Auckland’s stadium debate is hotting up again with a glitzy plan for Eden Park, the Warriors fortress at Go Media Mt Smart getting an upgrade, two plans on the waterfront, and fierce debate over the future of North Harbour.
Texan billionaire Bill Foley and former ASB Classic tennis tournament director Karl Budge are the latest hopefuls to enter Auckland’s long-running stadium impasse.
The 78-year-old Foley is bankrolling an Auckland A-League football franchise that will initially play at Go Media Mt Smart before moving to a new 20,000-seat stadium on the waterfront.
It’s a bold idea, up there with Trevor Mallard coming to Auckland in 2006 with a blank cheque from the Labour Government to build a waterfront stadium for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Auckland politicians said no.
“We want our own stadium and we are quite excited about that, though it would take time,” Foley said in November.
Budge is part of a consortium proposing a 20,000-seat temporary stadium at the central-city Viaduct Harbour, which organisers believe could be built in time to host major sports events next year.
It is understood the backers of the temporary venue have told city leaders it could be constructed within six months, meaning it would be ready to host the first match of Auckland’s new A-League team in October 2024.
However, the self-funding project has a few “buts” - Auckland Council must provide the site at no cost, and it would need support from the Warriors and Blues, who are contractually tied to Go Media and Eden Park over the next few years.
The latest plans are playing out 12 years after Auckland Council unveiled plans to rationalise the city’s four stadiums - Go Media, North Harbour, Western Springs and Eden Park - and put them on a “more sustainable financial footing”.
Since then five plans have come and gone, and nothing has changed. A new game plan under Mayor Wayne Brown to determine an “Auckland Main Stadium” is likely to conclude that Eden Park will stay on as the premier venue for All Blacks tests, big events like last year’s successful Fifa Women’s Football Cup, and concerts.
No surprise there, but there’s a glimmer of hope that could see Auckland settle for a large, medium and small stadium to deliver everything from All Blacks tests to the Warriors and school football.
The latest impetus is set out in Auckland Council’s draft 10-year budget prepared by the mayor, who says the city’s stadiums are under-utilised and bleeding money.
He says there won’t be enough money in the budget to keep the council’s three stadiums - Go Media, North Harbour and Western Springs in a fit state, and Eden Park, owned by a private trust, owes the council money and may put its hand out for more.
Moving forward, Brown appears happy with the status quo at Eden Park and is proposing affordable steps to improve Go Smart, Western Springs and North Harbour.
Western Springs would receive $10 million to become a semi-permanent concert venue, but it is unclear what will happen to Speedway, which saw off attempts to boot it out of its home of 90 years in 2019.
About $70m is earmarked for Go Media Mt Smart Stadium, the hottest ticket in town last footy season with the resurgent Warriors packing in the fans, and coming close to snaring the Blues, who eventually signed a new two-year deal at Eden Park.
The 25,000-seat stadium is in line for improvements to the main stadium, a 10,000-capacity secondary stadium and high-performance facilities in partnership with the private sector. Talks are also underway to improve public transport and traffic management in and around the stadium.
Brown’s most controversial idea is to do away with the 25,000-seat North Harbour Stadium, which he calls a “white elephant”, although he is putting two options on the table, and is keen to get feedback from people on the North Shore.
The first option is to keep the existing stadium, spend $35m over the next decade to maintain and operate it and look at improving its operating model.
The second option is to downsize North Harbour for up to 8000 seats with the flexibility for additional capacity if needed.
This would be funded by using the $35m in the pot for North Harbour Stadium and selling some land in the wider stadium precinct.
Some of the money would also fund a new indoor multi-use arena, and the existing playing fields in the precinct would be kept.
The plan has sparked debate, with North Harbour Rugby calling time on the “no longer fit-for-purpose” stadium and wanting a new home to seat 6000 to 8000 spectators, whereas Harbour Sport says North Harbour, fundraised by locals and built in 1997, has been left to go to ruin and should remain.
Albany councillor John Watson says downsizing North Harbour Stadium would be the “kiss of death”, and the local Upper Harbour Local Board is also opposed.
