Rugby World Cup prices a bargain - compared to soccer

nzherald.co.nz will have live coverage of the World Cup soccer draw from 6am on Saturday.

Rugby fans will be able to see matches at their World Cup in 2011 for considerably less than soccer fans will have to fork out for matches at the FIFA tournament in South Africa next year.

Whilst the cheapest tickets for early-round rugby matches in 2011 are as low as NZ$30 (for general admission), the most basic seat for World Cup soccer Group Stage matches will set you back US$80 (NZ$110).

At the pricey end of the scale, the gap is remarkably close. The premium seat at Eden Park for the Final will set you back NZ$1250, and FIFA is asking US$900 (which equates to NZ$1241 at today's exchange rate) for the best seats in the stand at Johannesburg next July.

Buying from the official organisers - FIFA or the RWC in this case - is always a lot cheaper than "going to the market".

For example, Group Stage tickets for the soccer World Cup were going on British sports websites this morning for between £325.00 and £475.00.

Prices on the FIFA website (all in US$, cheapest ticket/most expensive ticket) were:

Group Stage Matches: $80 - $160
Round of 16: $100 - $200
Quarter-finals: $150 - $300
Semi-finals: $250 - $600
Final: $400 - $900

Recogising that there are two types of buyers, FIFA are selling two types of ticket products for the soccer World Cup - normal match tickets and Team Specific Tickets (TSTs). The TSTs are tickets which are specially pre-set to allow fans to follow the national team of their choice.

- NZHERALD STAFF