Rugby World Cup organisers say they are on track to draw 85,000 international visitors and gross $A201 million in ticket sales for the sport’s 2011 showpiece in New Zealand.
In an announcement to mark the end of the year, Rugby New Zealand 2011 Ltd chief executive Martin Snedden said key match ticket sales and revenue targets have been met in 2010.
Since the sales program was launched earlier this year, 864,000 tickets have been sold, nearly two-thirds of the overall target of 1.45 million sales across the 48 matches. About 662,000 of those have been sold through RNZ 2011′s global public ticket phases.
Ticket sales revenue totals $NZ166 million ($A124.5 million).
“This is a very good position to be in with 267 days to go until kickoff,” Snedden said.
“We still have a lot left to do, but event preparations, coupled with ticket sales to date and strong international visitorship projections, mean we are getting ourselves in good shape to host the tournament.”
“We are on track to achieve the forecast total ticket sales revenue of $NZ268 million ($A201 million).
(That target) was always going to be a big leap into the unknown given that the biggest grossing event previously in New Zealand’s history was the 2005 Lions tour during which the NZRU grossed $NZ24 million from ticket sales.
“We’ve now achieved seven times that figure. In the end, we’ll need to do 11 times that amount to hit budget.”
Snedden said the official travel and hospitality program was “tracking strongly”, with sales to date exceeding forecasts. Some of the offical agents had already sold out of semi-finals and finals travel packages.
A survey of ticket purchasers had helped RNZ 2011 estimate the number of visitors.
Snedden said at least 55,000 international visitors would come courtesy of the public ticket program while another 30,000 will have signed up to official packages.
“Attracting visitors is a key part of the benefits of staging a Rugby World Cup. It’s terrific that 44 per cent of these FIT (free and independent travellers) visitors will be coming to New Zealand for the first time.
“Furthermore, almost half of those surveyed have indicated an intention to arrive before the opening match on September 9 with the average length of FIT stay being 23 days.
“Many intend travelling right around the country. While the bulk of visitors (36,500) expect at some stage to visit Auckland, at least 11,000 say they will also travel down the West Coast of the South Island and 18,000 to Otago and Southland. Regions up and down New Zealand will benefit.”
Rugby World Cup Limited managing director Mike Miller, in New Zealand to check on progress at AMI Stadium in Christchurch and the new stadium being built in Dunedin, was confident tournament preparations are on track.
“Stadium Christchurch will be an exceptional rugby World Cup venue and I have no doubt Otago Stadium will not only be ready on time, but will quickly establish itself as one of the finest sporting venues in the world with its innovative design and exceptional spectator experience,” Miller said.
“What I am seeing, having made several visits to New Zealand in the past year, is a country that is advanced in its preparations to host a fantastic Rugby World Cup. This Tournament is all about partnership and I am delighted to say that all stakeholders, including the New Zealand government, are geared towards hosting a tournament that New Zealanders and the global rugby family can be proud of.”
© AAP 2012Recommend this story.
The Turkey 10
The Turkey 10 teams have now been selected, as Wild Turkey Bourbon's sport sponsorship kicks into the next exciting phase.
Choose which side you're going to support and get in the running to win $2,500!
Simply visit Wild Turkey Australia on Facebook for your chance to win.
Find out more.
- Explore:
- Rugby New Zealand, Rugby Union, Rugby World Cup
December 17th 2010 @ 6:57am
sportfreak said | December 17th 2010 @ 6:57am | Report comment
Yeah baby!
Just finalised flights, tickets and accom for next year so am locked and loaded.
Party time is coming
December 17th 2010 @ 10:06am
Boulty said | December 17th 2010 @ 10:06am | Report comment
Hi sportfreak, yeah it will be party time over here and really looking forward to it ,if its anything to go by when the Lions toured here in 2005.Tell me how was your accom prices as the reports coming out from the media are saying some hotels are hiking up there prices as much as triple the normal price,how did you fare.Also are you staying put in one city/town or following your team around the country.It will be interesting to see if how much fans are getting ripped off or not.Mind you,you cant complain to much as the dollar exchange rate is pretty good when people visit our shores.Also fellow roarers who are making the trip over to NZ,there is also other rugby you can go to or watch around the country is the Heartland cup (the comp below the NPC) which is still good entertaining rugby.It will be into its 3rd week when the RWC kicks off,but the NZRU have scheduled the comp so you can watch a Heartland cup game at 1pm kick off then get ready for the main event from 5pm .So plenty of live rugby to be watched.
December 17th 2010 @ 8:40am
question said | December 17th 2010 @ 8:40am | Report comment
From what I remember reading, didn’t they need 95% ticket sales to actually make a profit?
With AUS $201 million, I think it’s still an operating loss.
