SailGP: Auckland event set to top 30,000 fans as funding stalemate hits all major events
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com/nz 28 Aug 23:01 AEST
The extended Grandstand will take an extra 3,000 fans per day in SailGP Auckland in February 2026 © Felix Diemer/SailGP
The announcement of an extension to the grandstand at SailGP Auckland next February will likely set a new crowd attendance record for a stadium sailing event, but a stand off between the NZ Government and Auckland Council over long term funding for major events could derail future SailGP hosting, and indeed that of other major international sailing events which could be hosted in New Zealand.
According to SailGP's NZ Event manager, Alex Corry, the grandstand in February 2026 will be higher and wider than its 2025 equivalent, which dominated the Auckland skyline for the first SailGP event held in the City of Sails, last January.
She confirmed that the 2025 capacity of 7740 seats will increase to 10,236 seats in February 2026. The Auckland SailGP event will be the second on the 2026 calendar sitting between the season opener in January and the third event in Sydney in March.
To the 10,000 plus seated fans, can be added the thousands that get free viewing from the numerous vantage points around the racing area on Auckland's inner harbour, adjacent to the harbour bridge.
Based on January 2025's audience calculations, the ticketed and non-ticketed audience should exceed 30,000 come February.
On its first ever SailGP regatta last January, Auckland set a new ticketed attendance record for the League which had been in operation for five years, covering 25 cities and five continents.
"We received a net promoter score of 80 plus, for the Auckland event," says Corry, "which is the highest net promoter score we've received in SailGP history. Also, the teams loved it here. So, all in all, the feedback was fantastic," she added.
As well as grandstand seating, the 2026 offer will again include on the water viewing, and for the first time a special $110/day rate for young fans (5-18yrs). "We're really trying to get a younger audience, and maybe future SailGP sailors into the race stadium."
Other levels of daily pricing range from $200 for a stand ticket to $350 for a Premium seating position along with a new Platinum offer of $1250 per person in a minimum group of 10 - offering full commentary and an all-inclusive food and drink menu.
On the water a spot inside the Exclusion Zone will cost from $600-$2,500/day depending on the length of your boat.
Last hurrah for SailGP
The 2026 event will be the last of the deal negotiated between the NZ Government's Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment for a four regatta, two venue deal with the first two regattas sailed on Lyttleton Harbour and the last two in Auckland. In a media release in March 2024 the then Minister of Economic Development said:" The Government has committed a multi-year investment of $5.4 million across four years (2023 to 2026) from the Major Events Fund to support Sail-GP events in New Zealand. "
It is reported that Auckland Council's event arm Auckland Unlimited tipped in another $1million. However as became evident from the reports on the 2021 and 2024 America's Cup hosting exercises there is a big difference between what Auckland Council contribute in cash and so-called "value in kind".
Asked as to what happens in Season 7, Alex Corry was circumspect, saying that "discussions are ongoing. We'd like nothing better than to see Auckland as a permanent fixture in the SailGP calendar."
Whether that dream will come to fruition is a vexed issue with the Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown being a vocal advocate for a "bed levy" imposed on accommodation in Auckland. Brown claims that around $27million a year for major events expenditure would come to the Auckland Council from the levy, compared to the $7million allocated by the Council from Rates income.
More detail and an update can be read here thespinoff.co.nz/the-bulletin/28-08-2025/brown-and-luxon-clash-over-bed-levy-as-major-events-slip-from-aucklands-grasp
The NZ Government, or rather the Wellington based bureaucrats who call the shots, are not so enamoured of Brown's proposal or "bed tax" as they label it. Quizzed by media on the morning of the SailGP announcement, the Government's line was that the Major Events funding needed a "rethink". The Prime Minister acknowledged that the lack lustre Auckland economy desperately needed major events, but "the pipeline is empty".
With the retail vacancy rate in the Auckland CBD, the worst in New Zealand, estimated to be between 7% and 13%, depending on the data source, the prospect of more SailGPs beyond 2026 becomes imperative, as does the prospect of half a dozen America's teams based in the Jellicoe Basin/Wynyard Point area.
Auckland Unlimited CEO Nick Hill kept his cards close to his chest on the question of cost of hosting future SailGP events.
"The event's got bigger. The values got greater. So, we have to be realistic about that,' he explains. "But we're negotiating at the moment. There was a four-year deal initially with the Crown (NZ Government) for Auckland and Christchurch.
"This is the last of those. So we're now really talking about the next four or five years. And as you heard Alex say, they (SailGP) wanted to be here. We absolutely want them to be here. The value of the event grows every time you repeat it. So people know that this is something to come to and we learn how to make the most of it."
He didn't mention that the Auckland Council had started an Investing in the Future fund, which could help with the attraction of Major Events, but that will also be spent on other required infrastructure and other non-sporting projects. The fact remains that the Wellington based Government remains a major financial beneficiary of such Events, but contributes little other than warm words.
