Wellington may lose sevens within days
New Zealand Rugby’s balance sheet has taken a beating after the Wellington Sevens returned its second financial loss in the tournament’s 18-year history.
Woeful ticket sales to the twoday event in January was the biggest contributor to the deficit, forcing the World Rugby licence holders to consider moving it out of the capital.
NZ Rugby chief executive Steve Tew initially told media that 2017 was the first year to make a loss, however the 2015 event also failed to turn a profit.
He said it was ‘‘no secret’’ that gatetakings this year had been poor: ‘‘That has caused a sobering re-think of where we sit.’’
While the deficit was still being calculated, Tew said ‘‘it wasn’t a small amount of money’’ and added that any financial loss was worthy of attention.
About two-thirds of 34,500 tickets available to the event at Westpac Stadium went unsold this year – the sea of empty yellow seats catapulting the event into the red.
It was a sad state of affairs for an event which used to command sell-out crowds, with tighter alcohol restrictions, a lack of big- name stars and disorderly behaviour all taking their toll.
‘‘It’s worth saying that over a prolonged period of time, the sevens in Wellington has been a very successful event. They’ve delivered a great fan experience, they’ve launched sevens in this country, in my view,’’ Tew said.
NZ Rugby, Wellington Rugby, the city and the stadium had all made substantial amounts of money out of it, he said.
‘‘Unfortunately, where [the tournament] sits now is not where we want it to be and despite significant endeavours to re-shape, reposition, re-price the tournament, it hasn’t worked from a fan interest perspective and that’s the reality we now face.’’
NZ Rugby board members received an update on a wideranging review of the tournament’s success on Wednesday.
Afterwards, board spokesman Nigel Cass confirmed NZ Rugby was in discussions with other potential host cities that had expressed an interest in taking over the tournament.
But the organisation would not say which cities were involved, citing commercial sensitivity.
‘‘I think it’s best just to say that we’re looking at all the options we possibly could at this stage,’’ Tew said.
‘‘We haven’t ruled anything in or out, we’re keeping our options open and we’re working hard to do that as quick as we can.’’
A decision was expected at the end of the month.
Speculation is growing over which cities may be willing to take on the marquee event – but officials were keeping their cards close to their chests.
Cass confirmed that while the host venue could change, where the event fell in the Sevens World Series’ calendar could not.
Auckland was a likely contender but Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (Ateed) chief executive Brett O’Riley said a feasibility assessment would be needed first.
Crucially, Auckland would only compete for the hosting rights if Wellington decided it was no longer interested.
‘‘It is important to note that the NRL Auckland Nines, which takes place in the peak summer months, is still contractually committed in 2018,’’ O’Riley said.
Ateed officials reportedly expressed their interest in the tournament almost a year ago.
Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium was also a possible alternative.
Dunedin Venues Management spokeswoman Kim Barnes said there ‘‘was nothing further’’ to add to comments she made in January.
She said: ‘‘if an opportunity did come up, we would consider that, but only when the time was appropriate.’’
The Christchurch City Council would not confirm if it was in the race: ‘‘A registration of interest process was done with a number of cities, and it is now with NZR.’’
Wellington mayor Justin Lester would not be drawn on whether he wanted the capital to retain hosting rights, as he awaited the findings of NZ Rugby’s review.