What's it worth in the end?

OPINION: That which needs to be proved cannot be worth much. Friedrich Neitzche wrote that, writes The Southland Times in an editorial.

It's a tricky thing, and not always wise, trying to ascribe values to events as if it's a matter of spinning feelgood straw into financial gold.

The worth of many things is incalculable, which doesn't mean it's inconsiderable.

Of late we have been reminded, in terms economic as well as social, of the value to the south of the Winter Games in Queenstown, of this weekend's Burt Munro rally and of cradling that lovely Ranfurly Shield of ours.

As for the calculable value, it can seem as though figures are arrived at by sticking a finger in the air and guessing. Methodology can be questionable and the values may seem a tad arbitrary. But with due caution, there's nothing inherently wrong with trying to take an educated approach, rather than just an emotional one, to our sense of appreciation.

In terms of visitor numbers, the Winter Games at Queenstown, Wanaka and Naseby attracted about 900 visitors, when 3000 had been predicted. Those numbers are cold, hard and indisputable.

However, Games founder Sir Eion Edgar's description of the event as a huge success isn't an invalid perspective and is supported by the remarkable calculation that the economic value could still be estimated at more than $100 million.

Almost three-quarters of that, however, is ascribed to the equivalent value of advertising received from the international reporting. Well, okay, if we equate attention with advertising, though in this context it's the consequences that matter and we aren't in a position to know that yet.

The Burt Munro rally this weekend, a spinoff from the attention created by Roger Donaldson's film The World's Fastest Indian, has achieved impressive traction in its own right.

It expected to draw about 3000 visitors and about $1 million in direct economic benefit, quite apart from the benefits to the provincial profile. More to the point, for the wider community, the rally has quickly become a whole heap of fun, the collective determination of participants and spectators to enjoy themselves at nobody else's cost prevailing time and again.

What's more the rally has proven remarkably weatherproof. They come, they vroom, they have a great time and they tell their mates. Numbers keep rising.

As for the wider public, people do tend to grin at the prospect of each rally – what does that tell you?

The financial windfall that the Ranfurly Shield represents is not something that anyone, lately, seems to have been trying to calculate too closely.

Suppliers of various, shall we say, celebratory products have surely done well and various sorts of memorabilia are being produced, from which Rugby Southland will draw some profit, quite apart from the prospect of big crowds for all those successful defences we can look forward to.

The south has an enviable array of facilities, and a calendar increasingly filling with significant events based around them.

Economically, this is good. That does matter, because if the economics aren't right events and facilities do tend to fail. But that doesn't make economics the bottom line purpose behind big sporting or social events. It's more about how they bring us together as a community, and captivate us as individuals. Those remain the profits that matter the most.

Newest First

Oldest First