Kiwi Government out of touch
Auckland and New Zealand's funding of major events is a serious issue for all sports. For Kiwis the pain is still fresh from having two America's Cup hosting rights go elsewhere. The NZ Govt claims that is largely because the money wasn't available, but one suspects they could not see how to "sell" the decision poltically, and did not want the hit of the political fallout. According to latest polls that decline has taken place regardless. Historically the Labour Party has been far better for the America's Cup in NZ than has National, and the centre-left opposition party backed the Government hosting of the 2027 America's Cup in Auckland.
The Wellington favoured centralised funding model can never work in the New Zealand context because as soon as funding is allocated for the Event, there is a media chorus as to where else that money can be deployed other than to a "rich white man's sport". But the fact is now that outside the America's Cup, New Zealand and Auckland can now only afford to bid for third tier sporting events.
The political fallout comes from the fact that every cause from the womb to the grave can make a compelling case in the media for better use of the money spent on Major Events funding, and especially America's Cup hosting.
Levy misrepresented as a Tax
Mayor Brown's proposed "Bed Levy" gets the response from the Prime Minister that his government doesn't want any "new taxes" in this current term, misses the point completely. The "Bed Levy" is just that - it applies to tourists only, and is not a tax paid by the general populace. Equally fallacious is the claim that the levy will price NZ out of the reach of tourists, and deter them from attending major events.
That is clearly a nonsense, as price gouging by everyone from airlines to accommodation and hospitality - often to double or even treble regular pricing - is an unfortunate part of attending/covering any major sporting event. The imposition of a Bed Tax is ice-cream money by comparison.
Sail-World has previously covered the amount of tax and GST revenue that the NZ Government gains through high value tourists coming to Auckland for a major event, who then stay on for an extended holiday elsewhere in New Zealand.
The Bed Levy is cost-neutral to Kiwis. If there are no visitors coming into town, using rental accommodation, then there is no additional tax for NZ residents. Of course, every visitor that stays a night anywhere in NZ pays the levy. But under Mayor Brown's proposal that money stays in the region in which it is collected and is allocated by the region to attract more major events. The Wayne Brown view is that the Vistor Levy gets spent on events in the region in which it is collected. The alternative view is that it should be collected centrally, like all taxes, and then allocated by Wellington to various applicants.
According to Auckland Council a 2-3% Bed Levy has the support of Auckland ratepayers, however the National-led Coalition Government refuses to make the necessary legislative changes.
Central Government already has a $100 per tourist charge in place which it is supposed to spend on maintenance of tourist facilities. But of late that has been raided to spend on tourism promotion. Additional charges of $40 per tourist have been announced to be imposed on non-resident visitors to five major tourist attractions, again to spend on maintenance, but with no proposal as to how it will be collected.
From 19 March 2020 to 31 July 2022, the period of Covid, New Zealand maintained stringent border controls, effectively closing its borders to most international travellers for over two years. While tourist numbers have recovered to some extent, the three-year recession which followed has hit Auckland hard, and the hospitality industry in particular. Some of the blame is attributed to the lack of major events, which attract the high net worth individuals the Government is chasing, rather than attracting more the backpackers, which make the tourist headcount recovery look better than it is.
The Wellington-devised policy, echoed by the Prime Minister, is that Major Events attraction should be funded by Councils from Rates, knowing that most councils have imposed rates increases which are far greater than the rate of inflation. The fact is that the Auckland Council receives very little direct income from a Major Event being hosted in Auckland, yet the Government coffers receive a nice top-up through increased business and spending activity, by way of GST and income tax.
Economic benefit underscored
Nick Hill points out that the spin-off from Major Events is often underestimated.
"When we do cost benefit analysis, they probably tend to under measure and under capture the impact of the reputational effect. People see these images of the host city and country, and they want to travel and come here. It's a real reflection of who we are and how beautiful this place is," Hill explained.
"Before Covid, Auckland used to be recognized as one of the great event cities in the world," Auckland Unlimited CEO Nick Hill said.
"We've struggled for the last five years as we've sought to come back from that. But I'm optimistic about Auckland. There's a lot of things going into next year that we should feel positive about. There's a fantastic summer program coming up."
He points to the state of South Australia which has a similar population to Auckland City. South Australia spends $20million per year on major Sports, Auckland spends just $7million.
Asked if SailGP's return to Auckland beyond 2026, was dependent on the introduction of a regionally collected and distributed Bed Levy. "It would help," was Hill's response.
"We're working with the Mayor on that, but we do need a sustainable funding model for international events, and some mechanism like that's absolutely critical," he added.
Hill said he hoped that the SailGP negotiation for 2027 and beyond would be complete before Christmas.