December 17th 2010 @ 10:23am
Max said | December 17th 2010 @ 10:23am | Report comment
In terms of operating costs NZ has projected a $35 million loss, however this is not to say the tournament won’t make money. Obviously the economic benefit of hosting the comp for the host nation is incalculable. Also the IRB gets paid an upfront fee somewhere in the vicinity of $150 million purely for hosting rights- this is before broadcasting and sponsorship comes in. In terms of straight up profit, it is impossible for a tournament like this to lose money, regardless of where it is held. The only question is how much money it will make compared to other potential locations. Similarly the 2022 FIFA world cup could lose money for Qatar, but still overall the tournament would make a boatload of money. Anyways 2015 will be the real gravy-train.
December 17th 2010 @ 10:25am
The Link said | December 17th 2010 @ 10:25am | Report comment
RWC 2011 is “on track” to meet is targetted loss of around NZD$40m
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/rugby-world-cup/4466775/Rugby-World-Cup-deficit-on-track
December 17th 2010 @ 12:16pm
kovana said | December 17th 2010 @ 12:16pm | Report comment
Actually that loss will fall on the NZRU. Not the ‘RWC’. The IRB will already get its money for the next 4 year cycle.
How much did it cost upgrade all their stadiums?
December 17th 2010 @ 2:20pm
The Link said | December 17th 2010 @ 2:20pm | Report comment
No you’re wrong. Even a cursory glance of the article would show this, but hey who needs to check things its not as fun.
RWC 2011 as a tournament to lose $40m.
NZ tax payers to pay for 2/3rds of it
NZ RU the rest.
December 17th 2010 @ 3:14pm
kovana said | December 17th 2010 @ 3:14pm | Report comment
So is the IRB making a profit or what? Will they be making any money at all?
How come the 2007 RWC made a huge profit.. And yet the 2011 RWC will be a loss for the NZRU? Even if all tickets are sold?
Can someone answer this question?
December 17th 2010 @ 4:24pm
IronAwe said | December 17th 2010 @ 4:24pm | Report comment
Because the IRB didn’t charge a ridiculous $150 million to host the cup in 2007. So yes, IRB makes a huge profit, hopefully NZRU and NZ will also make a profit.
December 17th 2010 @ 4:40pm
Jerry said | December 17th 2010 @ 4:40pm | Report comment
Bigger stadiums mean more ticketing revenue so the French union made a profit as well as the IRB. A very tidy one, I believe.
The NZRU won’t make a profit by any means, but the country as a whole will when you take into account tourist spending, hence the govt underwriting the tournament.
December 17th 2010 @ 4:17pm
Jerry said | December 17th 2010 @ 4:17pm | Report comment
Er – a cursory glance would reveal this bit…
“That prompted Snedden to deliver his optimistic forecast that the loss would be contained to the $39 million initially predicted.
Ticket sales are the only source of income for host countries with the IRB clipping the ticket everywhere else from hospitality packages to broadcasting deals to sponsorship arrangements. The international body will net a profit of close to $200 million from the event.”
So overall, the tournament is forecast to make a $160 million profit.
December 17th 2010 @ 2:21pm
Jason said | December 17th 2010 @ 2:21pm | Report comment
Actually, the NZRU only meets one third of the loss, with the tax payer picking up the remainder. But you knew that having read the article…
December 17th 2010 @ 4:15pm
Brett McKay said | December 17th 2010 @ 4:15pm | Report comment
Link, that’s spin at it’s best, isn’t it, that they’re “on track to meet the forecast deficit” It’s hardly something to talk up, however you say it!!
“We’re only going to lose as much as we thought we’d lose!!”
December 18th 2010 @ 4:47am
GavinH said | December 18th 2010 @ 4:47am | Report comment
I’m not sure about that Brett. The NZRU never expected to be able to cover the IRB fee even when it first bid for the tournament. The NZRU and the NZ Government felt that hosting the tournament was important enough for NZ rugby and for NZ in general that they were both willing to subsidise the bid to an expected level of $NZ40m.
Now if you’re Martin Snedden running the tournament you are probably happy that the massive economic crisis worldwide hasn’t left you with eg a NZ$100m deficit to fund. I’d say he’s pretty happy.
December 18th 2010 @ 8:29am
djfrobinson said | December 18th 2010 @ 8:29am | Report comment
Brett
I agree it’s spin but New Zealand is a small nation most of the stadiums being used for the event are only capable of holding 20 000 to 30 000 people not world class by any standard and we refuse to build bigger stadiums because they would never get used so the numbers are accurate.
The loss has always been expected from the moment we bid for the competition so to have things on track as projected is a good thing.
The World Cup event is becoming to big for a small nation like NZ to host and we will probably not see the event back in NZ in my life time so I’m glad we are spending out the cash to do it again.
