Brian Rudman: There's better value outside Eden Park

Presumably Rugby World Cup supremo Martin Snedden misses the irony of announcing a $5000 fine for ticket-scalping in the same breath as revealing the official price for Eden park final tickets will be up to $1250. This sounds dangerously akin to the official scalper protecting his patch to prevent others getting in on the act.

All heart, Mr Snedden says rugby fans will be allowed to pay in instalments. Not surprising when an All Blacks team pack of tickets to the four pool matches, a quarter-final, a semifinal and the final will cost from $1490 to $4390.

It's time the Government put Don Brash in charge of a Closing the Gap 2011 Taskforce, to come up with ways to bring New Zealand wages to a level where local fans can enjoy this festival of rugby. They might also want to look at whether the local rugby-supporting taxpayer is getting value out of the $300 million Government investment in this tournament.

At least, thanks to the intervention of Maori TV, fans can sit at home and watch all the games, live and free, on assorted TV channels.

And while most Aucklanders are priced out of the Eden Park festivities, there are plenty of alternative world-class entertainments coming to the CBD they could experiment with instead. Shows that reveal how ridiculously over-priced and elitist this money-obsessed sporting event seems to have become.

For between $1107 and $2826, which is much less than the cost of the seven-game All Black package, Aucklanders could sign up for 39 nights of world-class entertainment provided by the combined talents of the NZ Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Auckland Theatre Company and Chamber Music NZ.

That's the combined cost of season tickets to all four of these organisations, not just a season pass to one or other of them. Aside from the obvious price advantage, you know the 39 concerts will go ahead, whereas there's no guarantee the All Black will still be strutting the world stage past game four.

The Rugby World Cup organisers keep insisting the reason tickets are so dear is because they're delivering a world class tournament. But the star musicians in next year's concerts are the All Blacks and the Springboks of their fields. The Borodin and St Lawrence Quartets, for example, are as good as chamber music gets. As for world-class soloists, the APO is hosting violin superstars such as Midori and Grammy Award-winning Jame Ehnes and the pianist Peter Jablonski, while their Wellington-based rivals, the NZSO, are competing with Hilary Hahn and Freddy Kempf.

The ATC will be entertaining with Cabaret in a Spiegeltent, homegrown plays by local playwrights Ken Duncum, Dave Armstrong and Richard Harris and Romeo and Juliet set in an Auckland private school.

In total, more than 80 hours of world-class entertainment over the year compared to less than 10 hours of rugby - with, if history is any guide, deep disappointment at the end.

While talking about Eden Park, Auckland ratepayers should keep a close eye on where this "asset" ends up when the Super City music suddenly stops. The Auckland Transition Agency, charged with finding a new home for every asset and facility within the new city infrastructure, has tentatively parked Eden Park into a council-controlled organisation along with assorted other publicly and trust-owned facilities such as North Harbour Stadium and TelstraClear Pacific Events Centre.

Let's not forget it was the central government that unilaterally decided Eden Park would be the main sports stadium for Auckland and handed over $190 million of the $250 million redevelopment costs.

Government appointees now dominate the trust board, which talks of its intentions to run the park at a profit after 2011, but Auckland City councillor Mark Donnelly reflects the more general view that this potential white elephant may become a bottomless pit. The trust board already owes Auckland City Council over $6 million for a loan made several years ago. The Super City creators should think carefully before saddling ratepayers with the responsibility for this potential Trojan Horse.