‘Irish Rugby World Cup tickets will be 30% cheaper’

The Ireland team bidding to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup are planning to make tickets 30% cheaper than those that were on offer for the last tournament in England.

Ireland are vying to host the World Cup in six years time and they are due to deliver their bid presentation to the World Rugby Council in London next Monday. They are one of three countries hoping to host the tournament, with France and South Africa also putting forward their proposals on the same day. The winners will be announced in November.

The team behind Ireland’s bid have put together a strong presentation, which is hoping to ensure the country wins the chance to host the World Cup solely for the first time in its history.

Ireland’s 900-page bid document charts an economic benefit tipped to run to €1.5 billion and a key part of Ireland’s bid is affordable ticket prices and they are currently planning to make them 30% cheaper than they were for fans who travelled to England for the 2015 tournament.

Some tickets will be on sale for as little as €15 and it is believed this will guarantee full stadia throughout the World Cup.

“At the moment our ticket-pricing model is based on tickets that are 30% or less, cheaper than the England 2015,” said Kevin Potts, IRFU chief operating officer and bid director.

“We have tickets in our ticketing-model that are as low as €15. Our gross capacity is 2.2 million, we are budgeting on selling two million tickets. It is about filling the stadia. Obviously for the bigger games, of course, there will be bigger prices. But still, they are 30% or less behind the England 2015 prices.

“The most important thing for a Rugby World Cup is that the stadia are full and we are absolutely confident we will do that.

“Our ticket pricing will enable ordinary people, ordinary fans from around the world, not just Irish people, to actually buy them at affordable prices.”

Such a cut in ticket prices for the team behind Ireland’s bid has largely been enabled by strong financial backing by the Government. Indeed, the Irish Government and the Northern Ireland executive have agreed to pay the €135m tournament fee. That has allowed the team bidding to host the World Cup in Ireland to subtract that amount from their original budget, with the money saved being used to cut ticket prices.

The move by the Government and the Northern Ireland executive to pay the tournament fee is something World Rugby have urged bidding countries to do, but it has never before been done.

“It is not merely an underwrite, it is a commitment to pay,” said Potts.

“So effectively our tournament budget will not have a tournament fee in it, which allows us to provide tickets for these prices, which again is important to our Government, so as many Irish people can access the games.

“Rugby World Cup have a clear document that states that as their preference — that Government actually pays that [tournament fee] as an investment for the economic benefits that they will achieve.”

It is not just on tickets that fans can hope to save on during the Rugby World Cup, should Ireland be successful in their bid.

The bid team have also reached an agreement with the Irish Hotels Federation who will ensure prices do not rocket during the competition — which has often been the case at previous tournaments.

“Our hotel industries north and south have agreed to a price charter,” Potts added. “What it means is that in 2023 they have committed to charging no more than 20% above the average price during the same period of 2021.

“That is locked and committed as part of our bid.”

The IRFU also insists staging the 2023 tournament would push the USA ever closer to becoming serious contenders as future global competition hosts.

“If the rugby community is genuine about wanting to expand the sport, if they want to inspire people from other countries as potential hosts, then we believe we’ve made it easy for them to do that,” said IRFU chief executive Philip Browne.

“What we’d see as a tripartite partnership has to be put in place, between Ireland 2023 if we win the bid, World Rugby and US Rugby.

“It’s about what can we do to increase the footprint of rugby in North America.”

Asked if he would envisage Ireland hosting in 2023 paving the way for the US to stage a future World Cup, Browne replied: “I would hope so; the diaspora is not just about getting Irish Americans to come for Ireland to the World Cup.

“Ireland’s Test match against New Zealand in November last year drew a crowd of 62,500 — that’s the highest-ranking rugby event in the US.

“We worked very closely around the Chicago match with the promoters, who specifically targeted the Irish diaspora.”

A list of 12 stadia — which includes GAA stadia — will be whittled down to a potential preferred eight, with a fund of €65m for further upgrades.