Rugby League World Cup organisers remain confident this year’s event will be the best-attended in history and have defended the pricing strategy that has come under scrutiny during the opening week of the competition.
Almost 100,000 supporters have attended the first seven games of the tournament. While there have been some successes, including more than 43,000 at St James’ Park to watch England defeat Samoa, other group games – including the 5,400 that watched New Zealand face Lebanon – have attracted gates that have left organisers openly disappointed.
There were 458,483 tickets sold for the 2013 tournament, the best on record. However, the event’s chief executive, Jon Dutton, said on Thursday that figure will be beaten. “We’re close to already exceeding that,” he said. “There are certain milestones along the way, the 458,000, which would exceed 2013, the women’s [football] European Championships, which was around 571,000, is the next milestone, which we’re confident about.”
Supporters have queried why some fixtures, including New Zealand v Jamaica in Hull ton Saturday, have tickets on sale for as high as £75. But the competition is, by and large, affordable compared with club rugby league. Every group game has tickets available for as cheap as £25 for adults, with some as low as £15.
Despite the criticism, Dutton said there has not been a game in the opening week where the lowest-priced category of tickets has sold out. The message is clear from organisers: affordable tickets are there.
Salford duo Marc Sneyd and Andy Ackers are set to win their first caps after being named in England's 19-man squad for Saturday's Group A fixture with France in Bolton.
The pair were left out of Shaun Wane's team for the opening game, a 60-6 rout of Samoa in Newcastle last Saturday, but will get their chance at the University of Bolton Stadium as the coach makes full use of his squad.
Wigan second rower Kai Pearce-Paul, who was 18th man at St James' Park, and St Helens forward Joe Batchelor will also make their Test debuts, while John Bateman returns after serving a three-match ban.
Shaun Wane said at Tuesday's press conference that he had yet to decide whether to rest his captain, Sam Tomkins, who is likely to be one of the two players to drop out of the squad, with Jack Welsby moving to full-back and George Williams taking over the captaincy.
Victory over France, who opened their campaign with a 34-12 win over Greece in Doncaster on Monday, would effectively secure a place in the knockout stages for England, with the final group game against Greece to come. PA Media
England squad: S Tomkins (Catalans), K Watkins (Salford), H Farnworth (Brisbane), R Hall (Hull KR), J Welsby (St Helens), G Williams (Warrington), T Burgess (South Sydney), M McIlorum (Catalans), L Thompson (Canterbury Bulldogs), E Whitehead (Canberra), J Bateman (Wigan), V Radley (Sydney Roosters), D Young (Newcastle), C Hill (Huddersfield), A Ackers, M Sneyd (both Salford), J Batchelor (St Helens), M Oledzki (Leeds), K Pearce-Paul (Wigan).
Success for England has had a knock-on effect on ticket sales. The win heightened England’s chances of reaching at least the semi-finals and if they get to the final four that game will be played at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium.
World Cup organisers say Saturday was the best day for ticket sales since the process began two years ago and the biggest-purchasing postcode was in London. More than 35,000 tickets have been sold for the fixture and the tournament’s revenue director, Mick Hogan, said: “If England qualify for the quarter-finals and come through that, we’ll see a huge surge in ticket sales again.”
Organisers have refused to cut prices to appease critics, a sensible call given tickets have been on sale for two years. A bundle to watch all three England group games cost £40; with tickets for the quarter-final and semi-final involving the hosts included, that figure was still only just over £100.
Slashing admission prices now would bring the World Cup – the premium event in the sport – to a point where it could be cheaper to attend than a bog-standard Super League game – not a position a tournament of this prestige wants to be in.
