Former Dunedin man Ross Blackman has stepped off the boat and is now looking to get the rich to help the poor - the sporting poor, that is.
Blackman has been appointed to an ambitious project to take success in New Zealand sport to a new level.
The idea, hatched by the New Zealand Olympic Committee, High Performance Sport New Zealand and Sport New Zealand, is to target rich and successful people in New Zealand and overseas to aid sport at both elite and grass-roots levels in this country.
Blackman, who had a 25-year involvement with America's Cup challenges before finishing with Team New Zealand following the unsuccessful San
Francisco challenge last year, is now the director, and only employee, of a project called Black Gold.
Blackman said the project was to get philanthropic funding into sport at all levels in New Zealand.
He started a two-year contract in September and had finalised a package which he could offer to prospective donors.
He said it was different from sponsorship. The people he was targeting did not want a financial return as such but just wanted the satisfaction of helping out.
‘‘They are not after branding. Many times they may not want any acknowledgement at all. People do it for their own personal reasons,'' he said.
‘‘In the America's Cup, it was all about branding and getting sponsors' names out there. Now, it is a totally different world for me.''
He said while there was philanthropic funding in New Zealand, it was at a much greater level in the United States.
He had already had two meetings in the United States with prospective donors - one in Chicago, during the All Black test - and said the feedback had been positive.
The project was not aiming for any set monetary amount; it was more about designing a system which could get money over years, Blackman said.
‘‘We want to set up a system where they can give money for the foreseeable future.
‘‘There is a period of time where we could reach a high figure. But we have to explore the market and see what is appropriate.
‘‘There is a very strong indication there is quite a lot of support out there.
‘‘If we have the structure, then it can be quite regular to contribute.''
He was now at the stage of meeting potential contributors.
Blackman said contributors may want something as simple as meeting an athlete or going to an event in return for their investment.
He said the project covered all sports, not just Olympic events.
‘‘Some are really interested in elite levels but more often than not they are more interested in the junior level; building the foundations, so to speak.
‘‘You do get a lot of return in that area. Bringing a lot of young people through can be very, very satisfying.''
Blackman said the fact was money was needed to succeed and manage sport at all levels.
Philanthropic investment in New Zealand sport is not new - from Sir Michael Fay and the first America's Cup ventures and Sir Colin Giltrap withmotorsport and sailing, to Sir Owen Glenn in hockey and Sir David Levene supporting Lydia Ko.
Government funding had increased markedly over the past few years, with up to $200 million spent in the latest four-year cycle between Olympic Games. - Additional reporting Herald on Sunday
