The whopping crowd figure the Blues are predicting for Super Rugby Aotearoa opener
The Blues are predicting a bumper crowd in excess of 35,000 for their opening match of the Super Rugby Aotearoa competition against the Hurricanes at Eden Park on Sunday afternoon.
The stars have aligned for rugby this week with the country’s move to coronavirus alert level 1 permitting crowds to attend both the Highlanders and Chiefs match in Dunedin on Saturday, and the Blues and Hurricanes the following day.
Blues chief executive Andrew Hore could not hide his delight as tickets – upwards of 20,000 – flew out the door for a match in which Beauden Barrett will make his debut for the franchise.
“I think that’s a sign of the fact that people want to go and have some form of social experience,” Hore said as he predicted a turnout not seen at a Blues match since they last made the playoffs in 2011. “We think in excess of 35,000 which would be an amazing result and will make for a fantastic atmosphere and a lift for the players.”
The Blues have capitalised on the public’s keenness to make the most of their regained freedoms by discounting general admission tickets, allowing kids to attend free, organising free public transport and gaining approval for fans to flood onto the Eden Park pitch at the conclusion of the match.
“What we’re trying to do is bring back a bit of old school with the kids going free and after the game Eden Park have said we can have the fans on the pitch which is a big lift. Those kinds of things make for memorable moments when you’re a young person. We want to celebrate the game.”
In something of a welcome appreciation, Hore expressed his thanks for every ticket sale which will help offset major financial challenges faced by all involved in rugby at present.
Hore said when Covid-19 halted the Super Rugby season on March 12 the Blues were forecasting $1 million in ticket sales from that month. Ticket sales would also help those involved in security, catering and the like.
“When you look at it from that perspective it’s huge. The other thing you’ve got to be mindful in all of this is that helps us exist in the second half of the year when we don’t have rugby.
“Now we have the issue of looking forward a year or two years. Although this gives us a bit of a hit to help address some of the peoples’ wages there’s still next year. We don’t know what the borders are going to be and so on.
“It’s not rivers are gold out there it’s going to have to be a very conservative approach in the way we take it. Everyone that buys a ticket we value it, basically. It will help this place moving forward.
“It makes a massive difference to getting that industry up and running again and the businesses that feed off rugby.
“If there’s one thing this whole event has taught us it’s even the players understanding the wider commercial engine that goes in behind professional rugby.”
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments