The Blues are poised to head across town to Mount Smart for two Super Rugby games next year.
The New Zealand Herald reports the Blues are still planning to play most of their games at their usual Eden Park base, but are looking closely across town.
NZ Herald sports journalist Michael Burgess joined D'Arcy to discuss.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Darcy Wildergrave
from News Talk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
We're joined now by Michael Burgess has been all over
this like a rash. He joins the program. Now, good Mike, mate,
you broke the story on the possibility that the Blues
are off for only a couple of games in the
Super Rugby season. I suppose, first and foremost, how much
weight has this got Michael?
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Well, to me at Phil Darcy, it feels like quite
a big story.
Speaker 4 (00:35):
I mean, the optics of the Blues playing at go
Media Stadium.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Is quite significant.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
We know they looked around pretty seriously at Go Media.
I think they've seen what's gone on at go Media
over the last three years.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
It's been a bit of a revolution.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
Neils at the Warriors are done with their cell up crowds,
and then you saw Awk and Ce come along and
make such a splash at that ground.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
It looks amazing. So they had a really good look
at it.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
And yeah, as I understand, they're going to play up
to two matches of their seven home matches in twenty
twenty six at what we used to know is Mount Smart.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
It's in the paper, it's written down how confident are
you that this will actually happen. I wrung up Mount
Smart and I rung up Eden Park and the Blues
everybody else now and will return the call. So I
get the feeling where there's smoke, there's fire, Michael.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
Yeah, I think there's a bit of smoke around.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
I mean, I'm pretty confident.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
You never can be completely sure until these things are confirmed.
And as I mentioned in the story, the contract negotiations
are going on as we speak, and they will be
for I understand another week, two weeks maybe between the
Blues and the respective venues, so let's see how it
all plays out. But yeah, I'm pretty sure you'll see
(01:54):
the Blues run out on go Media Stadium, which, as
I say, I think is it's quite a big deal.
You know, they won't make a permanent switch from Eden Park,
which you know has been talked about. I don't think
that was ever fully on the cards, and I don't
know if that would have fitted in with the existing
tenants already there. But you know, the fact they're going
(02:16):
to probably play a couple of games there, to me
feels quite significant.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Thin end of the wedge. I don't think they'd take
semi finals or finals and Super Rugby way from meeting
Park because the big games you're going to get a
big crab. Besides that, Eden Park's probably too big for
those other games. Do you think this will split the
fan base? How well will this go down with the
people to turn up because idea they want bums on seats,
don't they? But having arguably two venues dangerous.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
I think I think it will go down.
Speaker 4 (02:46):
Okay, I mean the smart thing the Blues have done
here is they have surveyed their fans, their stakeholders, the
commercial partners.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
This is not a blind thing.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
You know, the canvas them back in June pretty extensively.
Hey what do you think of Eaton Park? What do
you think of go Media? What are the pros and cons?
So at least this has been on the table, and
I think the biggest thing the Blues are looking it
is their game day experience. And they've seen the game
day experience that's been put on at go Media, and
they want to see, you know, can we improve.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Our game to experience. There are big advantages of go media.
As you say, for.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
A mid level size occasion and stadium, you know it
looks packed, it is packed. The fans are so close
to the action, and I think the players love that.
You've seen how much the players love it when you
see the talk to the warriors of the Auckland ft
CE players.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
So the Blue we all know d us.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
These days it's all about the fan experience and the
Blues are trying to see how they can improve their
fan experience.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
What they need to do at mounts mart Go Media
or at a Tongue or whatever it's called to help
with that experience. They wouldn't just open the gates and
let people pour in. Would there have to be something
else there to attract the Blues over them? Is it
that important a hend a bag for them?
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Well?
Speaker 4 (03:58):
I think you know the fact that the fans will
enjoy being close to the action. Being in a rectangular stadium,
it's easy to create atmosphere because as you mentioned before,
Eden Park's great for a semi final final, but if
you're playing a lesser team and non New Zealand Derby
and you've got fifteen thousand people there, we've all been there,
it can feel quite empty. It's a big caven of space.
It's hard to generate noise. It's just tricky, you know.
(04:21):
So I think fans will enjoy that. I'm sure they'll
have a whole they'll take a leaf out of the
Warriors and Auk left c You have all those activations
down on the northern end of the ground and a
bit of fun for kids and everyone else.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
So that is another advantage of Go Media. There's a
lot of things you can.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
Do because they've got that separate space down on one
end of the field where there's a it's just a
vehicle for a whole lot of fun stuff because there's
not a grandstand.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
There got fun optics, absolutely bums on seats, full crowd.
We all love looking at that. But the bottom line
is money spent renting Eden Park and money generated by
the bodies going in there is just the bottom line,
do you think.
Speaker 4 (04:59):
Well, that's another big factor. That's what we haven't talked about,
is the is the commercial side of it. You know,
as I understand that Eden Park costs almost twice as
much to open as Go Media.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
That's just a reality.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
It's a much bigger stadium and they've got much more
traffic management to do around that suburban area.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
There's all the road closes, you know, we all know.
Speaker 4 (05:17):
About that, so it costs a lot more to open
and the break eeping point is a lot higher. So
you know, my understanding is the Blues didn't hit break
even quite a few times this season at that stadium.
It makes it very tricky because as a super ruggy franchise,
you know, given everything centrally controlled by good old ends,
(05:38):
that are the biggest way they generate money is gate revenue,
you know, So that's the challenge. So it's fine if
you've got a big derby or you're playing a sold
out final like that did two years ago, but if
you're trundling along with fifteen seventeen, twelve thousand people, it
does hit the bottom line. And we all know that
that is a massive factor is and that's what organizations
(06:01):
live and die on, and that's what the accountants notice.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
For more from Sports Talk, listen live to News Talks
it B from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Darcy Wildergrave
from News Talk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
We're joined now by Michael Burgess has been all over
this like a rash. He joins the program. Now, good Mike, mate,
you broke the story on the possibility that the Blues
are off for only a couple of games in the
Super Rugby season. I suppose, first and foremost, how much
weight has this got Michael?
