A billion dollar stadium is unaffordable

The Herald reports:

The journey towards a definitive solution to Auckland’s stadium issues has moved a step forward, after a series of presentations to a council working group in December last year.

The panel, set up in September 2023 by Mayor Wayne Brown, is tasked with finding the best long-term option for a main stadium in the city and then making a non-binding recommendation to the wider council. The working group are scheduled to meet in the next month before forwarding its recommendations to the council by the end of March. The governing body are expected to vote on the preferred stadium option around April-May.

It’s believed that two of the downtown options were priced at just over $1 billion, with a third considerably more. Eden Park’s cost for its ambitious renovation was about $850 million. Mayor Brown has already instructed that minimal ratepayer funds will be available and the central Government has yet to commit.

If it is funded by the private sector, then any of the non Eden Park options looks great. But my suspicion is that all the proposals will be dependent on ratepayers underwriting a billion dollar stadium – and that should not happen.