SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux says the introduction of four tiers of pricing for all 2021 British & Irish Lions matches – unlike the one-price-fits-all approach – is a considerable difference from the 2009 tour.
On Tuesday, SA Rugby announced that tickets from as little as R100 for next year’s British & Irish Lions tour will be available from 2 September.
The eight-match tour, which stretches across six cities over five weeks and kicks off in Cape Town on 3 July 2021, has tickets available for public sale with the prices designed to make them attractive to South African residents.
Ticket prices for matches against the Stormers at Cape Town Stadium, the Sharks at Kings Park and the Vodacom Bulls at Loftus Versfeld range in price from R250 to R600.
Tickets for mid-week matches against a SA Invitational team in Port Elizabeth and against SA A at Mbombela Stadium are even cheaper –ranging from only R100 to R350.
The cheapest Test-match ticket is R500 – less than the price of a ticket for a 2019 Springbok Test – and increases to R1,250 and R2,000 to the top-priced ticket of R3,000.
‘The top-priced tickets are comparable with what was charged 12 years ago when the Lions were last here,’ Roux commented.
‘But what is very different is that we have introduced four tiers of pricing for all matches – unlike the once-price-fits-all approach last time around.
‘We have provided a range of price points for the public and, for instance, a family of four will be able to watch a match against one of the franchise teams for R1,000 in total, and for as little as R400 for a match in PE or Nelspruit.
‘This is a once-in-a-decade commercial opportunity and we won’t shy away from acknowledging that we have to maximise the commercial opportunity that the extraordinary demand offers. At the same time, we have been sensitive to the South African fans and have some very affordable prices to watch the best of our local teams take on the Lions.’
South Africa, as a territory, has the majority ticket allocation and South African residents will have access to an affordable ticket-pricing tier structure.
‘The British & Irish Lions are unique in that they visit South Africa only once every 12 years, and we look forward to welcoming their thousands of fans to some warm South African hospitality,’ said Roux.
‘This is the home of the Rugby World Cup champions, the Springboks, and the Lions will know they are in our den. More tickets will be available to home fans than to overseas fans – we want to meet them with an Army of Green to combat the Sea of Red.’
Roux said that it was critical for South Africans to note that there was only one route to secure tickets – by entering the ballot on www.lionstour2021.co.za.
Photo: Action-Images Jason O’Brien/via Gallo images
