Editorial: Parker title bid worthy of support, but...

Andrew Austin, Editor of Hawke's Bay Today.

In principle, I don't have a problem with the Government stumping up cash to support major sporting events involving our athletes.

Sport is one of the life bloods of this country and when the national sporting teams and individuals perform well on the world stage, it makes the whole nation happy. Obviously the All Blacks are at the pinnacle of this feel-good factor, but an America's Cup victory is not far behind.

A new and equally welcome experience would be a heavyweight boxing champion of the world. After doing the hard yards and building his profile, Joseph Parker finds himself sanctioned to fight for the WBO title against Mexican Andy Ruiz.

The plan is for this bout to be held in Auckland on December 10, but as you can imagine, big money is needed to put on an event like this.

Parker's promoters Duco Events are keen to do it and have put in an application for government funding for the fight. Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce said the Government would have to weigh the proposal up as it did not want the Major Events Development Fund to be "straightforward subsidy for promoters". The Government has to be convinced that there would be economic benefits for the country.

Make no mistake, Duco will not be able to pull this off without Government help. The fight will head to the United States if Duco's wish is not granted.

I think the Government should give them the money because it will have a huge impact on many facets of our country, from economic benefits to tourism and general mood of the nation. As we saw with the 2011 Rugby World Cup, the nation would get behind it.

However, Duco can't have their cake and eat it. If they want taxpayers to prop up their hosting bid, then they need to make it free to air so the whole nation can watch it on television.