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Many are saying the same thing about worrying off-field All Blacks trend
By Ian Cameron
Wellington’s Sky Stadium saw fewer than 30,000 spectators attend New Zealand’s first round Rugby Championship match against Argentina on Saturday.
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The All Blacks – rugby union’s biggest brand – also failed to show up on the pitch; suffering a 38-30 defeat to Felipe Contepomi’s Los Pumas.
It was their second loss on NZ soil to the South American side in a ground where they’ve won just once in the last seven outings.
The poor turnout at the 34,500 stadium in New Zealand’s capital is a disappointing outcome given that it was the team’s first game of the Rugby Championship under the leadership of new head coach Scott Robertson.
Ticket sales were notably sluggish this week – the cheapest tickets priced at $53. This figure excludes additional costs, including a one-off servicing fee of $6.95 and a payment processing fee of 2.20 per cent, which may have deterred potential attendees.
It is part of a wider trend of the All Blacks struggling to sellout home venues outside Auckland, despite the relatively modest capacity of stadiums outside NZ Rugby’s HQ.
Indeed the All Blacks’ test against England in Dunedin experienced similarly slow initial sales but ultimately sold out the day before the game.
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The All Blacks-England test at Eden Park was sold out weeks in advance by contrast.
The subdued turnout in Wellington may reflect broader economic pressures affecting Kiwis, particularly the cost-of-living crisis that continues to impact household budgets.
“Is that a sea of empty seats at the Sky Stadium or have loads of yellow clad Hurricanes fans showed up?” joked one fan while another wrote: “What an embarrassment of a crowd. The players thought it meant they were going to walk it too and played like it. Slow clap all round.”
Others pointed out that the lower-than-expected attendance at Sky Stadium potentially signals a growing trend of economic factors increasingly influencing decisions on whether to attend live sports events.
“That’s shocking. If ever NZR and Sky Stadium needed a message that tickets are too high priced and the experience at the stadium is lacking this is it,” wrote one fan, while another posted: ‘Hugely disappointing. NZers possibly feeling the pinch right now.”
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