Rugby Australia’s cash grab: Lions tour ticket prices to make your eyes water

The British and Irish Lions tour was meant to attract a new audience to rugby in Australia, but ticket prices are crash tackling that ambition, writes Peter Jenkins.

Jamison Gibson-Park of the British & Irish is held by Seru Uru during the tour match between Queensland Reds and British & Irish Lions at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. Picture: David Rogers

Does anyone else remember the breathless reporting that commenced more than a year before the British and Irish Lions arrived Down Under for their once every 12 years rugby tour to Australia?

We were warned how tickets would be harder to find than a Wallabies series win over the All Blacks – and for the record that unicorn has been on the run since 2002.

There was also the unspoken hope that this would be a tour to save a game of increasing irrelevance in Australia.

It would attract new fans and take a financially bereft sport off life support, allowing it to wheeze on its own.

Blair Kinghorn of the British & Irish Lions is tackled by Lalakai Foketi (R) and Darby Lancaster during the tour match against the NSW Waratahs. Picture: Getty Images

So the first release of tickets, with much fanfare, went on sale in March 2024.

The “enthusiasm” of Wallabies fans meant the public allocations for Test matches in Sydney and Brisbane were immediately “sold out” and the Melbourne supply was “almost exhausted as well”.

But as one media outlet noted: “In a dose of good news for Australian fans who missed out, a second, smaller allocation of tickets is expected to go on sale later in the year.”

They did, in November, and more frothing at the mouth as the public relations machine went into overdrive.

We were told Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium was “already sold out”, while the Melbourne and Sydney Tests would follow suit within days.

A Rugby Australia spokesman said “demand for all categories has been extremely high and outstripping tickets available”.

Then came a final release of tickets in the countdown to the tour after corporates and tour groups failed to sell their entire allocations and handed the remainders back to Rugby Australia.

Small red flag there. Didn’t sell their allocations?

Well, the Lions are here and have played three games.

At the 60,000 capacity Optus Stadium in Perth, there was a crowd of 46,656 to see them play the Western Force.

Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane holds 52,500. Only 46,435 turned up for the Lions’ game against Queensland.

Fin Smith of the British & Irish Lions off loads the ball during the tour match against the Queensland Reds. Picture: Getty Images

In 2013, when the Lions were last here, the crowd in Brisbane was 50,136.

Then to Sydney on Saturday night where the Lions beat the NSW Waratahs. The crowd was 40,568 in a stadium that holds a good couple of thousand more.

In 2013, at the old version of the stadium, the crowd was 40,805. Just as in Brisbane, the crowd numbers of 12 years ago were higher.

Australian captain James Horwill talks to his players after the the Wallabies big loss to the Lions in game three of the 2013 Australian Wallabies vs British & Irish Lions at ANZ Stadium.

For added context, there have been four NRL matches – including three regular season games – that have attracted bigger crowds at Allianz Stadium since it reopened after a rebuild three years ago.

The Germany versus Colombia match at the women’s soccer World Cup in 2023 also drew a crowd that was just 69 fans shy of the Waratahs-Lions audience.

So, no sold-out signs just yet.

But here’s the real concern.

Go online and you can buy up to ten platinum tickets side-by-side-by-side for the Brisbane and Sydney Test matches on 19 July and 2 August respectively, at the eye-watering cost of $649 each.

That in itself is interesting because when tickets first went on sale, this was such a sought-after event punters were restricted to a maximum of four seats per customer.

Max Jorgensen of the Wallabies runs with the ball against Fiji on Sunday - the one hit out for the Australians before they take on the British Lions in a three Test series. Picture: Getty Images

Maybe there was a glitch in the system but I have the screen shots to show I could have, with one more click, purchased ten tickets at either Suncorp Stadium or Accor Stadium if I had been prepared to shell out $6500 to attend either Test.

And there were several sections at Accor Stadium where you could make those bulk purchases.

Maybe they will sell out before the third Test, but the fact the highest-priced tickets are still available suggests the cash grab from a money-needy Rugby Australia has not been lost on the public.

When the Lions visited Australia in 2013, the most expensive Test ticket was $295.

As for the Melbourne Test on 26 July, tickets can still be bought in bronze, silver, gold and platinum categories, ranging from $199 to $649.

Hardly the sellout touted last year.

It would also be fair to assume the Lions tour, for all its appeal, will not attract one curious newcomer to the game.

Not to a stadium.

Not at those prices.

Those in the stands will be Lions fans – 40,000 of them have supposedly made the trip from Europe – and rusted-on local rugby supporters.

Even then, there might not be enough of them to hang the “house full” signs, despite the frenzied and endless promises of the past 16 months.
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