There is a standard shot that seemingly must be included in most sports broadcasts. The one where the camera will pan and show us someone of note watching the game. At the US Open, there was a cast of A-List celebrities. At women’s fixtures, it can be a handful of men from the team who are playing afterwards. It may be a retired great or perhaps an injured player, watching on from the stands. Then of course, there are the politicians.
We’re told sport and politics don’t mix, but the choice of events politicians attend sure feels calculated. Who could forget Rugby News coverboy Sir John Key and his frequent visits to the All Blacks changing sheds? By contrast Helen Clark, was a regular at her local Mt Albert Rugby League club. In his last election campaign, Sir Bill English shared a clip of himself cheering on Team New Zealand, while Jacinda Ardern favoured rubbing shoulders with various women’s teams in black.
Christopher Luxon has stumbled a bit in the sporting arena. First claiming South Auckland’s Tangaroa College 1st XV glory as a win for Botany, then professing a love for the Crusaders which extended many years before they were founded. And most recently he opted to cheer “Let’s Gone Warriors” rather than “Up The Wahs”.
Meanwhile Chris Hipkins is a sports fan driven more by obligation rather than passion. He does what is required, turning up at the major events but in his personal time appears to be more a fan of the great outdoors, “spreading his legs” as a cyclist and tramper in his local Remutaka Ranges.
When you’re a politician, you have a small window through which you can humanise yourself to voters. It’s no wonder then that in our sports-mad nation so many opt for displays of fandom. If executed well, there’s a positive association to be made if the public feel a politician is backing our team. Misstep though and you’ll be promptly thrown from the bandwagon.