Every parent already knows this basic reality from balancing a budget in tough economic times. Gymnastics, ballet and football subs are more likely to get the chop over mathematics tutoringor a weekly trip to the supermarket.
There’s no doubt sport is an important social and cultural pastime with significant health and wellbeing benefits, but it is by no means essential to human existence.
After a fantastic weekend for Kiwi competitors abroad, attention has swiftly tacked into the business of who should pay for all manner of things, including hosting the America’s Cup.
Helen Clark was among the thousands of Kiwis who trekked to Barcelona for what sounded like one hell of a party.
As patron of the team, Clark is keen to have the competition return to Auckland and warns it cannot be done “on the smell of an oily rag”.
On this, the former Prime Minister has a point. The last one cost tax and ratepayers $250 million. The money was split between infrastructure for and direct funding of the event itself.
The end result was a net loss of $156m for us old mugs who picked up the tab. We had closed the borders due to Covid, so that certainly didn’t help the bottom line.
The government of the day told us not to worry – the nearly one billion viewers watching around the world would one day boost tourism numbers.
How do we know the America’s Cup viewer ratings actually benefit our long-term tourism prospects? I would have thought it’s quite a difficult thing to measure and be certain of.
On that point, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment this month revealed it had been incorrectly calculating the cost-benefit analyses of major sporting events for at least the past two years.
Even if we could defy the odds and turn a profit, and even if we could trust the projections being bandied about, surely everybody living in this country right now realises such investments are nowhere near the top of our priority list?
Last-equal, I should qualify, next to Hungary. Add to this our global under-achievement in education and spats over which South Island city is more deserving of a hospital and you have yourself what I would have thought was a pretty clear-cut case for not funding a boat race.
This is not to say I’m not incredibly proud and stoked for the team and the sport, but if we’re going to build infrastructure in this country, then let’s go for hospital beds over yacht berths.
I would just ask a couple of simple questions before this debate goes any further. Would this money be better spent elsewhere? Did we turn a profit last time? Can we trust the agency tasked with projecting potential benefits? What’s so wrong with watching the boats sail in Saudi Arabia?
Much like the brands that sponsor sailing teams and competitions – think Prada and Louis Vuitton – sport is a luxury on a long shopping list of far more essential items.