December 17th 2010 @ 10:15am
sportfreak said | December 17th 2010 @ 10:15am | Report comment
Boulty – thanks for the questions.
Sadly I only have tickets to the Australia / Italy pool game in Christchurch as the Ireland / Aus game sold out months ago – a good sign I guess.
There are 4 of us going and yes the prices for accom etc have been steadily increasing since I receiced the tickets. Being a year or so out it certainly pays to get organised now as I can see some serious financial pain for any late planners.
Category A tickets to the match on September 11 cost $130 Aus.
Return flights direct to Christchurch from Sydney cost about $500 Aus return – Emirates are pretty good.
A night at the lovely Christchurch Novatel cost about $160 Aus for a double which was about double the price it was a month ago but still ok. Yes the strong AUD ( 1.30 NZ per Aus) helps.
Have a few nights to fill in the wine areas and that is where I think there may be some ‘commercialism’ in the pricing, but hey, if you can get away with it, all the better!
Question – Its a bit rough to state that they will be operating at a loss – they have another 10 months to sell tickets!
December 17th 2010 @ 10:45am
Boulty said | December 17th 2010 @ 10:45am | Report comment
Sportfreak- might have to rethink wine areas if your here for only a few days and staying in CHCH as the Marlbourgh district known for its savi is 4hrs nth and the Otago regain known for its Pinot noir is 5hrs south driving.
December 17th 2010 @ 11:08am
sportfreak said | December 17th 2010 @ 11:08am | Report comment
Thanks for the tip Boulty though I think I will give the passionfruit bliss that is a Marly savvy-b a miss this time.
We plan to keep it closer to Christchurch – Waipara for example. Call me old fashioned but want to explore the lesser known areas.
It will be busy with the poms and argies playing out their Falklands war the day before the Aus / Italy game so expect accomodation to be very tight.
December 17th 2010 @ 11:29am
Stu said | December 17th 2010 @ 11:29am | Report comment
85,000 international visitors. That’s only 10% of the Kiwis in AUS returning home.
–
Comment left via The Roar’s iPhone app. Download The Roar’s iPhone App in the App Store here.
December 17th 2010 @ 1:56pm
Cattledog said | December 17th 2010 @ 1:56pm | Report comment
Bugger, can’t we offer an incentive or something to the other 765000? lol
December 17th 2010 @ 2:16pm
clipper said | December 17th 2010 @ 2:16pm | Report comment
Today the Rugby world cup, 2026 the Football world cup!
December 17th 2010 @ 4:01pm
Fez's are cool said | December 17th 2010 @ 4:01pm | Report comment
How many billions will the IRB claim watch it on TV? 60 billion?
December 17th 2010 @ 6:12pm
Max said | December 17th 2010 @ 6:12pm | Report comment
Why not? FIFA already claims 10 billion- 4 more billion people than actually exist. Don’t 60 million Australians watch AFL?
December 17th 2010 @ 6:20pm
Working Class Rugger said | December 17th 2010 @ 6:20pm | Report comment
For the uptenth time its culminative across hundreds of hours of broadcasting. Its really not that difficult to comprehend.
December 22nd 2010 @ 4:52am
Joh4Canberra said | December 22nd 2010 @ 4:52am | Report comment
You’re right: the idea of cumulative viewing figures is not that difficult to comprehend. But did it occur to you that they did in fact *comprehend* it and were actually *criticising* the concept by mocking the double (multiple in fact) counting that goes on?
I understand perfectly well what a figure of 4 billion cumulative viewers means. I just find it a somewhat misleading metric of an event’s true popularity. The figure is fine in so far as it goes but I also want to know how much double counting is going on.
December 22nd 2010 @ 5:02am
Working Class Rugger said | December 22nd 2010 @ 5:02am | Report comment
Its difficult to measure exactly how much double counting occurs. I’m more than aware that it does. However, these figures are compiled by an independent agent as are the Soccer WC and then used by broadcasters in the decisions in which event and what content to acquire.
December 18th 2010 @ 4:52am
GavinH said | December 18th 2010 @ 4:52am | Report comment
Great news. Should be a cracking atmosphere, especially in some of the smaller regions.
December 20th 2010 @ 2:13pm
Tui said | December 20th 2010 @ 2:13pm | Report comment
850,000 Kiwis in OZ? I dont think so.
December 22nd 2010 @ 4:56am
Joh4Canberra said | December 22nd 2010 @ 4:56am | Report comment
The actual figures are around 500,000 Kiwis living in Oz and around 65,000 Aussies living in Enzed.
December 22nd 2010 @ 5:28am
Cattledog said | December 22nd 2010 @ 5:28am | Report comment
That’s the spirit Joh, nothing like fact to spoil a perfectly good story!! I think 499 000 of em are on the Gold Coast!! lol