The Hong Kong Rugby Football Union announced that, following today’s successful ticket sale, the Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens is now sold out.
The 5,000 tickets allocated for public sale sold in just over two hours. With strong demand from local and overseas audiences, the three-day event expects to welcome 120,000 visitors on 27-29 March 2009.
Today’s sale was the first time that Sevens tickets have sold via Hong Kong Ticketing after the system was successfully trialled for the Bledisloe Cup in November 2008.
To cater for the expected high demand and to ensure maximum convenience for members of the public, the HKRFU requested increased bandwidth to be dedicated for the online sales and a dedicated Hong Kong Sevens ticket hotline.
Local Hong Kong rugby scene support the Sevens
Tickets for the Hong Kong Sevens are also retailed through local rugby stakeholders including co-title sponsor Cathay Pacific Airways, rugby clubs in Hong Kong and overseas travel agents. Similarly to past years, the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union made 5,000 tickets available to the members of the public who are not directly involved in local rugby.
Combined with ticket sales to members of local rugby clubs and other rugby stakeholders, the rugby union estimates that 75% of the 40,000 event tickets were sold to Hong Kong residents.
“The Hong Kong Rugby Football Union is satisfied that today’s sale was a smooth one. The continued strong demand for tickets from the Hong Kong community and international rugby fans is especially gratifying considering the challenging economic climate, and proves that the Hong Kong Sevens is the jewel in the crown of world sevens,” said Allan Payne, Executive Director of the event and Chairman of the HKRFU.
“With the economy as it is the Sevens will help people put their cares and concerns aside for a weekend and enjoy world-class sport in a festival environment.
"We look forward to hosting another sold out event this March and to welcoming rugby fans from Hong Kong and around the world,” added Payne.
Development tool
The Hong Kong Sevens' role as a key development tool for Asian rugby has been reconfirmed with six Asian teams confirmed to line up against the heavyweights of Sevens rugby.
China, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Korea, Sri Lanka and hosts Hong Kong join fellow invited nations Canada, Portugal, Sri Lanka, Tonga, Uruguay, West Indies and Zimbabwe.
The 12 core teams participating in the IRB Sevens World Series in 2008/2009 are Argentina, Australia, England, Fiji, France, Kenya, defending Hong Kong champions New Zealand, Samoa, Scotland, South Africa, USA and Wales.
The first two events in the 2008/09 IRB Sevens World Series have produced results that indicate that this season's Series, and the World Cup Sevens in Dubai, will be more competitive than ever.
