This year’s Rugby World Cup will be the biggest one in history, as another 100,000 more tickets will be going on sale next week.
After the venue configurations were completed for the 13 grounds the overall ticket capacity has gone up from 2.3 million to 2.45 million. Over 2.15 million tickets have been sold so far for the Cup.
Starting July 27 the additional 100,000 tickets will be on sale, and a priority sales window will be open from 27-29 of July for those fans who missed out during the September 2014 balloting for England’s knockouts and pool matches.
All the other matches will go on general sale as of 30 July. Currently there are about 30,000 tickets on sale from the main vendor, with more tickets available on Ticketbis.net.
All 48 matches will have tickets available. Fans who applied last September to get tickets for the knockout and England matches to be held at Twickenham will have priority access if they have not yet gotten seats.
The new sale will be taking place in 4 stages over a 5 day period, starting the 27th.
According to World Rugby Chairman Bernard Lapasset, England’s is on track to be the largest Cup in history and demand for tickets is continuing to grow. World Rugby is confident it will be an “unmissable and record breaking” celebration of the sport.
He also explained that he has no doubt the 2015 Cup will “inspire new audiences in the host nation and around the globe” in a manner which has been achieved by no previous Cup.
With 2.15 million tickets already sold, the 2015 Cup is on track to be among the best-attended tournaments in history, according to England Rugby 2015’s managing director Stephen Brown. “We are really pleased” with the level of sales to date, he added.
The new round of sales is due in part to England Rugby working hard to ensure there as many tournament seats as possible, with the result that they were able to add additional capacity by configuring the venues. Ticket demand is still strong, according to Brown, and excitement for the Cup is growing with almost only 50 days until the tournament begins.
The added 100,000 tickets range from extra seats made available by completing the venue configurations, tickets handed back during the Rugby World Cup Limited commercial programme, as well as tickets which have been made available for resale by fans who are no longer able to use theirs.
This last group is via an official resale service which lets fans sell tickets to matches they can’t attend via the official website, which has already resold around 30,000 tickets.
The news comes as the Webb Ellis Cup — the trophy for the Rugby World Cup — continues its 100 day tour across Ireland and the UK. The tour will culminate at the Opening Ceremony for the tournament on September 18.
Spectators at the various events which the Cup is visiting will be able to see the Cup in a bespoke Land Rover Defender which has been carrying it across the UK and Ireland.
The Cup was made in 1906 from gilded silver, and it has traveled the world since it became the rugby world’s most coveted possession. The Cup stands 38cm tall and has a weight of 4.5kg, and it was the prize of the first Rugby World Cup in 1987, when it was won by New Zealand.
