Auckland Council to take last look at a new downtown stadium

Monday, 18 September 2023

A massive redevelopment of Eden Park has been proposed, including a new roof for the stadium. (Video from April 2023)

Todd Niall is the senior Auckland affairs reporter for Stuff.

ANALYSIS: The dream of a major new stadium for Auckland that doesn’t depend on public money is getting one last chance, with council conducting a quick-fire contest of stadium ideas.

Auckland Council has launched yet another attempt to decide how to rationalise its collection of ageing sport venues, starting at the top of the pyramid to find the most likely option to be the “big one”.

The 16-day open window for “expressions of interest” to be submitted through the government tendering system suggests this could be a housekeeping exercise to see which existing ideas are still alive.

The 2018 proposal for a privately-built waterfront stadium joins Eden Park’s ambition to re-develop the current top venue, as the only known contenders, though the deadline might flush others out.

Reviving the major stadium discussion comes at a curious time, for a city whose finances are so tight it reduced the number of public rubbish bins and can’t fund its emissions reduction goals.

It also raises the question of what Auckland would do with what could be a multi-billion dollar investment in a new or rebuilt stadium, when it has axed the funding needed to attract major events such as the hugely successful co-hosting of the FIFA Women’s Football World Cup.

But with growing questions about the life expectancy of enues in Albany and Penrose, working out what should stay and what should go hangs partly on what the centrepiece would be.

The notion of a big new downtown stadium has wandered on and off the stage since 2017 when incoming mayor Phil Goff quickly commissioned a $1 million feasibility report – which council tried to withhold for more than a year.

Impression of views from the edge of the proposed Auckland Waterfront Stadium, now called 'The Crater'.

The $1m report by consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) found the idea feasible, but requiring more reports. It also made clear there would be no free lunch for ratepayers or taxpayers.

The golden rule, PWC said, was big stadiums don’t pay their own way and operate only with some form of public investment, something Goff and his successor Wayne Brown all but ruled out.

“They most often do not generate operational revenue that is sufficient to cover operational costs, depreciation, renewals and maintenance,” said PWC.

Eden Park Trust Board’s vision for an upgraded stadium with retractable roof.

Even with private-public partnerships “there is still typically a large component of upfront and/or ongoing funding required from the public sector.”

Council knows this already from Eden Park, which can tick over using its own cash but depended on a $63m bundle of ratepayer support to replace amenities and cover interest bills.

Eden Park Trust Board backs a revamped stadium as the best option for Auckland having a premier venue.

The private promoters of a waterfront stadium say their hopes are still alive with a plan described as at “no cost to ratepayers”.

However, the formula does require a stadium-sized piece of prime public waterfront and the gifting of privately-owned Eden Park as a redevelopment or funding vehicle.

A political working group set up by Brown in late July, headed by Waitākere councillor Shane Henderson, will be the judging panel for any proposals that surface by September 27.

They are joined by Raelene Castle, chief executive of Sport New Zealand, representing the government – which would have to play a part if the premier venue was to act as a “national stadium”.

Auckland Council needs to find a path quickly to where it focusses its efforts on ensuring the city has an appropriate, premier stadium and work out how to support that – among a host of more pressing calls on its budget.