The All Blacks' record-breaking win over Australia in Saturday night's Bledisloe Cup rugby test had an immediate impact on the gate for the team's next match against Argentina in Napier at the end of next week.
About 490 tickets sold on Monday, many as punters went to the Hawke's Bay union offices at McLean Park, which doubles as an agency for sellers TicketDirect.
"In the big cities, everyone does it online," said Hawke's Bay Rugby Union marketing manager Jay Campbell. "Hawke's Bay people seem to be a little different."
Sales for the Saturday night September 6 game, which opened to the public on June 23, had rocketed past 20,000.
By mid-afternoon just 1973 of the all-seated capacity of about 22,750 seats remained.