The World is experiencing tough economic times, but this did not stop the Springboks from attracting their best average spectator attendance in 2009 in a decade (apart from one year).

SA Rugby announced on Wednesday that 288 551 people watched the Springboks’ six home Test matches at that an average of 48 085 fans per Test in 2009 – an average exceeded only by the 48 550 who attended matches in 2004 – the last occasion the Springboks won the Vodacom Tri-Nations title. Springbok average attendances had hovered around the 40 000 mark in the intervening four seasons.

In addition, 90 percent of all tickets were sold for the matches, despite the fact that matches were held at venues with capacities of 45 500 or more – the best return for four seasons and bettered in only three seasons in the past decade.

“The pulling power of the Springboks and the success they have enjoyed in 2009, led to satisfactory attendances overall, despite the economic downturn and soft demand at the start of the Vodacom Tri-Nations,” said Andy Marinos, acting managing director of SA Rugby.

“To have more than a quarter of a million people watch the team in the space of two months is a testimony to the enduring appeal of the Springboks, but we are not complacent and we are listening to the public.”

The Tests against the British & Irish Lions in Pretoria and Australia at Newlands in the Vodacom Tri-Nations were both sold out, but the other four matches saw tickets go unsold. Marinos launched an investigation into the issue at the end of July.

“Pricing is one of the key concerns in any business,” said Marinos. “And the question of affordability dominated the soundings we took and in our monitoring of the rugby blogs.

“People strongly felt that pricing in the Vodacom Tri-Nations was to blame for the lower than expected attendances in Bloemfontein and Durban but among other factors identified by the survey were ‘event fatigue’ in a busy sporting year; the difficulty of obtaining tickets online and the outcome of the final Lions Test.”

Marinos explained that Test match ticket prices were set by provinces. Part of the price – approximately one third – is paid to SA Rugby as a rights fee to cover Springbok expenses and other running costs.

“The balance is retained by provinces to assist in funding their annual wage bill and own running costs,” said Marinos. “Retaining the best players in South Africa is not cheap and as much as we’d all like to cut prices in half, the fact is that if we did that we’d be losing a lot more players to overseas clubs.

“Vodacom Tri-Nations prices were frozen at 2008 levels this year and have lagged behind inflation for the past 11 years. This year’s price of R425 would have been R513 if tickets had been pegged to inflation since 1998.

“But we’re fully appreciative of the tough economic times and have already had discussions with the provinces on the financial model.”

Marinos said his goal was to ensure that every Springbok Test was sold out and that he would be making recommendations to assist in achieving that goal to the board of SA Rugby.

Source: sarugby.co.za

Tags: Springboks