1987 World Cup final a bargain
TICKETS to the 2015 Rugby World Cup final cost nearly 2000 per cent more than a seat at the 1987 Rugby World Cup final played in New Zealand.
Rugby fans lucky enough to score a ticket to the final, to be played at Twickenham next Sunday, would have paid between £150 (NZ$340) and up to £715, according to the official ticketing website for RWC 2015.
Meanwhile, an old ticket found in the vaults of the New Zealand Rugby Museum in Palmerston North shows that entry to the final of the 1987 RWC between the All Blacks and France at Eden Park cost just $44.
Using the Reserve Bank’s inflation calculator that is the equivalent of $88 today which is 1740 per cent cheaper than top tier tickets to Sunday’s grand final.
Other tickets from the 1987 tournament dug out from the archives show a Tonga versus Wales match at Palmerston North Showgrounds cost a mere $1 per child. France versus Romania at Wellington’s Athletic Park cost $12.
At the 2011 Rugby World Cup held in New Zealand, quarterfinal tickets ranged in price from $190 to $480, the semifinals from $290 to $780 and then a spot at the final went from $390 to $1250.
New Zealander William Thomas, who lives in Dubai but is in Britain for the RWC, said he paid £715 for a ticket to next weekend’s final, which cost about the same as the 2011 RWC final. ‘‘It’s standard with international sporting events of this calibre these days,’’ Thomas said.
The Football World Cup final cost about US$1300 (NZ$1900) and the Super Bowl cost about US$2500, so the RWC final tickets were ‘‘pretty standard’’, he said.
Auckland University of Technology School of Sport and Recreation associate professor Geoff Dickson said the cost of tickets had drastically increased over the years because the Rugby World Cup business model had changed since 1987.
These days in order for a country to host the tournament the local organising committee was required to pay a licensing fee.
For example Rugby New Zealand 2011 – the tournament organiser of the 2011 RWC – had to pay the International Rugby Board a $150 million licensing fee, he said.
The main way to cover that fee was through ticket sales, which put a lot of pressure on prices.
‘‘When we look back on the 1987 Rugby World Cup it was essentially a rugby tournament as opposed to a mega event.’’