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Only 29,5,000 tickets have been sold for Sunday’s All Blacks event in Wellington, the fewest in the capital since 2012.
There are still 5,000 tickets left for Sunday’s first Bledisloe Cup game between the All Blacks and Wallabies at Wellington’s Sky Stadium, raising the possibility that the first test on New Zealand soil in 400 days will not sell out.
But All Blacks coach Ian Foster said the team is happy to play in front of a crowd after last month’s North v South game was held behind closed doors due to Covid-19 restrictions.
As of Friday afternoon, only 29,500 tickets had been sold for the first round of the All Blacks for 2020 and no additional seats have been required at the 34,500-capacity venue despite initial hopes of drawing a crowd of 37,000. people.
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Jordie Barrett says he’s excited to play alongside his brother Beauden.
“It’s a bit better than the North vs. South game here, right? Me and foxy [selector Grant Fox] sitting in a box alone with no one [in the stands]”Foster said.
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“But this is going to be special. It’s hard to explain what it feels like for players to play at home, play in front of their fans and play against a Wallaby team that we have great respect for. “
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The first five Aaron Cruden burst into the Pumas defense during the 2012 meeting between the AB and Argentina.
The last All Blacks event that did not sell out in Wellington was the 2012 Rugby Championship match between New Zealand and low-ranking Argentina.
That time was attended by 29,000 people, Aaron Cruden started in the number 10 jersey, Charlie Faumuina made his international debut and the lights went out due to a power outage before the start of the second half.
Stadium executive director Shane Harmon said he believed travel restrictions and short entry were the top two reasons for low ticket sales this time around, with Covid-19 playing a big role.
Harmon said they would typically have four months to market an international match, but tickets for Sunday’s game only went on sale to the general public on October 1.
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The lights went out before the second half, when the All Blacks failed to draw a crowd in the capital.
“We’re seeing some really unusual patterns in terms of events since we got back from Covid,” Harmon said.
“We saw Super Rugby Aotearoa do really well, but they were all local crowds. We had the Home and Garden Show last weekend and that was 41% more than last year. It became a hit with so many people doing home renovations.
“But the most important factor was that we had 12 days from the announcement to sell the tickets, whereas normally it would be four months.”
Although ticket sales within Wellington increased in last year’s game against the Springboks, the Aucklanders only bought 800, who endured a longer lockdown than the rest of the country.
OVERTIME / RNZ
Why does New Zealand Rugby keep doing it wrong?
With the border closed, obviously there will be no traveling sympathizers from Australia either.
“Last year for South Africa we had 13,000 visitors from outside the region for the test match, but this year it will be around 6,000,” Harmon said.
“You normally have four months to plan your weekend in Wellington, but this year you had 12 days.
“If we do not reach our maximum capacity, we will not be disappointed. There are still plenty of tickets to move in in a couple of days, but we want to get the message across that there are still tickets available. “
Ticket prices for Sunday’s test range from $ 80 to $ 225 for adults and $ 25 to $ 225 for children.
