He believed it was extortionate.
The best seats cost more than the best seats at the Bruce Springsteen concert and he played for nearly three hours...these guys play for 80.
So the admission charges will fill the great rugby coffers which will then surely overflow by the time the television networks write out their cheques to have access rights to film it and screen it.
I began to get nervous.
I harboured a slight fear that the pay TV and sporting chiefs might have introduced a booking fee to tune in live - like the ones they continually impose on boxing matches where I daresay equal amounts of money are bandied about.
Now those special "hire" to view charges were slightly ridiculous as a major heavyweight fight involved two people punching the daylights out of each other and that can easily result in the main bout lasting just two minutes...and that's that.
Night over.
Thirty or forty bucks for two minutes.
Doesn't seem right...but hey, this is the age of having to reach into the pockets for something deemed worthy of requiring additional payment to the monthly charges pay TV subscribers already pay.
In terms of the rugby, well you have to pay to see it happen as it happens one way or the other.
You either buy a ticket and join the hot dog queues at half-time and miss the opening try of the second half because you have to visit the conveniences (I object to using the word "dunnies") or you pay the Sky subscription...because Sky has a deal with the rugby people and they pay to pick up games, for us to watch.
Which I suppose is fair...just so long as they don't ever feel inclined to add the one-off deals forged with the boxing bouts.
The now prevalent live match broadcasts are fine and dandy to have access to, but one thing I have noticed over the past few years is the fall in spectator numbers at the stadiums.
I mean, why suffer the chill, the rain, the queues and exorbitant food and drink prices when you can relax in a warm lounge or equally warm bar which has Sky access...which most now have.
Once upon a time the games were broadcast "delayed".
Like the great Ranfurly Shield challenges when rugby was actually played at a sensible 2.30pm.
They would not be replayed until 4.30pm that day, which led to great swathes of the populace walking around with their hands over their ears so as not to accidentally hear
the result somewhere.
And of course the crowds at the stadiums during that era were indeed crowds.
I suppose in the end it all works out...sort of.
And while the crowd atmosphere may be missing at whatever off-site spot you choose to catch up with Lions action at least the hot dogs will be cheaper...and if you were partaking in ablutions (I object to using the word "dunnies") when a try was scored then you'll catch one of the many replays which subsequently emerge.
They play 10 games on this tour and it is a tough, tough challenge given that five of them are against very potent Super Rugby squads, along with three tests, a clash with the Maori All Blacks and what should be an entertaining eye-opening start to the tour this Saturday...the Provincial Barbarians.
Just how much of a spark will this Lions crew possess?
Oh it is going to be a most warming way to spend the first month of winter.
● Provincial Barbarians vs the British and Irish Lions, Sky Sport 1 live from 7pm Saturday: Here we go.
The sales of pork pies, Cornish pasties and Tennent's ales will surge through the ceiling for the next month while the wonderful travelling army of supporters follow their red-jerseyed pride and joy around the country. If you come across any Lions fans passing through these parts give 'em a wave or buy 'em a round.
For they have come a long way to eventually be...disappointed.
ON THE BOX
● Dot: Queen of the Castle, Prime at 8.30pm Sunday: An intriguing documentary about a remarkable, and determined, 70-year-old by the name of Dot Smith who has long harboured a dream.
To build her own castle.
So she did.
Yep, down there beside a suitable waterway in the heart of Oamaru is a castle which Dot had designed and built.
She calls it Riverstone Castle and it even has a dungeon as well as a couple of secret tunnels. When it is finished (and it's not far away) it will be her and dairy-farming husband Neil's home. A home with a difference...big time.
● The Young Victoria, Queen's Birthday Monday on TV1 at 7pm. This screens on June 5 which is the Queen's Birthday...except that it is not.
She was actually born on April 21 but being of a kind and giving nature she wanted to provide her subjects with a long weekend so it was decreed that it be celebrated on the first Monday of June.
Fair enough.
So her subjects at TVNZ have dug out a 2009 film from the files to play on her sort-of birthday.
I guess you need to be a staunch royalist as well as have a liking for finely costumed romance to take this on. It is a story about Victoria's first year as Queen and actress Emily Blunt got plenty of critical approval for her portrayal.