numbers stack up.
And I do understand that from a Team New Zealand perspective,
what they need to do first and foremost is they
have enough money to mount a successful defense of the
America's Cup, Because if you haven't got the money to
keep the team together, we go back to two thousand
and three and that's something we don't want to revisit.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
So, speaking of money, does Team New Zealand even want
to bring it here considering the money and coverage that
it can be captured in the Northern Hemisphere.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
I think Team New Zealand absolutely wants to have it here.
I've got to remember that the vast majority of the
team are New Zealanders. They've grown up here, they're proud
New Zealand Sailors. And of course there's the home court
advantage if you like, We as a team and as
sailors know the holdactn Golf better than anybody and so
that gives us a real sense of being able to
stay at home with our families and have the local
(01:47):
support and to know intimately the waters that would be
competing on. So if they could make the money stack up,
I think that they absolutely would have wanted to have
it here. But again it comes back to the basics
of this is an expensive game and so you've got
to have pretty deep pockets to be able to have
(02:07):
the team stay together to build the sort of boat
that you need to be successful as a defender. And
if you go in without a full kind of wholester
of weapons against the opposition that comes at you, you
end up getting shot down. So I agree and I
understand the prioritization of ensuring the team is as competitive
(02:30):
as it can be.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
We're talking to Mark Orham's aut sailing professor. Does SALGP
cover the yachting for New Zealanders.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
I think it does for a certain portion of time.
I mean, of course, the ol GP is only really
a three day event, so over that period of time
people absolutely love it and it's a real highlight now
of the sailing calendar in New Zealand. And of course
the recent event in Auckland was a great success. But
it's quite different than the America's Cup. The America's Cup
(02:59):
goes on for many months. You have teams and all
of their families who stay here and become part of
the local community. You have all of the sort of
look from supiots who choose to come down for the summer,
and so the America's Cup is are much much longer
and in much more sustained kind of event in terms
of its impact and its interest. And of course you
(03:20):
can't replicate the history of the America's Cup, which is
the oldest international sporting event bar none. So Sale GPS great,
don't get me wrong, but the America's Cup is something
that's very hard to replicate.
Speaker 4 (03:32):
Do you think we would have done more to find
the money if it wasn't for Sale GP or do
do you think there's a lot of people like me
that go sal GP was awesome, so at least we're
getting some of that experience.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Yeah, I'd see them as sort of two alternative products,
if you like. Even though they're both elite professional competitive
sailing events stayed, they fill quite different roles from my perspective.
Sale GP for me is a little bit sort of
an analogous to the Formula one or Moto GP. And
(04:06):
while it's nationally affiliated buy and you've got these teams
that are traveling around the world and it's a bit
of a traveling road show that happens periodically every month
or in some cases every week or two. The America's
Cup is an event a bit more like the Olympic Games.
You know, you build up to it over four or
five years, has a long history, has a lot of prestige,
(04:27):
a lot of controversy, and so they for me, they
feel sort of slightly different roles even though we have
some of the same people competing in both events.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
We're talking to at Sailing professor Mark Orhams. What does
this mean for our high tech boating and boat building
and sailing industries not having the America's Cup coming down here.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Well, I think both both the marine industry and Auckland
and more widely in New Zealand and the hospitality industry
will will be really disappointed because there's no question that
the America's Cup has and could continue to provide a
major impetus for those two industry or those two sectors
if you like. It's not so much from the input
(05:09):
into to Team New Zealand itself or even the America's
Cup specifically, it's more about the sorts of profile and
especially the super yachts and other visitors who come down,
because when they do bring those really valuable large vessels
down here, they spend many months, they often take the
opportunity to refit and pull out of the water, and
they spend an enormous amount of money while they're here,
(05:31):
and that supports that marine industry. So without the America's
Cup being hosted here, you lose that opportunity. New Zealand's
a long way to come to and so for those
super yachts and all money that comes with them, you
need a really good reason to come down to the
bottom of the planet. The America's Cup provides that reason,
So not having it here means that we miss out
on that best.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Grant Dalton is a phenomenal fundraiser, is very formidable at
what he does in that realm. Why couldn't we change
the balance for what the government provides versus what the
private backers would provide is they're just not the appetite
from those private backers. They don't enough return from what
they're putting in. If you're talking about one hundred and
fifty mil.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Yeah, interesting, And I think you've identified something that not
many people have and that Grant Dalton is exceptional at this.
