Too soon to give up on sevens

Organisers of the Wellington Sevens expect 15,000 fans per day at this weekend’s event. Even that might be optimistic, given rumoured pre-Christmas ticket sales. A fair bit will depend on the weather.

Everyone knows that such numbers are a far cry from the event’s zenith, when Westpac Stadium would sell out in a few minutes.

Fatalism reigns in some quarters. A marketing expert says the sevens aren’t ‘‘cool’’ anymore. Former Rugby World Cup boss Martin Snedden says the event has ‘‘probably run its course’’.

But that’s a bit premature. Wellington is supposed to have the event for the next three years at least, and it needs to have a good shake at making it an event to be proud of again.

The first thing to do is come up with a more realistic set of expectations. A sell-out isn’t on the cards, and it might not happen again. But that’s all right; in fact, only All Blacks tests, massive concerts and extraordinary one-off events like a Hurricanes Super Rugby final sell out the stadium these days. Live entertainment just doesn’t pull the public in like it used to – 15,000 fans is still a decent crowd.

Moreover, as Wellington Mayor Justin Lester points out, the sevens have been going for 18 years. A generation of partygoers who once filled it have grown up – and potentially moved on.

As with any event that lasts, it needs to keep finding new audiences, who can make it their own.

But there’s no reason why they can’t. Once people accept that it’s not necessarily an instant sell-out, nor can it be a drunken mess, as it undoubtedly was for too many for a time, then they might find there really is something else to love about the event.

For instance, the sevens. The rugby’s often been a sideshow in Wellington, but it’s a fantastically athletic, punchy variation on the national game, captivating enough to have been included in the Olympics and competitive enough that New Zealand often loses.

As the tournament’s boss Steve Dunbar says, the Hong Kong sevens, which predate Wellington’s, succeed year after year more for the rugby than any reputation for fans getting blotto.

The kaleidoscopic blitz of costumes, too, was a crowd innovation that grew into a fantastic Wellington tradition – and ought to be able to survive.

Of course there are challenges. The end of the sellout era means that people don’t have to make a decision early about whether they will go. And everyone has an opinion as to what else might have contributed – other competing events, or a crackdown on liquor, or better TVs.

There’s not much point in that now. Instead, two things are clear. The first is that, whatever some people might want, the event can’t be as loose as it once was. The second is that it’s worth persevering with, at least a while longer. The organisers have made plenty of changes in recent years, like cutting prices and increasing the entertainment. They might have laid the groundwork for a renewed event. Abandoning it before we find out would be a shame.

After all, if the price is right, and the product is a day or two of sunshine, with brilliantly quick rugby, and thousands of other fans cheering along, then it might not always be such a hard sell.

It’s still got the bones of a great event.