Battling the Lions: The red hot ticket

From the beginning, a Lions test ticket has been one of the hottest in town.

In 1904 the crowd poured into Athletic Park in "uncountable confusion" for the first clash with the New Zealand side, along with those willing to fork out the equivalent of $67 to sit in the stand.

By 1930, concern over the tussle for tickets had reached Parliament with the Government asked to investigate the use of young boys to hold places in all-night queues.

It was a "practice that was likely to be detrimental to their health during cold, wintry weather".

By 1959 the frenzy for tickets was a windfall for scalpers.

Seats on the stand for the third test in Christchurch were offered for the equivalent of $1040 - with a night's accommodation thrown in.

Average weekly wages were the equivalent of about $500, according to Statistics New Zealand figures.

Scotsmen's stands, makeshift structures on properties near Eden Park, did a roaring trade, charging up to $105 for a seat.

In 1977, scalpers offered $8 tickets at seven times their face value for the fourth test at Eden Park. It prompted a stern warning from the-then Auckland Rugby Union chairman, Ron Don, who said a scalper "could prejudice the chances of his club receiving an allocation of tickets for future occasions".

In 2005 it's online trading that is causing headaches for the Rugby Union.

Rather than have fans queue on the footpath, the union launched a contentious email ballot system for those who could not get tickets through clubs, as season ticket-holders or as part of the extensive corporate and supporters' tour packages.

Online auctioning websites TradeMe and eBay are already selling premium test tickets for $650 each - more than twice their original value and about two-thirds the average weekly wage.

City maps, training jerseys, books and even a broken jandal are being thrown in as inducements in the face of the latest warning from rugby authorities.

The union has said some touts were playing a "very dangerous game" and has warned that anyone caught breaking the rules could be barred from the ground on match day.