Slow provincial sales dent Lions hype

Maybe it is the guaranteed cold weather or perhaps the distance, but rugby fans have turned their noses up at seeing the Lions in the most southerly cities.

All three test matches have been sold out through the official Rugby Union ballot, but more than 20,000 seats at the provincial games in Invercargill and Dunedin alone remain up for grabs. The game versus Otago at Carisbrook appears to be the most unpopular, with 12,900 tickets left.

About 60,000 tickets are still available for provincial games, even after a second ballot offered seats at other games to those who had already had their names drawn. The ballot began with 150,000 tickets.

Those who registered for the ballot will get one more offer to buy tickets before the remainder are offered through provincial rugby unions on May 2.

The unpopularity of the southern games has not stopped some people trying to sell tickets for a profit.

On auction website TradeMe, two tickets to the Carisbrook game have attracted bids of up to $55.

Two tickets to the Southland match drew bids of $153, even though the original price was $35 each.

Tickets to the Otago game are being advertised in London for 100 - $265 - each. The Southland game is only slightly cheaper, at $185.

The union expects demand for local games to rise when the tickets go on public sale.

Empty seats

* Despite the hype of the series, not even the first game of the Lions tour, at Rotorua on June 4, has sold out, with 9000 tickets still available.

* The game considered by some to be the fourth test, versus the NZ Maori in Hamilton, has 4500 tickets left.