How much progress Brown makes on his “stadium investment plan” will not be known until mid-2024 when the 10-year budget is finalised, but after 11 years of Auckland’s Stadium Strategy going nowhere, there is a sniff of Auckland settling for a “large, medium and small” stadium outcome.
Parallel to this is work between the council’s events arm Tātaki Auckland Unlimited and Eden Park Trust on a single operator for the city’s stadiums by July.
In November, councillors were updated on this work and learned progress “has been slower than anticipated”, which is not surprising given a history of tension between the pair and greater competition since Eden Park got consent in 2021 to hold six concerts a year.
The Commerce Commission is also in the mix and must rule on whether the “public benefits” of a single operator outweigh any impacts from the loss of competition between Tātaki’s stadiums and Eden Park.
While talks drag on, the “Auckland Main Stadium” exercise is drawing to a close after four parties came forward to be crowned the top dog.
They are Eden Park with its 2.0 and revised 2.1 option, transforming the 60,000 seat stadium into a glitzy 60,000-capacity sport and entertainment fortress with a retractable roof, three new grandstands and a pedestrian promenade linking to Kingsland train station.
The revised 2.1 option is believed to have a reduced carbon footprint, but like its sibling comes at a cost likely to exceed $1 billion when the Eden Park Trust does not have the financial means to foot the bill, and Auckland Council and the Government are saying “no” to nice-to-haves.
The Auckland Waterfront Consortium has dusted off its 2018 plans for a 70,000-seat, fully enclosed stadium sunk into the Waitematā Harbour with a floating roof above sea level costing about $2b.
The consortium claims the stadium can be built at no cost to the public purse, but it, too, comes with conditions - it must be given the freehold title on Eden Park and development rights on about 16ha of prime waterfront land at Ports of Auckland.
The third proposal is a plan for a “mini Melbourne” entertainment precinct encompassing the 55,000-seat rectangular stadium, an indoor arena and an outdoor amphitheatre to view harbour events like Sail GP. The 8000-seat indoor arena would replace the Viaduct Events Centre and a new walking and cycle connection from Halsey Wharf to Wynyard Point would form an inner harbour for water sports.
Financier and former New Zealand Rugby board member Richard Dellabarca is leading the work, and secured some of the world’s biggest names in designing, building and running stadiums.
The fourth proposal is for a waterfront stadium precinct at Quay Park or Te Tōangaroa, backed by New Zealand Rugby, and including an All Black-branded hotel.
Ever since former Mayor Phil Goff floated the idea in 2018 of a new National Stadium in downtown Auckland, the site of the old railways land alongside Spark Arena has been identified as a feasible location.
The land is owned by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and renamed Te Tōangaroa.
Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei chief executive Lisa Davis said the iwi is not involved in the process concerning an Auckland Main Stadium.
“Te Tōangaroa has been identified previously by independent parties as a possible site for a stadium. We would of course evaluate any proposal which is beneficial to Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei as a landowner and to Te Tōangaroa as a whole,” she said.
Earlier last year, Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei deputy chair Ngarimu Blair came out in favour of the latest design for Eden Park, calling it a “strong stadium proposal”.
Councillor Shane Henderson chairs the “Stadium Venues political working group” for the Auckland Main Stadium project.
As well as the sports fanatic Henderson, the working group includes other councillors, Tātaki chief executive Nick Hill, a member of the Māori Statutory Board and Sport New Zealand chief executive Raelene Castle.
After receiving 75-minute presentations from each of the four wannabes before Christmas, and going through an independent assessment, the group is expected to present a recommendation for the council’s governing body after the summer recess.
The money is on Eden Park, simply because there is no money and no political will to build a new national stadium from scratch.
As for Foley and the Budge consortium, the chances of them getting anywhere, any time soon, are slim.
Plan A - 2012
Plan B - 2014
Plan C - 2016
Plan D - 2018
Plan E - 2019
Bernard Orsman is an Auckland-based reporter who has been covering local government and transport since 1998. He joined the Herald in 1990 and worked in the parliamentary press gallery for six years.
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