Two stadium visions stare into the abyss.

The stadium debate has turned into a classic showdown complete with smack talk. Only one can win. But which one?

You can imagine the feeling. Perhaps you’ve experienced it. This might have happened to you. Picture this: you’ve poured everything you’ve got into something. One goal, one mission. It’s all you’ve been able to focus on for months, maybe years. It’s taken everything you’ve got, an all-consuming task soaking up every waking moment.

Then, just as you near the finish line, you find out … it could all be for nothing.

That’s exactly the kind of situation happening in Tāmaki Makaurau right now, except on a much larger scale. It’s the biggest possible scale: two visions for a national stadium, each with a singular concept on how our live sport and entertainment future should play out, each wildly different, and each desperately trying to win.

In one corner sits a stadium with 125 years of experience. Eden Park is begging to spend $1 billion on an upgrade called Eden Park 2.0 (now refined to 2.1) with a new North Stand allowing its capacity to increase to 70,000, as well as a pedestrian overbridge, and a very expensive retractable roof protecting punters from the weather.

You can see this vision here…

In the other corner sits a shiny new venue, something that would dominate the downtown skyline, a gleaming stadium called Te Tōangaroa, or Quay Park. Planned to be built over the unused land behind Spark Arena, it includes an All Blacks-themed hotel, U-shaped stands, a winged rooftop and a turret towering into the sky.

Mock-ups show it painted in gold, which gives it a bit of a Trump-ian vibe. You can see how that might look here…

So, which side will win? For the past few months, I’ve been trying to find out which way key decision-makers might be leaning. I’ve spoken to the teams behind both stadiums, toured Eden Park, and looked over the concept plans for Quay Park. I’ve spoken to Auckland Council about the process, and to concert promoters over which way they’re leaning. Emotions? Yep, they’re running high.

What I’ve found is that both sides are preparing to win. Failure isn’t an option for either of them. Paul Nisbet, the man behind Te Tōangaroa, quit his job to try and make this thing happen. He’s been dreaming of this stadium for 13 years, and believes in it completely. The All Blacks are on board, he says, and promoters too. “It will be one of those special places that international acts just have to play,” he says.

A concept design of Te Tōangaroa, or Quay Park.

After raising its concert consent from six to 12 shows a year, Eden Park thinks it has it in the bag too. CEO Nick Sautner says he isn’t even thinking about the possibility of losing this. He doesn’t think the numbers work for any other stadium. “Eden Park has the land, it has the consent, it has the community, it has the infrastructure,” he told me. “I’m very confident Eden Park is going to be here for another 100 years.”

Reporting on this story became a classic sporting showdown with smack talk involved. The team behind Te Tōangaroa told me Eden Park was broke and desperate. “Eden Park can't fund itself ... it's got no money, it's costing ratepayers,” said Jim Doyle, who is part of the project’s consortium. When I asked what should happen to Eden Park if it loses this fight, he told me: “Turn it into a retirement village.”

Sautner replied: “We are extremely disappointed that comments of this nature have been made. They are factually incorrect and highlight Quay Park consortium's lack of understanding of stadium economics.”

Neither of them wanted to admit it, but while each is focused on a win, they’re also staring oblivion straight in the face. If Eden Park is chosen, Te Tōangaroa will likely never get built. If Te Tōangaroa is chosen, Eden Park will probably lose the All Blacks, its status as our national stadium, and many major events too. (In an episode of The Detail podcast, Sautner suggests “private funding” could secure Eden Park’s future.)

All things going well, this whole saga should be about to end. On March 24, councillors come together to vote for their preferred option. Either we’re pouring $1 billion into an old stadium, or using that money to build a new one. There is no other option. Like it or not, this is happening.

But, once the decision is made, it may not end this long-running stadium saga. As I also found, promoters are split on whether we need a new stadium at all. Every single one of them had a different viewpoint. Sigh. Maybe we just like to argue?

You can find my full investigation into the stadium decision here.

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