NZ lost $156-293m on the America's Cup and now we lost the event

While I'm sure some will be disappointed to see the America's Cup head to Spain, this event has never returned on the investment.

In fact, New Zealand made a loss of $156-293m million on the last America's Cup despite promises and the event being the most watched in history.

"The cost-benefit analysis (CBA) for Auckland has identified a benefit-cost ratio of 0.85. In other words, for every dollar put in Auckland got 85 cents back," it said.

"When considering financial returns only, Auckland got 72 cents back for every dollar put in.

"The analysis showed Auckland lost a total of $91.6m when intangibles like social, cultural and environmental costs and benefits were factored in, and lost $145.8m from a purely financial standpoint."

20 July 2021, RNZ

I should note that some of the investment made was accelerated (rather than new spend) so we got some infrastructure earlier. But shifting focus has been a distraction we didn't need.

Apparently there are now contractual challenges in removing Team NZ from their base in the Viaduct so we're stuck funding them even after they've abandoned us.

If the government wants to fund sports - there's plenty of need locally. Sports clubs across our city and country are struggling to make ends meet.