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team. In Barcelona an additional estimated 45 million euros came from big name international sponsors – Louis Vuitton, Coca-Cola, Puig etc. At the time ETNZ were clear that support at this level would not have been offered if the regatta was in New Zealand. Their investment was undoubtedly attracted by the European
location, with time-friendly live broadcasts to a massive potential audience and easy access. An estimated 2.5 million people attended over the 54 days of the Barcelona event, along with more than 200 superyachts. Official TV figures have yet to be released, but broad- casts to more than 200 territories were on target to achieve the goal of more than 1.4 billion viewer-hits, a 50 per cent increase over the 941 million claimed for Auckland in 2021. The ambition for the 38th Cup is not just to match Barcelona,
but to step things up. Dalton’s post-Match statement said the objec- tive going forward is ‘to build on the success of AC37 and continue the growth we have been seeing since we first won the America’s Cup in 2017. We now have a number of valuable properties and we wish to continue building them up. We are keeping an open mind on how best to achieve this, with a venue, or different venues, that can supercharge the next Cup, with more teams and increased growth opportunities.’ Which suggests that the budget for AC38 is heading north, not south, regardless of where it is staged. As for participation growth, in addition to the five challengers –
UK, Italy, USA, Switzerland and France – that competed in 2024, at least two more are said to be waiting in the wings for the next
‘many other competing priorities’. The political ill-will goes back to the 2021 campaign when the
powerful Ministry of Business Innovation and Development (MBIE) launched a secret investigation into the team and its events arm over allegations of financial impropriety. Ultimately MBIE issued a statement apologising and accepting there was no wrongdoing. However, bad feelings prevail. When the team’s AC37 yacht,
Taihoro, was launched, Dalton devoted a significant chunk of his speech to the MBIE debacle, labelling the ‘attack dog’ ministry’s investigation as dishonest, describing it as a bid ‘to wrest control of the AC36 organisation’. The mystery broker will clearly require considerable diplomacy to get any meaningful discussion between the team and the government. To be fair, the Luxon government was not in power during the 2021 event, but the business ministry is substantially unchanged. Even if those bridges can be mended, ETNZ has bad memories
of the nightmarish tangle of red tape and grossly over-populated committees that engulfed every move throughout the 2021 campaign in Auckland. Dalton has frequently spoken of how pleasant the authorities were to deal with in Barcelona, with a hotline open and ready to respond to any call. Again the current government has declared war on red tape as
a brake on progress, efficiency and innovation and what Prime Minister Luxon describes as an ‘obstruction economy’. But, in a move worthy of Yes Minister, the government’s war strategy has been to create a new bureaucracy – the Ministry of Regulation – whose name alone suggests more, not less, red tape. Dalton’s wariness is not confined to the public sector. Following
the announcement that AC37 would be held in Barcelona, oil and gas entrepreneur Mark Dunphy fronted a clumsy campaign to force ETNZ to defend the Cup in home waters. As a starting point he demanded that Dalton step down and then prosecuted his cause with an aggressive public relations campaign; but he refused to sit down with ETNZ to discuss terms and never presented a formal proposal. Understandably Dalton ridiculed Dunphy’s Cup arithmetic and dismissed the affair as a hostile takeover bid. Hence his caveat now about any attempt to put together a New
Zealand public-private package: ‘There’s got to be no ulterior motive, no trying to get hold of the team, or take (it) over. It’s got to be done for genuine reasons of getting the Cup back to New Zealand.’ For all these reasons the chances of a return to New Zealand
By the time the Cup Match began it certainly felt as if the biggest supporter turnout had come for the team from farthest away – by some distance and many time zones. Maybe that was because they booked ahead knowing they were in the final? We doubt that. All national sports teams from the other nations competing in Barcelona are assured of a big fan turnout at home, of course, but few will ever match the Kiwis when it comes to supporting their boys overseas, especially factoring in the tiny population
cycle: a Swedish return under the Artemis banner, as well perhaps as a potential Spanish entry. The challenges for European and US teams moving out of their
home markets to operate down under add complication and cost, creating a barrier for new teams in particular. Political lack of will at best and ill-will at worst also loom as a potential hurdle here in Auckland. A distinctly lukewarm response to enquiries about gov- ernment or City support for AC38 confirms the apparent lack of will. Matters even began with a Mexican standoff over who was going
to make the first phone call! Early on in the Barcelona proceedings Dalton said the government would have to make the call. But Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Sports Minister Chris Bishop both insisted it was up to Dalton to break the ice… Luxon: ‘It’s going to be up to Team New Zealand to determine
where the Cup is held and we’re happy to entertain any proposal they wish to put to us.’ It would be weighed against the many other things the government want to deliver for New Zealanders, he added. ‘The government is obviously open to a discussion around the
event being held in New Zealand,’ echoed Bishop, adding it would need to demonstrate clear economic benefits and stack up against
26 SEAHORSE
might seem inauspicious. Yet… Whoever the mystery broker is, he or she has obviously
gained Dalton’s respect and some measure of trust. The fact that he has publicly opened the door at all suggests that he is serious about giving it a go. This change of heart may be related to the incredible surge of
public support the team received in Barcelona. As the event rose to its climax – with ETNZ squaring off against Ineos Britannia in the Match – a black wave of Kiwi fans in team regalia engulfed the city. And back at home, despite race starts at the ungodly hour of 1am, live coverage reached more than 1.5 million viewers on TV Three, with 1.55 million streaming on the ThreeNow service, according to Warner Bros Discovery. The Stuff website also streamed 207,000 hours of race coverage and content and reported Cup page views ‘reached almost 6 million’. Despite initial upset at taking the event offshore to Barcelona,
when it came down to it Kiwi fans were still engrossed. In his message to RNZYS members Dalton alluded to this, ‘Now there is an understanding that it can work offshore. A lot of the hate has gone.’ That shift was expressed in a thoughtful piece by respected
political commentator Matthew Hooton, who noted: ‘When Grant Dalton sold the rights to Barcelona… he was attacked almost universally, including by me. Yet now Dalton has been proven right about pretty much everything.’ Hooton, who has been a Cup fan since the 12-Metre era,
acknowledged that ETNZ’s victory over teams backed by the ‘world’s wealthiest individuals and most advanced technology’ would not have been possible without the funding package made possible by the Barcelona move – and reckoned that continuing with offshore
CARLO BORLENGHI
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