A sponsor providing cash to pay wages & build a boat maybe? The $99m offered by central/local government was not cash, there was a lease on a building that's won't be used for conferences these days as nobody can come in to the country, event management costs such as porta-loos/security/road closures etc so the council's constituents can enjoy the event... Unfortunately "cash in kind" does not pay the bills!
Without the cash, and reportedly Emirates possibly jumping ship, ETNZ loses talent to teams that can pay the wages, leaving ETNZ with a depleted workforce cobbling a boat together