He is somebody who has developed a very credible commercial
proposition that he puts to people. He's cultivated important relationships
with high net worth individuals who trust him and want
(06:34):
to back him. That said, it's a big ass to
try and get to those sort of numbers of the
basis of personal connections and trust with high networth individuals
and especially in the corporate sense sponsoring an event at
the bottom of the planet where the vast majority of
their customers and profile they are looking for. It's in
(06:56):
the middle of the night in the Northern Hemisphere. Those
things make it really difficult. So Grant Dalton will find
it much easier to sell the product of the America's
Cup and support for Team New Zealand in the Northern
Hemisphere than he will here in New Zealand. That's just
the sort of geographical reality and the commercial reality of
the global marketplace.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
So having said all that, can you see it ever
coming back to New Zealand?
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Yes, I can, Actually, I mean maybe I'm I'm a
forever optimist. The reason that I'm optimistic about it is
that there is still a real commitment within Team New
Zealand to say we want to host the America's Cup here.
But we know to have that opportunity, we've got to
win it, because if we don't want it, then we
(07:44):
don't shape what happens in the next event. There is
a context at the moment which is meant that this
attempt to host the thirty eighth America's Cup here in
New Zealand has failed, and that context is that we
are really in a financially challenging context in terms of
our economy, in terms of our businesses, the government books,
(08:04):
Auckland Council's books, and so we and I hope we
do see that turnaround in the near future. If we
are able to successfully defend the America's Cup and wherever
it is in twenty and twenty seven, then we'll have
an opportunity to have another go at bringing it back
to Auckland when our financial circumstances might be more conducive
(08:27):
to that.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Mark really good to chat with you. Thank you very
much for your time this afternoon. Absolute please it all
the best. That is Mark Orm's, former a World champion
sailor Team New Zealand member and professor of Sport and
Recreation at Auckland University of Technology.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
For more from news talks at b listen live on
air or online, and keep our shows with you wherever
you go with our podcasts on Irradio.
You're listening to a podcast from News Talk Z'B. Follow
this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Mark Worams is a former World champion sailor Team New
Zealand member, author and currently Professor of Sport and Recreation
at the Auckland University of Technology. Mark, Very good afternoon
to you.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Good afternoon, Mark.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
How gatta are you that the America's Cup isn't coming
back in twenty twenty seven.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Well, to be honest, I'm disappointed, but I'm not surprised.
It was always a bit of a long shot. I
own in some ways I was a little surprised that
they were even exploring that option. And when they said
that they were, then of course your hopes get raised
a fair bit. But realistically it was always going to
be difficult in the current economic climate that we're in
(00:53):
here in New Zealand to make the numbers stack up.
And I do understand that from a Team New Zealand perspective,
what they need to do first and foremost is they
have enough money to mount a successful defense of the
America's Cup, Because if you haven't got the money to
keep the team together, we go back to two thousand
and three and that's something we don't want to revisit.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
So, speaking of money, does Team New Zealand even want
to bring it here considering the money and coverage that
it can be captured in the Northern Hemisphere.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
I think Team New Zealand absolutely wants to have it here.
I've got to remember that the vast majority of the
team are New Zealanders. They've grown up here, they're proud
New Zealand Sailors. And of course there's the home court
advantage if you like, We as a team and as
sailors know the holdactn Golf better than anybody and so
that gives us a real sense of being able to
stay at home with our families and have the local
(01:47):
support and to know intimately the waters that would be
competing on. So if they could make the money stack up,
I think that they absolutely would have wanted to have
it here. But again it comes back to the basics
of this is an expensive game and so you've got
to have pretty deep pockets to be able to have
(02:07):
the team stay together to build the sort of boat
that you need to be successful as a defender. And
if you go in without a full kind of wholester
of weapons against the opposition that comes at you, you
end up getting shot down. So I agree and I
understand the prioritization of ensuring the team is as competitive
(02:30):
as it can be.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
We're talking to Mark Orham's aut sailing professor. Does SALGP
cover the yachting for New Zealanders.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
I think it does for a certain portion of time.
I mean, of course, the ol GP is only really
a three day event, so over that period of time
people absolutely love it and it's a real highlight now
of the sailing calendar in New Zealand. And of course
the recent event in Auckland was a great success. But
it's quite different than the America's Cup. The America's Cup
(02:59):
goes on for many months. You have teams and all
of their families who stay here and become part of
the local community. You have all of the sort of
look from supiots who choose to come down for the summer,
and so the America's Cup is are much much longer
and in much more sustained kind of event in terms
of its impact and its interest. And of course you
(03:20):
can't replicate the history of the America's Cup, which is
the oldest international sporting event bar none. So Sale GPS great,
don't get me wrong, but the America's Cup is something
that's very hard to replicate.
