Organisers of the 2015 Rugby World Cup face the prospect of having to price tickets higher than originally hoped in order to meet the £80m ($NZ146m) return from the tournament guaranteed to the International Rugby Board.
The withdrawal of Old Trafford and the limited availability of Wembley has seen the target number of tickets reduced from an initial three million during the bid process four years ago to around 2.6m now. At the announcement of the 13 venues and 48-match schedule, Debbie Jevans, chief executive of England Rugby 2015, promised to match the original commitment to a minimum ticket price of £7 ($NZ12.75) and insisted the £80m due the IRB will still be achieved. The figure is partially underwritten by the government.
It means mid and upper range ticket prices may have to be priced higher than first estimated for the figures to add up. During the bid process Francis Baron, then the RFU's chief executive, pitched an average ticket price of £71 ($129.50), alongside a minimum of £40 ($NZ73) for a quarter-final and £75 ($NZ137) for a semi-final.
The need to boost numbers led to the delay in announcing the final list of venues in order to allow the 54,000-seat Olympic Stadium to be included and make partial amends for Old Trafford's absence and only two matches being played at Wembley. The loss of Old Trafford - Manchester United have rugby league commitments and were concerned over the effect on the playing surface - and Wembley's contract to host an NFL match in October meant in effect a shortfall of some 600,000 seats. Five games at the Olympic Stadium, which will see its rebuild interrupted, reduces that number by around half.
"We are very confident that the financial targets will be met," said Jevans. "We are looking now at the ticketing strategy. The capacities have reduced but not to any great extent if you take the over-arching opportunity that we have and the figure that was quoted was always going to be a maximum.
