The cash-strapped Hamilton City Council has decided against making a bid for the Fifa Under 20 World Cup in 2015 because its coffers are empty.
Councillors voted 7-4 against vying for seven soccer games including a quarter-final as the V8 event which cost the city up to $40 million still weighs heavily on their minds.
Estimated costs of hosting the event would be $809,000 plus potential in-kind costs of providing office space, staff time and any other requirements identified after a site visit by Fifa, according to a business case presented yesterday at the full council meeting. The council was hosted at the Western Heights Community Centre to enable it to interact with the community.
The economic benefit to the city is estimated to be between $2.9 million and $3.5 million depending on the quarter-final. Two games would be played on one day at the Waikato Stadium.
The main accommodation benefactors from the teams and their crews were likely to be the city's 3-star-plus hotels - Ibis, Novotel Tainui and maybe Kingsgate Hotel. Fewer spectators were expected to attend than this year's Rugby World Cup but global TV exposure to 200 countries was promised.