The council voted 13-3 in favour and will now work on how to cover the increased cost. A sports economist described the likely benefits as “happiness” and not economic return, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in The Bulletin.

Christchurch is getting its stadium, questions about funding remain

Christchurch city councillors voted yesterday, 13-3 in favour of proceeding with Te Kaha at the costs of $683m. Newsroom’s David Williams writes in support of the three councillors who dissented. The debate about proceeding may have ended but the discussion about how to cover the cost will go on. Stuff’s Steve Walton breaks down the forecast rates increases for Christchurch residents over the next six years, while councillors say they want to reduce this by finding other ways to pay for the stadium. The planned opening date is set down for April 2026. The decision was premised on the agreement to a fixed price for the project’s completion. I expect everyone will be watching that like a hawk given the current construction cost environment.

58% of all submitters on the stadium consultation were men, 39% were woman

An analysis of the nearly 30,000 submissions made about the stadium shows that those in favour were more likely to be young and, by a small margin, men. 58% of all submitters were men, 39% were women. This is an interesting read from the US about why ​​politicians subsidise stadiums despite a lack of popular support. Hard to say that the will of the people wasn’t in play in Christchurch, with 77% of the 29,978 valid submissions in favour of proceeding. It’s still fair to say there are questions about how much value will be delivered given the body of research that suggests stadiums are money pits. Victor Matheson, a sports economist, says the benefit is best quantified using intangible metrics like happiness.

A response to the plea that Auckland’s Eden Park needs the Christchurch stadium built

Former New Zealand Rugby communications chief Brian Finn has written a humdinger on Eden Park. He writes in response to an opinion piece on the Herald from Eden Park trust board chair, Doug McKay. Finn describes the piece as a thinly veiled plea for yet more Auckland ratepayer funding. McKay wrote that Eden Park needs the Christchurch stadium built to attract global events to New Zealand. Finn notes the irony in McKay giving advice in light of Eden Park’s attempts to become more than a sports ground. In good news for Eden Park and Billy Joel fans, Joel will perform there on December 3.

Submission made in song

I can think of no better place to end this on a Friday than by offering you this review from The Spinoff’s Sam Brooks of a performance of the John Lennon classic, Imagine at yesterday’s council meeting. We did not imagine this, it did happen. The vocalist was Peter Morrison from Hospitality NZ. Morrison was interviewed by Lisa Owen on Checkpoint last night and said he’d been told he would not be the first act to perform at the stadium. He went on to sing Moon River at the request of Owen. For your listening pleasure, here is his encore performance.