Up to 43,000 fans a day enjoyed the festivities at the NRL Nines tournament at Eden Park. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Up to 43,000 fans a day enjoyed the festivities at the NRL Nines tournament at Eden Park. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Organisers of the NRL Auckland Nines tournament are staying tight-lipped about the amount of money generated by ticket sales over the weekend's event.
But with ticket prices up this year, more money was made compared to last year's tournament - even with some tickets not sold.
Duco Events, which partnered the National Rugby League to run the tournament, could not reveal the exact figures.
"I can't be too specific. I can't really say - but it went well," co-director David Higgins said. "It's not about how many tickets you sell, but it's a mix of that and what the prices are. The prices were a bit higher this year, so it's all about getting the balance right."
This year, a gold ticket to the two-day event cost $303. Last year it was $229. A silver ticket set you back $203 this year, compared to $149 last year.
About 43,000 tickets were sold to this year's tournament, held at Eden Park, which has a capacity of 46,000.
With talks that the tournament could find its way across the Tasman one day, moves are already in play to make sure it stays in Auckland.
Duco co-director Dean Lonergan told the Herald a full review would be carried out with the NRL once he and Mr Higgins returned from a short break in the United States.
"We'll sit down with them and work out what we did well and what we can do better.
"There's always that risk because there's obviously other city centres that see this event and would like to see it replicated. So we're working on things on a regular basis to avoid that from happening.
"One of the things we can do, in a perfect world, is to bring some more money to the table for the NRL and make sure it doesn't want to go," he said.
Image 1 of 14: Rugby League fans during the NRL Auckland Nines played at Eden Park. Photo / Dean Purcell.
Mr Lonergan said the tournament had turned into a huge spectacle for the city and had helped to attract new people to check out Auckland's top restaurants and key attractions.
Meanwhile, an incident involving Australian league legend Willie Mason has been played down by the Nines organisers.
The star - playing an off-field role for the Sea Eagles Nines team - was spotted getting into a scuffle with a man later identified as his brother, Les. Mr Higgins said the incident was nothing more than two brothers mucking around.
"The fact that's even big news is ridiculous. All that happened ... he exited the North stand at daylight, was clowning around with this brother - play-fighting or wrestling with his brother - and he gets in a cab and goes home.
"It's just silly stuff."
The Nines tournament finished on Sunday with a thrilling final against the Rabbitohs and Sharks, in which the Bunnies won 18-14.
