Given that New Zealand is a lot smaller than most of the past Olympic host cities, this would mean that the whole country would effectively host the tournament even if Auckland is really the only big enough city in New Zealand to be considered a "host" city. It would mean the stadium of 4 million model used in this year's Rugby World Cup would have to be used.
It would certainly surpass the Rugby World Cup as the largest sporting event New Zealand would ever host on its shores.
But the title of Olympic host is a double-edged sword for cities and countries. Montreal is still paying off its debt from hosting the 1972 Olympics as is Athens which has seen many of its venues go to waste 7 years after hosting the Olympics. It appears the Olympics has really only paid off as a good investment in Beijing and Sydney where their venues are regularly hosting world championships years after the conclusion of the games. And then there's the reputation of the IOC itself which leaves much to be desired.
Perhaps, getting Christchurch to be host city could be a boost for a city still rebuilding after the devastating earthquakes of September 2010 and February 2011. It could attract investors to pour money into infrastructure like stadia, roads, homes, businesses which is what the city needs right at this point. Of course, it is very much a pipe dream and the IOC probably would not give its blue-riband event to a city that still experiences aftershocks months after the big quakes.
So it's down to Auckland and maybe given the existence of the Super City Council, it could finally do it and build a proper stadium which the city needs to replace Eden Park, North Harbour Stadium and Mount Smart Stadiums. It missed a huge chance pre-World Cup to build a world class stadium for a multitude of events on the waterfront because the Regional and City Councils could not agree - and it would have been the panacea to all the problems fans have had getting from Mount Eden to the city's fanzones.
Maybe the Winter Olympics is quite doable for New Zealand - and this would give Christchurch a better chance of being host city as it is much closer to ski resorts in the South Island (I doubt they would build Olympics ski runs on an active volcano much as Whakapapa and Turoa are excellent ski resorts). Who knows but we'll probably have to wait another 20 years before Rogge's dream comes to fruition if it ever does.
Anyway, here's my thought on possible venues if Auckland got the summer Olympics -
Opening & closing ceremonies, athletics - brand new stadium somewhere in Auckland region (maybe Mt Smart?)
Football, rugby - Eden Park, Westpac Stadium, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton
Rowing - Lake Karapiro
Cycling - new velodrome in Auckland
Volleyball, handball - Vector Arena
Badminton - Waitakere Trust Stadium (renovated)
Tennis - ASB Tennis Centre (renovated)
Equestrian -Alexandra Park
Hockey - new hockey stadium
Aquatics - new aquatics stadium
Sailing - Waitemata Harbour
Epilogue:
I thought about this more as I walked to get a smoothie from McDonald's. Given who has been hosting the Winter Olympics in recent times, it is realistic for New Zealand to be able to host a Winter games at some stage in the future and given its proximity to the best snow fields in New Zealand, Christchurch could be a in a perfect position to host the games in 2018/2022.
If it did....
Opening & closing ceremonies - Lancaster Park's replacement
Ice hockey, skating - CBS Canterbury Arena redeveloped
Mount Hutt, Remarkables, Coronet Peak to host various skiing events and biathlon.
Thing is we'd have to build a highway between Christchurch and Queenstown like they did between Vancouver and Whistler which are much closer than Chch and Queenstown by distance.
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