Rugby World Cup Hits 87% of Revenue Target

The Rugby World Cup in New Zealand has hit 87% of their final revenue target making $191 million of the revenue target of $268.5 million organisers confirmed.

In the region of 1.08 million tickets have been sold for the Sept. 9- Oct. 23 event, Rugby New Zealand 2011 Ltd. said today. As many as 95,000 international visitors are expected to arrive in New Zealand during the tournament, RNZ 2011 added, an increase of 10,000 on previous estimates.

Martin Snedden, RNZ 2011 Chief Executive Officer, said in an e-mailed statement.”This is tremendous news and a real sign of just how big Rugby World Cup 2011 will be for our country,” Snedden said.

“The upsurge in support from overseas fans is a strong sign of confidence in our ability to host the biggest sporting event New Zealand has ever held,” he added.

Prime Minister John Key has predicted spending by overseas visitors in September and October will give New Zealand’s economy a 0.3 percent boost in the second half. Hosting rugby’s four-yearly world championship can boost the local economy by as much as 1 billion pounds ($1.6 billion), according to a Deloitte LLP study.

Nationalities from 100 countries will descend on New Zealand during the six-week tournament, local organizers added. Visitors on average will stay 23 days, travel extensively around New Zealand and 44 percent will be first-time visitors to the country.

The 20-nation World Cup starts in 21 days, when New Zealand’s top-ranked All Blacks face Tonga in the first of 48 matches. The final is scheduled Oct. 23 at Auckland’s Eden Park.

More than $0.82 million worth of tickets have been sold since the All Blacks beat Australia 30-14 at Eden Park in a Tri- Nations match three days ago, RNZ 2011 said.

“Our challenge over the remaining ten weeks is to generate another NZ$34 million ($28 million) of revenues, the equivalent of about another 230,000 ticket sales,” Snedden said. “This is clearly achievable.”