British sailing legend Sir Ben Ainslie would be stunned if New Zealand was to not host the next America's Cup.
Team New Zealand's insistence for a hosting fee could see the event staged elsewhere, with Abu Dhabi and Russia possible destinations.
Speaking to Andrew Gourdie and Jim Kayes on RadioLIVE, Sir Ben stated he would be shocked if the cup did not find its way down south.
"An event like the America's Cup coming down to New Zealand is clearly going to bring hundreds of millions of dollars into the New Zealand economy - that's a fact.
"New Zealanders are incredibly passionate about sport. I've witnessed that through my time at Emirates Team New Zealand, and that's just a great thing about the New Zealand nation, is their passion and their general passion for sport, and sailing is right up there as one of those top sports.
"So you'd hope there was a compromise here whereby, purely thinking for New Zealand in New Zealand sport, that the event was hosted in Auckland.
"I'd be astonished if that wasn't the case."
Sir Ben does, however, sympathise with the dilemma facing the powers that be, and understands both sides of the equation.
"Emirates Team New Zealand, like our team, BAR, it's a commercially driven team and there's going to be expensive campaigns. You've got to fund it somehow, and they've got to look for every revenue stream they possibly can.
"I can see the arguments from both sides and one would hope that we can find a compromise and make it work," he said.
Team New Zealand announced their plans for 23-metre foiling monohull in preparation for the cup, which has Sir Ben excited to see the finished product in 2021.
"Team New Zealand and Luna Rosso have done pretty much as good a job as you could do to create a really, really fast, exciting monohull that can take us through to this next era and the America's Cup.
"I think the boat is very extreme for a monohull. It's really like nothing else we've seen in sailing and it's going to be extreme; it's going to be very, very fast, physical for the sailors, a good technical challenge.
"It's a great step for the America's Cup."
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