Stadium: Who is being protected?

Received from Russell Garbutt
15 July 2014 at 4:30 PM

What is an advertisement, and what content of an advertisement needs to be able to be verified?

Readers of the Otago Daily Times, and followers of the on-going stadium debate which shows no signs of lessening in its intensity may be intrigued to know just where the sensitivities of the ODT lie.

Let us look at some simple facts which cannot be in dispute.

The Carisbrook Stadium Trust which was acting as an agent of the Dunedin City Council, decided to publish a full page advertisement in the 31 May 2008 issue of the ODT. The advertisement was headed up “The Facts about the New Stadium”.

In this advertisement it was claimed that “The funding target establishes a debt free stadium. On this basis the business plan for the stadium shows that it makes a profit. Unlike nearly all other Council owned facilities it will not need annual funding support. This assessment has been confirmed by two of New Zealand’s leading accountancy firms”.

This is published and accessible and the wording of the advertisement cannot be interpreted in any other way as the heading refers to all that followed as “facts”.

The advertisement also claimed that the Trustees of the CST were “committed to delivering this stadium, under budget, on time and to achieve its financial, social and economic goals”.

Now of course some advertisements for wrinkle cream use all sorts of phrases like “clinical tests prove etc etc”. Many people are ready to pounce on claims that are unable to be substantiated, or are untruthful, or are misleading, or cannot be proven. In other words, the makers of the wrinkle cream need to be able to show that there were indeed “clinical tests”. The fact that the clinic may have been part of the company making the cream is sometimes understood, and in any case, the makers of the cream hardly ever claim that “totally independent clinical trials using double blind processes found what we are claiming is true”.

But this is not some pot of wrinkle cream.

The CST claimed a number of facts in their advertisement that they said were verified by two of New Zealand’s leading accountancy firms.

So, I submitted a very brief letter to the Editor of the ODT that simply asked this:

Dear Sir

In light of the continuing operating losses of the Awatea Street Rugby Stadium, and the on-going debt costs from its construction, it would be interesting to be informed of just who the two leading NZ accountancy firms were that confirmed the Carisbrook Stadium Trust’s claims published in the ODT in 2008 that the stadium would be built debt free and would return an annual operating profit. Maybe these two companies could now tell us how the reality differs so much from the published claims.

Yours sincerely

The ODT has informed me that my letter was noted but not selected for publication. This is newspaper speak for it’s been binned.

Why should this be?

Should the ODT not be interested in ensuring that an advertisement of a major size on a subject that had divided the City was not at all misleading in the same way that claims were made that may not be able to be substantiated, or could be shown to be unfactual?

Is the ODT particularly sensitive to the views of those that decided to publish this advertisement?

Had the ODT entered into any understanding or arrangement that the paper would support the stadium project which may have led to less than stringent standards of advertising being followed in this case?

But perhaps more telling is that to my knowledge, the ODT has not followed up on the obvious story of just who these two leading NZ accounting firms were that supported the claims of a debt free stadium and an annual operating profit. My point is that time and distance show us that these claims were so at odds with the claims made and published, that serious questions remain unanswered on just how the CST and these two companies got it so wrong.

Maybe another newspaper sees the story that the ODT doesn’t?

[ends]

█ Legible copy: CST Advertisement, ODT 31 May 2008 (PDF, 200 KB)

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Related Posts and Comments:
9.7.14 John Ward, no mention of stadium or CST trusteeship
23.5.14 Stadium | DCC Draft Annual Plan 2014/15 ● Benson-Pope…
9.5.14 DCC Draft Annual Plan 2014/15 Submission by Bev Butler
12.3.14 Carisbrook Stadium Trust: Financial statements year ended 30.6.13
8.3.14 Carisbrook Stadium Trust subject to LGOIMA
24.2.14 Carisbrook Stadium Trust: ‘Facts about the new Stadium’ (31.5.08)
22.2.14 Carisbrook Stadium Trust costs
24.1.14 Stadium: It came to pass… [stadium review]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Rugby stadiums not filling #SkyTV

Waitakere Stadium may replace Eden Park

“Still the historical home of Auckland rugby and provided we get cost-effective venue hire, we can make it work.” –Andy Dalton, Auckland Rugby

### nzherald.co.nz 5:00 AM Tuesday Jul 15, 2014
Auckland rugby looks at new home
By Campbell Burnes
The Auckland Rugby Union is looking at the possibility of shifting their ITM Cup home games away from Eden Park as paltry crowds hit them financially. Auckland Rugby has been an official tenant of Eden Park since 1925 and historically has always been associated with the ground and sporting success there. While nothing has been formally tabled, and all five home ITM games this year will take place at Eden Park, the Herald understands there is a growing feeling that a venue such as Waitakere’s Trusts Stadium would be more suitable from 2015 or 2016.
Read more

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Stadium/Rugby propped by Dunedin ratepayer subsidy (direct and hidden)

“When you look back at this time last year when we were all crying into our soup…” –Roger Clark, Highlanders

### ODT Online Tue, 15 Jul 2014
Rugby: Real money to be made from hosting games
By Steve Hepburn
The Highlanders were due to arrive in Durban early this morning and begin preparing for their playoff match against the Sharks on Sunday morning. The side ended up sixth in the table after the final round of games in the weekend and will be on the road the entire time it is in the playoffs. Highlanders general manager Roger Clark said the franchise would make a little bit of money out of making the playoffs but the real benefits came to those that hosted the games. He was yet to finalise how much money the team would receive for making the playoffs but it was not significant, he said.
Read more

█ See comments to this article at ODT Online by russandbev, QsRC, MikeStk and others.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images: stuff.co.nz – Eden Park; newstalkzb.co.nz Forsyth Barr Stadium