Brendan Gallagher: Will tickets be banana skin that upsets RWC 2015?

 World Cup HQTwo years out from the 1987 the competition didn't exist, it was just a concept being kicked around by IRB Blazers and the Webb Ellis Cup was an elegant but unwanted and unnamed trophy languishing in the vaults of Gerrards in Regent Street. Two years out from the 2003 World Cup the competition was going to be shared between and before the Kiwis had to suddenly withdraw because they couldn't guarantee “clean” grounds for official World Cup sponsors. And two years out from the 2007 World Cup New Zealand destroyed and humiliated the and looked destined to rule the world. So a lot can change in two years.
Whisper it quietly, however, but RWC 2015 appears to be ticking over in almost routine fashion as it reaches the two year landmark on Wednesday, as you would hope for a mature global competition now preparing for its eighth edition and which claims – largely on attendance and TV viewing figures – to be the third biggest sporting event on the planet behind the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup.
So are there any banana skins waiting to be slipped on? Well yes, potentially. Towards the end of this year the will announce the timeline and prices for the sale of public tickets and we know from London 2012, and a host of other major sporting events, that nothing antagonises the public more than feeling they haven't had a fair crack of the whip. And nothing excites sports editors more than the pictures of banks of empty seats for matches that should have been sure-fire sell-outs.
Before any of that can happen 2015 – the branch of the RFU managing their involvement with RWC 2015 – must nail down the kick-off times of all the games – and have them approved by the IRB – and that in itself is a rubic cube of a challenge. Offiically the teams' wishes are paramount followed by the fans and the twin desires for family-friendly early kick-offs and start times that do not make life impossible for large swathes of travelling fans who need transport options late into the night. Overlaying all that, however, are the needs the broadcasters around the globe and as the most significant stakeholders they will have a massive imput. And that's putting it politely.
Only when that process is completed, probably by the end of November, can the details of the ticketing policy be finalised and England 2015 have been burning the midnight oil on this one. They will need to box clever to ensure that the maths work out and they also achieve their stated aim of making the World Cup accessable to everybody. The RFU have already guaranteed £80m to the IRB for the right to host the World Cup which, in these recessionary times, is probably over the odds but when the bids were prepared nobody knew the world was about to disappear into an economic black hole.

IRB Rugby World Cup 2015 venues
IRB 2015 venues

The RFU's only revenue stream from RWC 2015 to recoup that outlay and make a working profit – the real profit will be in the promotion of the game nationwide – is ticket sales and in that respect they took and early blow with the withdrawal of Old Trafford as a matchday venue, the limited availability of  Wembley due to NFL commitments and the fact that only one game can be staged at Manchester City's Etihad Stadium. After subtracting the tickets that have to be available to corporate hospitality and the official Rugby World Cup travel agency RHT Ltd, the RFU had originally calculated in their bid tender they would have 2.9m tickets to sell to the public. In fact that figure is now nearer 2.5m.
A 400,000 defecit on the anticipated number of public tickets is a blow but with massive stadia still available and so many British, Irish and European fans especially within striking distance, attendances are still projected easily to be the biggest in World Cup history so there remains a huge canvas to work on and the basic aims remain the same as they always were.
England 2015 are working to devise a way in which constituent clubs in England and debenture holders are somewhere near the head of the queue to ensure that rugby's loyal fan base is catered for, but at the same time they want to attract new fans who will buy on impulse because RWC 2015 is such a big national sports event. Families and young fans will be targeted and the cheapest children's tickets at some matches are expected to start at £7 while the cheapest adult tickets, at some games, will be in the region of £15. There will also be an array of tickets at different prices depending on the venue and teams and that could be key in filling the 74,500 Millennium Stadium for its non-Wales games at the pool stages – Canada v , New Zealand v Europe 1 (possibly Georgia, Russia or Romania) and Australia against Oceania 1 (Fiji barring something very odd).
For high profile pool games a large numbers of tickets are expected to be pitched at Six Nations rates. As for the knock-out games and play-offs – which alone will be attended by 619,000 fans if capacities are achieved – it will be interesting to see what the mark up will be at such prestigous encounters.
Elsewehere there is bound to be focus soon on the official Gilbert RWC ball given that every goal-kicker who has a bad day at World Cups automatically blames the “new” ball although strangely you never hear a word out of those who are nine from nine. The design was approved last month and the ball itself will be unveiled next summer and used in the and the 2015 Six Nations as well as the 2015 Super Rugby competition and Rugby .
All teams will have a supply of balls for practicing and former England fly-half Paul Grayson will again ensure that every ball passed onto the tournament organisers has been kick tested in addition to the normal factory tests.
RWC 2015 checklist
Stadium allocation:  Done
Pools draw and match schedule: Done
Kick of times: Pending. Details expected by early December 2013
Tickets and pricing: Pending. Details expected by December 2013/January 2014
Host Clubs: Short list of 50 has been drawn up from which team managers will choose
Competing Teams: 13 qualified, seven qualifiers to be determined
TV Contracts: Done. ITV, as it has been since 1991, the host broadcaster
Ground improvements: Pending. Sandy Park to be expanded to 20,000 capacity; Olympic Stadium converting to 55,000 capacity.
RWC Ball: Gilbert design confirmed. Ball available for use from next summer
Official RWC Hospitality and Travel: Rugby Hospitality Travel Ltd (RHT)
Volunteers: 6,000 needed, will be oversubscribed
Official Mascot: Watch this space

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