British Lions tour tickets on sale
25 February 2009
Tickets for the tour of South Africa by the British and Irish Lions went on sale on Monday. The eagerly awaited tour will be known as the Castle South Africa 2009 Lions Series, after South African Breweries agreed to sponsor it to the tune of R25-million.
The deal is the richest in the history of Springbok rugby and it covers a schedule of 10 matches that sees the Lions facing four provincial teams, two invitation sides, the Emerging Springboks, and the Springboks in three tests between 30 May and 4 July.
Tickets for the Lions' games are not cheap, but South African Breweries (SAB) will be bringing the matches to the fans by also sponsoring SAB Bok Towns in Johannesburg, Durban, and Cape Town for all 10 games.
SAB Bok Town venues
Montecasino will be the host venue in Johannesburg, while in Durban it will be the Suncoast Casino, and in Cape Town it will be La Med. Plans are in the pipeline to secure Bok town venues in the host cities of the provincial clashes on the days of those games.
South African Rugby Union President Oregan Hoskins was thrilled by the big sponsorship, saying: "True rugby fans have been yearning for the traditional rugby tours, and the British and Irish Lions tour has earned a reputation as the last of the great rugby tours. So we are proud for Castle Lager to be associated with this prestigious event.
"This is a limited edition tour and everything about it is special. We want the Castle South Africa 2009 Lions Series to be the tour that stands the test of time."
70 000 tickets on sale
More than 70 000 tickets for the Castle South Africa 2009 Lions Series went on sale on Monday, 23 February as part of the second phase of sales. They are now available for seven of the 10 matches.
Season ticket and suite ticket holders were rewarded for their loyalty by being given preference in first-phase sales, which opened last year.
Their uptake of tickets plus commitments to other rugby stakeholders means that only a limited number of test tickets are available for the three-match series.
Approximately 30 000 tickets for the match against a Coastal XV in Port Elizabeth on 16 June will go on sale once the seating configuration of the new Nelson Bay Mandela Stadium has been confirmed.
Further tickets are expected to become available as deadlines expire for the uptake of first-phase tickets by stakeholders.
Hotline
A Lions ticket sales hotline has been set up by Computicket at 011-340 8000.
Tickets already on sale:
Tickets are available through the following channels:
Hospitality packages are available for all ten matches - including the Test matches - from R2 995. Details are available on SA Rugby Lions Tour Hospitality or by E-mail or by contacting Sean Shannon on 082 709 0866.
Test tickets
Tickets for the tests at the Absa Stadium in Durban and Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria have sold out, excepting for some available in hospitality packages. A small number of tickets were still available on Monday for the third test at Coca-Cola Park in Johannesburg at the stiff price of R1 140 each.
"There are normally only a very small number of test tickets available for any big test in South Africa, but our ability to satisfy the huge local demand is affected by the requirements and responsibilities we have to the Lions," said Andre Homan, SA Rugby's project manager for the Castle South Africa 2009 Lions Series.
"We expect 50 000 British and Irish visitors for the series - for which the Lions receive only 11 000 tickets per test - which obviously has a significant impact on our ability to satisfy the local demand."
Hospitality packages
Supporters eager to see one or all of the Tests still have the option of hospitality packages, which include additional benefits such as parking, VIP hospitality, as well as the match ticket.
"If we ever doubted the uniqueness of a tour by the British & Irish Lions it has been driven home to us over the past few months," said Andy Marinos, acting managing director of SA Rugby.
"The demand from our stakeholders has been enormous. Everyone realises we're not just talking about an 80-minute rugby match, but about a lifetime of memories. We could have sold many of the games twice over."
Ticket allocation
Homan explained how the ticket allocation works for the test matches: "On average the three stadiums have 27 000 season and suite ticket holders, who we have obviously been keen to reward for their support of rugby with the first option," he said.
"On top of that the Lions receive their 11 000 allocation, SA Rugby receives 6 000 to satisfy our sponsors and stakeholders, another 4 000 are set aside for hospitality, and another 2 000 are available for other members of the rugby family, such as members of previously disadvantaged communities.
"Those requirements come to 50 000 per test and it is only the fact that the Lions have a smaller allocation for the non-test matches that means there are some tickets available for the provincial matches."
SAinfo reporter and SA Rugby
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