For sale: Giant Cup rugby ball

About 175,000 visitors, including the Queen, have visited the 100 per cent Pure New Zealand rugby ball since its debut at the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Photo / Sarah Ivey

One of the central attractions of the Rugby World Cup is for sale, though its buyer will need a large backyard and a lot of money to spend.

The 100 per cent Pure New Zealand giant rugby ball has been retired by Tourism New Zealand and is being sold by public tender with the tagline: "Your Opportunity to own a New Zealand Icon."

TNZ said it wanted the best price possible for the ball, and that the market would decide how much it was worth.

The inflatable ball has been at the heart of the tourism group's advertising campaigns, and its placement at the feet of the Eiffel Tower in 2007 was considered a massive coup.

It was launched at the Rugby World Cup in France, and has since had about 175,000 visitors, including the Queen.

Inside Out Productions director Marie Adams, whose company designed the ball, said that during the World Cup, there was local and international interest in its purchase.

She said it could be sold as a whole or broken into its components, which included an inflatable cover, a stage, lighting, stairways and sound systems, but not the projection system that displayed the striking images of New Zealand's landscape to the world.

The successful bidder would also get the five shipping containers needed to transport the ball around.

Ms Adams said the ball had played a unique role in promoting the country: "To have that New Zealand presence in such prominent places, it seemed to get away with being a billboard in very unlikely places where they have strict management of any kind of advertising.

"I think it's served its purpose really well and it's time to move on. It's still in good nick, and you know, one door closes and another opens."

Ms Adams said it was well-suited to a 200-person, two-storeyed function room or exhibition space, but it would always be oval shaped. Even if the inflatable rugby-ball exterior was removed, the interior was also egg-shaped.

The ball's construction was believed to have cost around $2 million.

RWC KEEPSAKE
* The 100 per cent Pure New Zealand inflatable rugby ball is for sale.
* It was first opened in Paris for the 2007 World Cup.
* 175,000 people have visited the ball since then.
* Included in the price are the five shipping containers needed to move it around.