Cost of Crusaders tourism deal kept under wraps

The Crusaders will be used to market Christchurch and other nearby tourist destinations to fans who travel here to watch games.

But the full cost of the three-year partnership between the team and Christchurch City Council’s ratepayer-funded economic and tourism arm, ChristchurchNZ, has not been disclosed.

However, ChristchurchNZ marketing manager Sam Taylor did reveal to The Star non-commercially sensitive information that stated ChristchurchNZ will invest $70,000 towards media content and its promotion as part of the project.

Of this, $15,000 will be used to create four videos featuring the Crusaders encouraging fans from other parts of New Zealand to visit destinations in Christchurch or other nearby tourist hotspots.

The remaining $55,000 will go towards promoting the videos to reach audiences in cities like Auckland and Dunedin, through platforms including social media.

Taylor would not disclose the rest of the cost of the partnership because this is “commercially sensitive.”

Said Taylor: “They [the Crusaders] obviously have a number of commercial partners and if they were to disclose that publicly, what they’d done with us, that kind of compromises their other partnerships. So we kind of can’t share the exact dollar terms of the contract.”

When asked if ratepayers will feel they have a right to know the cost of the partnership Taylor said: “I completely sympathise with that and understand where they’re coming from, but I think it is very clear with the agreement that we signed with the Crusaders, that that is the case, that it is commercially sensitive.”

Taylor said the remaining, commercially sensitive cost will go towards a research campaign, led by the Crusaders, to understand who fans at games are, what they do in the lead-up to and on game days and how to get them to stay longer in Christchurch and spend money.

As well as this, ChristchurchNZ will be able to advertise its brand at Crusaders’ home games on the field, on big screens, on LED signage and during promotional activities before games and at halftime.

The cost will also go towards ChristchurchNZ getting access to Crusaders players and staff to feature in its content, and the use of the team’s social media channels to promote this.

Taylor said Christchurch Airport also has a stake in the partnership because it wants rugby fans to use its services to travel to other tourist destinations nearby before and after games.

He said ChristchurchNZ is confident the partnership is a strong investment to promote Christchurch.