More than 50 000 people have pre-registered ahead of Tuesday’s launch of the first phase of ticket sales for next year’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, organisers said.
The figure includes 20 000 overseas fans from 100 different countries, although most are from major rugby playing nations such as Britain, Australia, and Ireland, as well as the United States and Canada.
“This is a fantastic response and shows how popular Rugby World Cup has become around the world,” said Martin Snedden, the chief executive of tournament organiser, Rugby New Zealand 2011 (RNZ 2011).
Strong ticket sales are essential to avoid a huge loss for RNZ 2011 — a joint venture between the New Zealand Rugby Union and the government –which bears all the costs of the tournament but will only get income from ticket sales.
Revenue from television rights and sponsorship are used by the International Rugby Board to develop the game worldwide.
Online purchases of pool packs — which either include all four pool matches played by a single team or all pool matches at a single venue –will be on sale from Tuesday, which also marks 500 days to go to the opening World Cup match.
A total of 85 000 tickets have already been sold as part of official travel packages for the six-week long tournament, which opens on September 9 next year.
Individual match tickets will go on sale in August or September and ballots for tickets to the semifinals and final will be held near the end of the year. — AFP