A Stadium of 4 Million by Martin Snedden

I’m not that interested in rugby – but this is not just a book for rugby fans. This is a book that goes behind-the-scenes of the 2011 Rugby World Cup – and what a fascinating and compelling story it tells! It covers everything from the success of our bid to host the event and then it documents every step along the way. What drama there was! The stadium upgrades proved to be contentious, the terrible earthquake in Christchurch forced the organisers to do a major relocation of the games, and then there were silly things like Telecom’s short-lived abstinence campaign, the Adidas All Black pricing fiasco and then the breaking news that the actual cup was a duplicate!

But come opening night, everything was in place and New Zealand delivered a fantastic international event that encompassed ‘A Stadium of 4 Million.’ Business people and students should definitely read this book as it has so many facets to it including the logistics of organising an event on this scale, the promotion, things like attracting a reluctant female population to being involved, the use of social media and it addresses the age-old question of whether it is possible to make money from such a big international event.

There is nothing dry and dusty about this book. Martin Snedden has delivered a book that reads incredibly well and captures the passion and drive of an event that all New Zealanders can be proud of. Highly recommended!