New Zealand's Infrastructure Crisis

In 2011, New Zealand is hosting the Rugby World Cup - There is expected to be thousands of tourist descent on New Zealand, pushing infrastructure, especially Aucklands, to breaking point.

However, in 2013, New Zealand will co-host the Cricket World Cup. If the Rugby World Cup was an infrastructure crisis that we need to plan to avoid, then the Cricket World Cup is a total nightmare.

Consider this:

Rugby is a major sport in:

Country	Population
Australia	20 Million
United Kingdom	60 Million
Ireland	4 Million
France	64 Million
Italy	59 Million
Romania	22 Million
Argentina	40 Million
South Africa	47 Million
New Zealand	4 Million
Total	320 Million

Cricket is a major sport in:

Country	Population
Australia	20 Million
United Kingdom	60 Million
Carribean Nations	7 Million
Pakistan	164 Million
India	1,103 Million
Sri Lanka	21 Million
Bangladesh	142 Million
South Africa	47 Million
New Zealand	4 Million
Total	1,568 Million

While rugby playing nations are generally wealthier than most cricket playing nations, the massive size (and growing) of the middle class in India (and to a lesser degree in the other Asian nations) gives a large number of people the means to attend the World Cup in New Zealand.

If we are going to build enough infrastructure to host the Rugby World Cup we may just find ourselves with insufficient traffic and tourist infrastructure only two years later.

I would suggest that NZ Soccer not bid for the Football World Cup anytime soon.