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Rugby World Cup
Estimated World Cup losses hit NZ$39.3m
Scrum.com
October 16, 2009
Martin Snedden says the cost of hosting the 2011 is spiralling
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The estimated losses to be incurred at the 2011 Rugby World Cup have ballooned NZ$39.3 million according to reports in New Zealand. The original forecast had been $NZ30m, but tournament organiser Martin Snedden reportedly revealed the new figure yesterday due to the downgraded expectations of ticket sales. The figure could deteriorate further should tickets fail to sell in sufficient numbers. Tickets for the competition go on sale in April of next year, and given the current financial climate the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) are downgrading their prices and expectations. The new budget is no longer counting on 100% attendance, and the decision to spread matches across 13 stadia rather than the initially planned ten means that the overall capacity has been limited. The union is expecting 1.5m tickets to be sold out of a total of 1.7m, with 1m being bought by locals. Snedden said he believed the prospect of locals attending matches between non-New Zealand sides was realistic. Fears had been raised of over pricing earlier in the year, with Snedden insisting at the time that foreign visitors would bulk up the ticket sales figure. "They are pretty significant prices and people will have to take a bit of a deep breath and work out whether they can afford it," he said in September. "But they are the sort of prices that were being charged in France in 2007 and not much different to Australia in 2003. "It's a wee bit of a different market place. But having said that, at the time of those matches is the time when we will have most of our international visitors so they won't be too fazed by that sort of pricing." © Scrum.com
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