Christchurch-based NRL team will bring $50m into the region, backers say
Wednesday, 5 June 2024
A Christchurch-based NRL team will bring $50 million annually into the region and bring thousands of supporters to the city’s new indoor stadium, team backers say.
The South Island NRL Bid Ltd, one of two groups vying for an NRL team to be based out of Ōtautahi, asked the Christchurch City Council for its support during a briefing on Tuesday.
The Australian-based national rugby league competition already has 17 teams including the New Zealand Warriors based in Auckland, but there are plans to increase that to 20 teams by 2030.
The bid group’s president, former Warriors and Kiwis coach Frank Endacott, told councillors a Christchurch-based NRL team had been something his bid team had been “dreaming about for years and years”.
“It’s one of the most exciting opportunities this city has ever seen. What it will bring to this city is huge.”
He said the team would bring in an estimated $50m per season to the region.
That figure was based on $5m for each of the projected 10 home games.
“It’s a win, win both ways.”
Endacott said the city was up against Papua New Guinea and Perth, however Papua New Guinea was seen as the favourite to become the 18th team in 2026. Endacott’s group said it could be ready in 2026.
He said he was pretty confident of coming up with a successful bid and having a covered stadium to play in was a big part of that.
The $683m stadium, Te Kaha, is on schedule to be completed by April 2026. A Christchurch team would be the only NRL franchise with a covered stadium.
Darren Littlewood, who is part of the bid team, told councillors Te Kaha would be the “jewel in the crown”.
Former Christchurch East MP Poto Williams, who is also part of the bid team, said they knew from the Warriors games played in the city that it could fill a stadium.
“It’s going to be of huge benefit to Christchurch.”
The group’s presentation said estimated crowd sizes, based on recent NRL trends, were projected at 15,000 and this would bring a net profit to the franchise of between $7.5m and $10m.
Te Kaha will have 25,000 permanent seats and 5000 temporary ones.
Data provided by sport data and analytics company Gemba said it would cost $23.6m a year to operate a new club.
It was also likely to cost about $30m to set up the club. It was not clear exactly where that money was likely to come from, although the group said it was talking to investors.
A key feature of the bid was to grow league talent in the South Island and keep it here.
Endacott said good local players ended up in Australia, but this bid meant they could stay here.
About 26% of existing NRL players were from New Zealand.
Sport Canterbury estimates close to 3000 people play rugby league in Greater Christchurch, up from 2800 in 2018.
Littlewood also talked about building a state-of-the-art training facility on 5 hectares in the city, but did not say where that was because they were still looking at several locations.
The group said it was looking for three things from the council: advocacy, data and resources and funding. It was not clear what sort of funding support was wanted. No request was made.
Councillor Jake McLellan said he assumed many South Island league fans were already fans of the Warriors and asked if there was a concern people would not convert allegiances.
Williams said: “I can tell you without a word of a lie the South Island will turn on a dime.”
“It will reignite the North Island/South Island rivalry.”
Councillor Andrei Moore, who has held a Warriors season pass for five years, said he would happily buy a season pass for a South Island team.
“We are in 2024 … monogamy is out of date.”
Councillor James Gough was concerned about their being two bidding groups for a South Island team and asked why they could not join forces.
Endacott said a lot of people were asking the same question, and conversations had already been had, but they had not come to any fruition.
“We feel as though we are strong enough to take this out ourselves.”
David Moffett - a former chief executive of the NRL, New Zealand Rugby and the Welsh Rugby Union, who lives in Canterbury - is heading the other Christchurch bid.
He told The Press last week he did not believe having two bids from the same city would dilute Christchurch’s chances.
Ultimately, it would be up to the NRL board to decide which group, if any, to award a licence to operate a team in Christchurch.
*An earlier version of this story incorrectly said Gemba had provided the $50m figure. It was based on the total average operating costs of an NRL side, as well as average visitor spend at recent NRL matches, provided by ChristchurchNZ.