Industry News

RFU hikes prices to invest back in game

Steve Brown (pictured), Rugby Football Union’s (RFU) chief executive, said the organisation’s new ticket pricing structure is about maximising Twickenham Stadium to invest back in the game.

Tickets will be on sale for the 2018/19 season from next month and although there will be a rise in premium ticket prices, the RFU said there will more accessibility in pricing across the range.

The RFU’s new scheme will focus primarily on rewarding rugby club members with more than 50 per cent of all tickets between now and the 2019 Rugby World Cup to be given to clubs around the country for first refusal at a discounted price.

“We did some extensive research since the World Cup with pricing experts, fans, the game itself to help us to determine our plan and strategy around ticketing,” said Brown.

“The economic reality of the world is there are plenty of things going on around the cost of the stadium, the investment of the stadium itself, things like security, the work we’ve done to enhance our fan experiences and then just the general inflation costs within the country.”

In addition, the RFU has introduced children’s tickets for the first time in a move designed to attract more families to the game.

Tickets for a family of four, which previously cost £800, will be significantly reduced for autumn internationals and the three Rugby World Cup warm-up matches next year that will be held at Twickenham. Kids tickets will now cost just £20, meaning the overall total will be at most £430.

Meanwhile, other fans will see the highest ever ticket prices for a ticket to see the national team play.

With some prices rising for the first time in more than two years, top-grade tickets for the New Zealand game in November cost as much as £195 each. However, the rise applies to less than five per cent of the 82,000 tickets to be put on general sale.

Brown added: “Twickenham is the engine room which powers investment in the game, it is underpinning our financial strength.

“We’ve significantly grown our investment in them game both in the community and professional over the last five years.

“We’re not here to make money, we’re here to generate a return on the valuable asset we have and reinvest it back into the game.”

Image: RFU