Speaker 4 (03:32):
Do you think we would have done more to find
the money if it wasn't for Sale GP or do
do you think there's a lot of people like me
that go sal GP was awesome, so at least we're
getting some of that experience.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Yeah, I'd see them as sort of two alternative products,
if you like. Even though they're both elite professional competitive
sailing events stayed, they fill quite different roles from my perspective.
Sale GP for me is a little bit sort of
an analogous to the Formula one or Moto GP. And
(04:06):
while it's nationally affiliated buy and you've got these teams
that are traveling around the world and it's a bit
of a traveling road show that happens periodically every month
or in some cases every week or two. The America's
Cup is an event a bit more like the Olympic Games.
You know, you build up to it over four or
five years, has a long history, has a lot of prestige,
(04:27):
a lot of controversy, and so they for me, they
feel sort of slightly different roles even though we have
some of the same people competing in both events.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
We're talking to at Sailing professor Mark Orhams. What does
this mean for our high tech boating and boat building
and sailing industries not having the America's Cup coming down here.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Well, I think both both the marine industry and Auckland
and more widely in New Zealand and the hospitality industry
will will be really disappointed because there's no question that
the America's Cup has and could continue to provide a
major impetus for those two industry or those two sectors
if you like. It's not so much from the input
(05:09):
into to Team New Zealand itself or even the America's
Cup specifically, it's more about the sorts of profile and
especially the super yachts and other visitors who come down,
because when they do bring those really valuable large vessels
down here, they spend many months, they often take the
opportunity to refit and pull out of the water, and
they spend an enormous amount of money while they're here,
(05:31):
and that supports that marine industry. So without the America's
Cup being hosted here, you lose that opportunity. New Zealand's
a long way to come to and so for those
super yachts and all money that comes with them, you
need a really good reason to come down to the
bottom of the planet. The America's Cup provides that reason,
So not having it here means that we miss out
on that best.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Grant Dalton is a phenomenal fundraiser, is very formidable at
what he does in that realm. Why couldn't we change
the balance for what the government provides versus what the
private backers would provide is they're just not the appetite
from those private backers. They don't enough return from what
they're putting in. If you're talking about one hundred and
fifty mil.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
Yeah, interesting, And I think you've identified something that not
many people have and that Grant Dalton is exceptional at this.
He is somebody who has developed a very credible commercial
proposition that he puts to people. He's cultivated important relationships
with high net worth individuals who trust him and want
(06:34):
to back him. That said, it's a big ass to
try and get to those sort of numbers of the
basis of personal connections and trust with high networth individuals
and especially in the corporate sense sponsoring an event at
the bottom of the planet where the vast majority of
their customers and profile they are looking for. It's in
(06:56):
the middle of the night in the Northern Hemisphere. Those
things make it really difficult. So Grant Dalton will find
it much easier to sell the product of the America's
Cup and support for Team New Zealand in the Northern
Hemisphere than he will here in New Zealand. That's just
the sort of geographical reality and the commercial reality of
the global marketplace.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
So having said all that, can you see it ever
coming back to New Zealand?
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Yes, I can, Actually, I mean maybe I'm I'm a
forever optimist. The reason that I'm optimistic about it is
that there is still a real commitment within Team New
Zealand to say we want to host the America's Cup here.
But we know to have that opportunity, we've got to
win it, because if we don't want it, then we
(07:44):
don't shape what happens in the next event. There is
a context at the moment which is meant that this
attempt to host the thirty eighth America's Cup here in
New Zealand has failed, and that context is that we
are really in a financially challenging context in terms of
our economy, in terms of our businesses, the government books,
(08:04):
Auckland Council's books, and so we and I hope we
do see that turnaround in the near future. If we
are able to successfully defend the America's Cup and wherever
it is in twenty and twenty seven, then we'll have
an opportunity to have another go at bringing it back
to Auckland when our financial circumstances might be more conducive
(08:27):
to that.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Mark really good to chat with you. Thank you very
much for your time this afternoon. Absolute please it all
the best. That is Mark Orm's, former a World champion
sailor Team New Zealand member and professor of Sport and
Recreation at Auckland University of Technology.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
For more from news talks at b listen live on
air or online, and keep our shows with you wherever
you go with our podcasts on Irradio.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.