Nervous sponsors fear big-money Cup charm

By JAMES GARDINER

Sponsors of the successful Team New Zealand America's Cup defenders fear they may be squeezed out by other companies trying to lure the syndicate's new management with more money.

The "family of five" sponsors - Toyota, Lotto, Telecom, TV One and Steinlager - have rights of renewal for the 2003 regatta but there are "out" clauses relating to market conditions. Second-tier sponsors include WestpacTrust, Line 7, SGI and Fletcher Building.

Another set of sponsors was linked with the company AC2000, which was responsible for staging the finals regatta, the Cup defence itself. These included Fuji Xerox, Compaq, Ericsson, Telecom (again) and Air New Zealand. They also have renewal rights.

Moves this week to begin the wind-up of the charitable trust and associated companies responsible for Team NZ and staging the event have hit a snag over how much, if anything, the new management team led by Russell Coutts should pay to take over.

Last night, Sir Peter Blake revealed a further funding complication with the "family of five." When Team NZ needed more money during the campaign, the sponsors provided loans which would only be rolled over if their sponsorship continued for the next defence.

The new management would have to accept this "commercial reality" and continue with the sponsorship arrangement or repay the debt.

Sir Peter said that the new management was aware of this but "they suddenly want to do a different deal. If the new guys decide it's all too hard for them - then maybe there's another plan out there, I don't know."

Employment contracts of the 85 Team NZ employees are due to expire today and the plan was to have transition arrangements in place.

It is understood the Coutts team, which includes Brad Butterworth and Tom Schnackenberg, hope to keep the syndicate largely intact and are anxious that expertise is not lost to rivals.

But the row over how the handover should occur has been simmering for months, possibly years, and the possibility of new sponsors latching on to a successful product has not been lost.

"We all suspect that, but I wouldn't have a clue," said TVNZ's Liam Jeory when asked if other sponsors were pushing to get on board.

"You've got a whole bunch of people looking at it from different perspectives. I mean, this is just as complex as hell. For us it's a real biggie."

Most sponsors were delighted with the exposure they got and the success of the syndicate, but that does not appear to guarantee they will be back.