Ben Guild: BYO stumped before its start

The Northern Knights BYO alcohol trial policy, stumped by police less than a day after it was announced to media, provides the sort of irony that should be cherished. Photo / George Novak

Northern Districts chief executive Peter Roach got that horrible feeling Tuesday. The one where you know something is behind you, and closing, but you're not quite sure what.

Then you hear the sirens and see the lights flashing.

And two thoughts hit, at once.

The game is up and it's time to pull over.

The Northern Knights BYO alcohol trial policy, stumped by police less than a day after it was announced to media, provides the sort of irony that should be cherished - not regulated.

Things very nearly went full circle, and if chatter rings and vampires prove anything it is that there is both novelty and currency in that.

The great legacy of professional sport in this country, aside from creating revenue streams and securing improved content for those who could afford it, is the downturn in crowd numbers at matches.

The myriad reasons - the economy, increased competition, match schedules being determined by TV ratings, a saturation of the entertainment and sporting market and the absence of the best players at the domestic level due to ramped up international campaigns - are not likely to go away and are felt by all parties.

The problem is the effects aren't proportionately shared.

Sporting associations, some which do not even factor gate takings into budget forecasts, feel it most. There is nothing worse than your product being considered unpopular, and seeing former and fringe international players perform on a mid-week night in front of hundreds of people in a 40,000 seat stadium certainly gives that impression.

It doesn't look great for Sky either but it doesn't have to.

Their audience is captive and often signed up to long-term deals. Plus they are outrageously price effective for sports fans given the state of the market and have enough of a monopoly they can afford to bundle content together rather than selling individual packages.

Their main concern is just filling x number of hours with programming of a sufficient quality to keep subscribers paying.

One suspects they will, and they will. Talk abounds of online platforms making moves for individual rights as has happened with golf and football, but time is still to tell whether that will work in this country.

What has failed to be mentioned is the silliness of the semantics behind the police decision after initially indicating they would bless the move.

It's okay to drink beer at the matches, but only if you don't bring it with you.

Isn't that like outlawing gambling on cell phones at live events then allowing bookies from the same companies to set up stalls around the grounds, with worse odds?

Some would argue the licensing structure allows greater regulation at the point of sale, but that is a lazy argument that discounts the Kiwi tradition of giving someone money to buy something that you cannot.

Western Bay of Plenty Police acting area commander inspector Karl Wright-St Clair said the police had originally got it wrong when advising the initiative would be legal.

"As a result of an approach from the organisers police staff had acted in good faith when they provided the initial advice.

"We understand Northern Districts' desire to make the option available when they chose to promote the trial. Today we have re-assessed the initial advice given and have advised Northern Districts that this trial, for these matches, would have likely breached alcohol-related laws.

"We have now worked with the interested parties to ensure alcohol can be sold in a safe and controlled manner under the provisions of a Special Licence."

Desperation in trying to boost crowd figures by sporting organisations is nothing new.

At least as early as 2003, $20 in Dunedin could get you a burger and chips, a jug of Speights, a ticket to a Highlanders Super Rugby match at Carisbrook, a bus ride to and from the game and some reasonably worthless junk like jandals that would break.

Some took up the deal once, many less twice, and so on. It was still cheaper to stay home. And the game looked better.

That is Roach's problem, and it does not appear to be fleeting. BYO alcohol was one of the few cards he had to play and it turns out he isn't allowed to table it.

It's like a US state that wants to legalise casinos to boost tax revenue but gets shut down by the feds.

Roach said while the initiative seemed to have merit and had gained public support, the organisation understood the change of decision and would not challenge it.

"We're disappointed we couldn't trial the idea, as it seemed to create some genuine public interest.

"We put forward the idea as we had listened to our consumers when they tell us going to watch live sport can be costly. The BYO alcohol was only part of our strategy, and we are still pleased that the other aspects that we focused on are still in play - patrons can still bring their umbrellas for shade, food, and non-alcoholic drinks of any quantities."

"Ticket prices are also low at $10 for an adult, $5 for seniors, and free for kids under 16."

It's hard to know what the answer is, or if there is one.

Governments overseas have tackled it by bidding for free-to-air rights and then restricting the broadcast if crowd numbers are too small.

That horse has bolted here with Sky's ascendancy, but there may be other ways.

Why couldn't Sky subscribers get into grounds for free and be afforded the right to bring beverages from home into certain secured areas?

Alcohol is dangerous, but the risk, as with almost anything, can be mitigated by proper monitoring and regulation.

Isn't that why that weirdo who claimed he was going to be swallowed alive by an anaconda for TV ratings recently wore a protective suit?

Ford Trophy squad for first two matches: Daniel Flynn (c, Bay of Plenty), Graeme Aldridge (Bay of Plenty), Jono Boult (Bay of Plenty), Joe Carter (Bay of Plenty), Jono Hickey (Counties Manukau), Scott Kuggeleijn (Hamilton), Daryl Mitchell (Hamilton),
Mitchell Santner (Hamilton), Tim Seifert (Waikato Valley), Ish Sodhi (Counties Manukau), Brad Wilson (Northland), Anurag Verma (Hamilton).