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On Tuesday night, I tuned into a press conference being held over in England. It was a ticketing update and a first look at the positioning of next year’s World Cup. I generally find these types of press conferences less informative on the content being delivered (you get the summary of their talking points in the press release after) but more intriguing in the line of questioning from the journalists present. It was nice to see some of my pals in the crowd and hear their thinking. The two big takeaways seemed to be price point and only one trip to Twickenham.
Ticket prices for the tournament will range from £5 (roughly $10NZD) to £95 (nearly $200NZD). Organisers were at pains to stress that they are still very much targeting families so we have to assume those 5 pounders are kids tickets to pool play. That top price is for the main event, £95 for a ticket to the final.
I believe it was the always astute, Sara Orchard, who put the direct question to them about that hefty price tag. Highlighting that football’s Lionesses tickets for the Euros were sold at a maximum price of £60. World Rugby reasonably replied that the demand for those tickets meant they could have sold out Wembley Stadium four times over and that was two years ago.
Three years ago, half that price was what I paid to attend the whole World Cup with a tournament pass. No such bundles are on offer this time so I’m going to have to start saving not just for flights but tickets too. Yes, I will be applying for media accreditation and hoping that someone picks me up for work on the tournament but first and foremost I would always see myself as a fan. The work just helps offset my enthusiasm.
The price increase was always going to come at some point. What will be interesting to see is whether it impacts the make up of the audience. The magic of 2021 was not just the number of attendees but their demographic spread. They weren’t overwhelming white, they weren’t overwhelming men, they weren’t overwhelming boomers and they weren’t overwhelming wealthy.
70% of those that bought tickets for the final, had never attended rugby before. When Ruby Tui sang Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi, the crowd could confidently carry on past the second “tātou tātou e” because they weren’t New Zealand’s typical rugby audience. Instead they were our women’s audience on steroids. Able to scale up attendance while holding onto that uniqueness. I do not think we would have been able to that at $200 a seat.
So the question is, can England?
Throwback to the last World Cup England hosted where the Black Ferns won their four-peat
2010 was the last time England hosted a World Cup. In fact, they are the first nation in the women’s game to get a second go at it. Back in 2010, they set the record for finals attendance when they sold out the Twickenham Stoop.
Just like wearing your big sister’s hand me downs, it’s not the clothing but the poor fit that’s embarrassing. So the organisers had pushed for this match to be played at the smaller venue, wanting to create a vibe for those in attendance and watching on at home. This is something we have since seen replicated by the Red Roses in their home schedule.
For years, they had tried the trickster method, of putting on a women’s match on after a men’s game in the hopes that spontaneous fandom might breakout. This also meant staunch Red Roses fans were routinely met with a visual representation of the levels of disinterest across the wider rugby community. Harder to build a buzz when you’re wading against a departing crowd to cheer your team on.
I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times, double headers simply reveal the double standards of fan engagement. So thankfully, the Red Roses finally chucked this out and went to the regions. They did the thing rugby fans seem to universally ask for, putting a winter sports match on in daylight hours, taking it to places that are grateful for the visit and pricing it a point that means you can take your kids. And what do you know, they built a fan base.
They did this at the same time as building bridges into local rugby communities. The PWR having done much to keep the women’s audience engaged between international fixtures. Simply put, England started something in 2010 and have boxed on since then. When they host the World Cup next year, we will have a chance to grade their homework.
Parallels will be being drawn between our World Cup here in Aotearoa and England’s. But they are already doing it better than us. The ticket sales date comes just days after the match between the Red Roses and the Black Ferns at Twickenham. Predicting now that England fans will be riding that high through the online checkout to boost good early sales.
No, it feels less like our World Cup and more like Australia’s. The energy that the FIFA World Cup created for the Matildas is what I believe we will see replicated for the Red Roses. Pageantry is what their country is founded on and England is ready to put on a show.
So will £95 be the price these fans will now pay to witness another record broken for our World Cup? I believe so. Simply because I know, even with the fact that I will likely have a media pass, I’m going to buy one anyway. Because I want to be there in the stands when the game changes.
With you,
Alice
TICKET SALES TIMELINE
17 September - Mastercard Presale
24 September - Opening and final match go on sale, register here for info
12 October - WXV wraps and final qualifiers found
Late October - Pools drawn and match schedule confirmed. So we can buy all the tickets, hooray!