"The potential is fantastic. We would be foolish not to support such ambition," marketing, communications and customer relations general manager Mike Waddell said last week.
Mr Taylor, managing director of Animation Research Ltd, which supplies sports graphics all over the world, told the polytechnic council last week he hoped the polytechnic would become one of the collaborative partners in his vision to make Dunedin the top sports-analysis centre in the world.
He said his company was prepared to bankroll most of the money needed to make the vision happen.
But because an application for economic development funds required him to find partners who also contributed to the project, he was seeking two or more groups to put in about $15,000 each and was approaching organisations including the University of Otago, the Institute of Sport and the polytechnic.
The sports analysis centre might result in referees from around the world coming to Dunedin for training in the use of video refereeing technology, others coming here for training in the use of sports graphics hardware, and an expansion of Dunedin's existing computer graphics industry, he said.
Sportsmen and women might also visit the stadium to use sports simulators such as virtual golf courses and car races.
Otago Polytechnic's contribution could include product development and design staff and students designing and manufacturing items such as camera mounts and the boxes which held cameras on rowing skiffs, Mr Taylor said.
"Let's make this real. Let's make it practical."
He said he needed to know whether the polytechnic would become a financial partner by September 7.
However, he gave the council no documentation about how the partnership would work and exactly what the polytechnic's contribution in money or kind would be.
That was not lost on deputy chairwoman Susie Johnstone, who said the polytechnic would need terms of reference, a partnership agreement, financial projections "and boring stuff like that".
After the meeting, Mr Waddell said the council had supported Mr Taylor's proposal in principle, believing it had the potential to maximise stadium use and develop technology and skills already available in Dunedin.
He said the council believed it could make a financial contribution and had asked Mr Taylor to provide more details about his vision.
Provided those details materialised quickly the polytechnic might be able to meet Mr Taylor's September 7 deadline, Mr Waddell said.
