Sluggish sales for tickets to Origin

THE hottest tickets in town have gone cold with the prospect tomorrow night’s State of Origin series opener at Suncorp Stadium may not sell out.

The NRL is scrambling to sell thousands of tickets for the game’s showpiece event following slow sales.

NRL boss Todd Greenberg last night remained confident the 52,500- seat stadium would be full for Game One despite speculation less than 45,000 tickets had been sold.

There are fears the Maroons could run out at The Cauldron in front of spare seats, a rare scenario in recent years.

The NRL was last night sending text messages to fans alerting them to buy tickets from $ 87 for adults up to $ 273.

Greenberg said ticket sales were on track compared to previous years.

“It’s pretty much in line with every other Origin we’ve had here in the last three or four years,” he said.

“In the last 48 hours we sell a lot of tickets. I’m very confident when I walk in on Wednesday night it will be a full house.”

The Maroons have never run out in front of a crowd of less than 50,000 since the Suncorp Stadium redevelopment was completed in 2003.

In 2014, only 50,155 turned out for the Game Three deadrubber when NSW had already won the series. In 2013 there was a crowd of 51,690 for the only game in Brisbane.

There was not a spare seat in the house when Queensland trounced NSW 52- 6 in the 2015 decider.

The NRL’s ticketing strategy is to sell out as close to kick- off as possible, ensuring they are able to collect a premium price for their No. 1 product.

Tickets have been discounted in recent years for games at ANZ Stadium in Sydney, but Greenberg said that would not be happening in Brisbane.

“We’ve got a pretty diligent strategy on how to sell out Origin,” he said.

Expensive tickets and the fact there are two games in Brisbane this year for the first time since 2014 are believed to be the primary reasons for slow sales.