The editorial in The Dominion Post, 17 July 2008, about the upcoming Rugby World Cup makes some interesting observations.
One snippet is about who gets what from the event: With the IRB taking the money from all aspects of the World Cup except ticket sales, the company set up by the Government and New Zealand Rugby Union to run the event and be responsible for meeting the massive $310 million operating cost is already looking at a $30 million deficit, and will want to put as many bums on seats as possible.
Another is a statement about the commercialisation of rugby and unrealistic demands on ratepayers: There is more at stake than dollars and cents. There are already hints that commercialism has robbed rugby of some of its lustre, and if the public believes it is being treated as nothing more than a milch cow that feeling will only grow. Certainly the IRB has done nothing to allay that with its demands for large financial returns. It is expecting about $200 million from the New Zealand tournament, and has said it wants $260 million in 2015 and $310 million in 2019.
However, the last paragraph returns to bit of the old myth making: In the meantime, World Cup 2011 not only offers the All Blacks the chance to bury their world cup hoodoo, but rugby a chance to reinforce its position in the national psyche.
So there we have it: Profit-making, myth-making and tax payers funding of the Rugby World Cup – all to bolster the ‘national psyche’? Oh yes, you will also get to pay as a rate payer if you live in Dunedin and/or Otago unless we stop public money going into a new stadium in Dunedin.
Read the full editorial here: http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominionpost/4620697a6483.html
