It appears that very few, not the desired number at least, are opening their wallets to buy tickets for the upcoming Bledisloe Cup.
Rugby Australia is ticking off the boxes and vowing that this year will not be a repeat of last year’s lowest turnout on record, but with two weeks to go, something dramatic needs to happen if the bums and the seats are going to meet.
RA head honcho Raelene Castle answered inquiries by saying that 45,000 tickets had been sold to next Saturday’s Test at ANZ Stadium, but there is not a lot of time to generate the sale of the needed 10,000 tickets to better last year’s attendance.
Castle made the bold prediction that the match will draw 60,000 for the Wallabies versus the All Blacks.
Do we have our calendars wrong, or are we correct in assuming that the NRL is staging another nail biter in its run home.
Just how much rugby does one need? Combine the NRL with the AFL, where both Sydney clubs seem to be headed into finals play and the obvious conclusion is that the Bledisloe Cup needs to find a better spot on the calendar.
Castle told the journos, “North of 55,000, so 58-60,000 is where we think we’ll get to,” she said. “It will mean that ANZ Stadium at 60,000 will feel really full.”
There is evidence to suggest that attendance for live sports events in Australia and other places are falling and it is not hard to see why.
It sometimes feels as though the supply so far exceeds the demand that many would-be live spectators are left wondering how to foot the bill for everything and still put food on the table.
Twenty years ago, the Bledisloe Cup was capable of attracting crowds in excess of 100,000. The number has been declining ever since.
The Wallabies have not fared well in New Zealand and has not secured the Bledisloe Cup since 16 years ago. If the series follows form, the Wallabies must win in Sydney to make the final Test in Japan anything other than a ceremonial hit out.