Team New Zealand have released a video showing an animation of a possible America's Cup hub. / Source: Emirates Team New Zealand
As the champagne and tears flowed in Bermuda, the emails were already pinging back and forth between bureaucrats.
The America's Cup was once more New Zealand's Cup and there were opportunities abound.
Opportunities to push forward key infrastructure projects along the Auckland Waterfront and central city. Opportunities to showcase New Zealand as a world-class tourism destination. Opportunities to promote the capabilities of the marine sector. Opportunities for job creation, growth, and, just good old fashioned uplift national pride.
The America's Cup runneth over with opportunities, you could say.
The government were quick to mark their course. Official documents show staffers at the ministry of business, innovation and employment were concerned that decisions regarding the 36th America's Cup would progress quickly, and recommended early engagement "to allow Government to influence the decision making from both Team New Zealand and Auckland Council".
"The government has the opportunity to work with Team NZ over the coming weeks and months to influence the design and nature of the event," the document stated.
Meanwhile, the Council's development and planning agency, Panuku Auckland, wasted no time in dusting off their waterfront plans and sizing up where an America's Cup village might fit into jigsaw puzzle.
Economic reports were commissioned, feasibility studies and technical work commenced, and consultation began in earnest.
Five months later, despite enthusiasm from all sides for bringing the event to Auckland, Team NZ have still not signed a host city agreement. They are unlikely to do so this side of Christmas.
There are wrangles over sites for team bases, hosting fees and who pays for what, all the while Team NZ darkly hint at the threat they may just up and take the 36th America's Cup elsewhere.
After all the initial jostling for a seat at the bargaining table, now the real strong arming has begun.
The contentious hosting fee discussion only became a factor in negotiations over the past two weeks.
The three parties were beginning to make progress on the vexed issue of where the event village and team bases would be located when Team NZ raised the question of a hosting fee.
"That came out of left field," says Auckland mayor Phil Goff, "we had never paid that in previous defences."
"It was mentioned for the first time by Grant Dalton at the Sunday meeting [November 19]."
Team New Zealand boss Grant Dalton has fought his corner strongly in the delicate three-way negotiations between the Auckland Council and central government. Photo / Photosport
At the same time, rumours of big money offers of up to $115 million from Russia and the Middle East to host the America's Cup had filtered through the media. It's unclear what the intent of the leak was. Whether it be to show how reasonable they were being by only asking for a small fraction of what they could get elsewhere, or to whip up fear among the general public that Team NZ were about to sail off with the event and their squillions - either way, Goff wasn't moved.
"I was pretty clear when the suggestion of Sochi or Abu Dhabi came up. I said 'look, I'm not in the business of competing with Russian mafia or oil sheiks from Abu Dhabi'," said Goff.
"I don't know how these things work and who was involved with the floating of the idea, but that's not a game I'm willing to play."
Given local and central government will already be footing the significant infrastructure bill for the event, the suggestion they pay a hosting fee as well has not played out well with the public.
Nor, it seems, Team NZ's former director, Jim Farmer.
In a column written on his professional website this week, the Auckland QC said he did not believe Team NZ have any intentions of taking the event outside of Auckland, and the play had the look of "corporate blackmail".
"It would be helpful and in their own interests in retaining public support if they came out in the open right now and said that this is not a possibility," Farmer wrote.
"The failure to make a public statement to that effect will, even to people who believe that it is inconceivable that Team NZ would do so, look rather like corporate blackmail aimed at the Government: 'Pay us a hosting fee or we will go elsewhere'."
Team NZ declined to offer a formal response to Farmer's column, claiming "the damage was already done" by reporting his comments.
The government may yet come to the party with hosting fee, accessing a major project fund to make it happen. Minister for the America's Cup, David Parker, was unavailable for an interview with the Herald this week, but told Newstalk ZB the fee Team NZ were asking for was "significant".
"Whilst there is obviously a bottom line beyond where we would think we would be unreasonably pushed - and we wouldn't be pushed beyond that - we also recognise there are benefits and that's why I think all three parties are trying to find a solution.
"I think there's a point beyond where they [Team New Zealand] wouldn't be pushed either. And they've got to have some things which make this viable for them and that's the nature of the negotiation."
Having gone to ground over the last week since the storm erupted, what Team NZ have failed to effectively communicate is the huge event management costs of running the regatta. UK firm Influence Sports and Media have been contracted to handle all commercial aspects of the event.
IS&M said in a statement it would work on "partner sales, partner management, media rights and implementation for the 36th America's Cup Defence". Then there are the on-water operations, health and safety requirements, media facilities, signage and hundreds of event staff.
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff in his office. Photo / Greg Bowker
At the same time, Team NZ have a campaign to run. They don't want to be in a position where they are cannibalising money that should be going towards retaining the Cup, to pay for the cost of running the event.
Before the hosting fee debate flared up, Team NZ had been winning the PR stakes in the delicate negotiations.
Sir Stephen Tindall and Kevin Shoebridge have presented the moderate face of Team NZ, while behind the scenes Dalton has fought their corner strongly.
Their decision to back down from their initial preferred venue option of the Halsey Wharf extension showed a willingness to compromise, or, at the very least, an ability to pick their battles.
The 230m Halsey extension was the preferred option put forward by Panuku and Team NZ, but it was a bridge too far, or in this case wharf too far, for the Council's governing body in the face of well-organised opposition from Save our Harbour trust.
Having taken the Halsey Wharf option off the table, the Council last month voted to "express a preference for" the dispersed option, which will see the syndicate bases spread across three downtown wharves - Hobson, Halsey and Wynyard.
Also included in the Council resolution was a commitment to continue to explore another option - Wynyard Point. This option, which comes with a more palatable $117m price tag, is favoured by Parker but comes with some rather large fish hooks for both the Council and the event.
It was thought this option was included in the resolution as a show of good faith to the minister, and Parker would swiftly back down once he got to grips with all the challenges.
The Council don't like it because of cost of breaking leases and re-locating the businesses, while Team NZ point out the western side of the wharf doesn't meet the technical specifications to safely launch and retrieve the new generation of America's Cup boats.
But Parker continues to dig his heels in. The Herald understands the minister has suggested they explore a hybrid option, which would see only the eastern side of the wharf used.
Parker's chief concerns with the dispersed option favoured by the Council and, now, Team NZ are environmental.
As well as minister for economic development, Parker is also minister for the environment and he needs to satisfy his obligation under this portfolio by minimising any intrusion into the harbour.
Panuku has been instructed to "interrogate" the Wynyard Point option fully before a decision is made on which site to proceed with through the resource consent process.
One city planning expert told the Herald Wynyard Point comes with some "very bright red flashing lights". Goff was more diplomatic.
"I'm reasonably confident that the best option will be the Wynyard Basin, but I want to in good faith exhaust the potential of the other option, so people are not going to say we chose this without thoroughly examining it all," says Goff.
"We've had longer to think about it and work through different options. [Parker] needs to be fully satisfied himself. He wants the Cup here, he understands the need to meet the time frame. I'm confident he will work through the thing thoroughly."
The Council were due to vote on the which location to proceed with this Thursday, but the mayor was unsure whether the delicate three-way negotiations will be complete by then.
"What I would like to do by next week is to take to governing body 'this is the location'. I don't know yet whether they would have exhausted that potential but it will be to say 'we are ready to put a resource consent application in by the 15th of January' "
The public consultation phase is not expected to plain sailing either. There is still a chance special legislation may need to be invoked for the Council to meet its obligations under the Resource Management Act in the required timeframe.
