TV fee causes upset

Press, 31 March 1981, Page 18

TV fee causes upset

PA Auckland Arrangements for a polo match at Clevedon on Saturday in which Prince Charles will play with leading internationals is causing some upset. Against the recommendation of the Auckland club which owns the field, the New Zealand Polo Association has accepted a fee of $lOOO for the television rights to the match. The club wanted $lO,OOO to offset the heavy costs of holding 'the fixture. It would have settled, reluctantly, for $5OOO. “But behind our backs and with-

out property consultation, the association has accepted the offer,” said the president of the club, Mr Hugh Williams, this week-end. “The fee is shamefully inadequate. My club would never have accepted it,” he said.

“If the weather on the day is indifferent, we could stand to lose a good deal of money because people will decide to stay at home to watch “Since tne club was the first to put up the: idea of getting Prince Charles into a match on our ground, thus becoming the first member

of the Royal Family to play polo in New Zealand, I feel the whole thing is a shame,” Mr Williams said. Mr Williams also criticised what he considers to have been inadequate publicity in other centres' about the match.

He has had complaints from Hawke’s Bay, a keen and substantial polo district, that enthusiasts “mad keen to see the Prince in action,” were given no suitable opportunities to buy ringside parking for their cars. “They are sore about this,” Mr Williams said. “So are we.

“Behind our wish to see Prince Charles play with and against New Zealanders on our ground was the hope that the match would give the sport the biggest boost. We will be most unhappy if the arrangements diminish this hope,” he said. Prince Charles, who is regarded as an excellent horseman in polo, has played the game since boyhood and now is handicapped on four, the mark of a most useful player. He has played with all three of his teammates, Chris, Jones, of Auckland: John Walker, of Taupiri; and Tony Devcich, of Morrinsville. The team has a rating of 22 goals. The opposing side comprises Patil Mackenzie, of Hawke’s Bay; Graham Bray, of Wanstead; Jim Watson, of Cambridge; and Robbie Saunders, of Wanstead. All except Bray have played for New Zealand. The team has a rating of 20 goals. ■