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Well, to me at Phil Darcy, it feels like quite
a big story.
Speaker 4 (00:35):
I mean, the optics of the Blues playing at go
Media Stadium.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Is quite significant.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
We know they looked around pretty seriously at Go Media.
I think they've seen what's gone on at go Media
over the last three years.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
It's been a bit of a revolution.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
Neils at the Warriors are done with their cell up crowds,
and then you saw Awk and Ce come along and
make such a splash at that ground.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
It looks amazing. So they had a really good look
at it.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
And yeah, as I understand, they're going to play up
to two matches of their seven home matches in twenty
twenty six at what we used to know is Mount Smart.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
It's in the paper, it's written down how confident are
you that this will actually happen. I wrung up Mount
Smart and I rung up Eden Park and the Blues
everybody else now and will return the call. So I
get the feeling where there's smoke, there's fire, Michael.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
Yeah, I think there's a bit of smoke around.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
I mean, I'm pretty confident.
Speaker 4 (01:32):
You never can be completely sure until these things are confirmed.
And as I mentioned in the story, the contract negotiations
are going on as we speak, and they will be
for I understand another week, two weeks maybe between the
Blues and the respective venues, so let's see how it
all plays out. But yeah, I'm pretty sure you'll see
(01:54):
the Blues run out on go Media Stadium, which, as
I say, I think is it's quite a big deal.
You know, they won't make a permanent switch from Eden Park,
which you know has been talked about. I don't think
that was ever fully on the cards, and I don't
know if that would have fitted in with the existing
tenants already there. But you know, the fact they're going
(02:16):
to probably play a couple of games there, to me
feels quite significant.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Thin end of the wedge. I don't think they'd take
semi finals or finals and Super Rugby way from meeting
Park because the big games you're going to get a
big crab. Besides that, Eden Park's probably too big for
those other games. Do you think this will split the
fan base? How well will this go down with the
people to turn up because idea they want bums on seats,
don't they? But having arguably two venues dangerous.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
I think I think it will go down.
Speaker 4 (02:46):
Okay, I mean the smart thing the Blues have done
here is they have surveyed their fans, their stakeholders, the
commercial partners.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
This is not a blind thing.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
You know, the canvas them back in June pretty extensively.
Hey what do you think of Eaton Park? What do
you think of go Media? What are the pros and cons?
So at least this has been on the table, and
I think the biggest thing the Blues are looking it
is their game day experience. And they've seen the game
day experience that's been put on at go Media, and
they want to see, you know, can we improve.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Our game to experience. There are big advantages of go media.
As you say, for.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
A mid level size occasion and stadium, you know it
looks packed, it is packed. The fans are so close
to the action, and I think the players love that.
You've seen how much the players love it when you
see the talk to the warriors of the Auckland ft
CE players.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
So the Blue we all know d us.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
These days it's all about the fan experience and the
Blues are trying to see how they can improve their
fan experience.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
What they need to do at mounts mart Go Media
or at a Tongue or whatever it's called to help
with that experience. They wouldn't just open the gates and
let people pour in. Would there have to be something
else there to attract the Blues over them? Is it
that important a hend a bag for them?
Speaker 3 (03:58):
Well?
Speaker 4 (03:58):
I think you know the fact that the fans will
enjoy being close to the action. Being in a rectangular stadium,
it's easy to create atmosphere because as you mentioned before,
Eden Park's great for a semi final final, but if
you're playing a lesser team and non New Zealand Derby
and you've got fifteen thousand people there, we've all been there,
it can feel quite empty. It's a big caven of space.
It's hard to generate noise. It's just tricky, you know.
(04:21):
So I think fans will enjoy that. I'm sure they'll
have a whole they'll take a leaf out of the
Warriors and Auk left c You have all those activations
down on the northern end of the ground and a
bit of fun for kids and everyone else.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
So that is another advantage of Go Media. There's a
lot of things you can.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
Do because they've got that separate space down on one
end of the field where there's a it's just a
vehicle for a whole lot of fun stuff because there's
not a grandstand.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
There got fun optics, absolutely bums on seats, full crowd.
We all love looking at that. But the bottom line
is money spent renting Eden Park and money generated by
the bodies going in there is just the bottom line,
do you think.
Speaker 4 (04:59):
Well, that's another big factor. That's what we haven't talked about,
is the is the commercial side of it. You know,
as I understand that Eden Park costs almost twice as
much to open as Go Media.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
That's just a reality.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
It's a much bigger stadium and they've got much more
traffic management to do around that suburban area.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
There's all the road closes, you know, we all know.
Speaker 4 (05:17):
About that, so it costs a lot more to open
and the break eeping point is a lot higher. So
you know, my understanding is the Blues didn't hit break
even quite a few times this season at that stadium.
It makes it very tricky because as a super ruggy franchise,
you know, given everything centrally controlled by good old ends,
(05:38):
that are the biggest way they generate money is gate revenue,
you know, So that's the challenge. So it's fine if
you've got a big derby or you're playing a sold
out final like that did two years ago, but if
you're trundling along with fifteen seventeen, twelve thousand people, it
does hit the bottom line. And we all know that
that is a massive factor is and that's what organizations
(06:01):
live and die on, and that's what the accountants notice.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
For more from Sports Talk, listen live to News Talks
it B from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
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