Next month’s Rugby World Cup "is set to become the biggest in the sport’s history," according to Danielle Rossingh of BLOOMBERG. With four weeks until England opens the tournament against Fiji at
Twickenham Stadium, 90% of a record 2.4 million tickets "have been
sold." Tickets "are still available for the opening match as well as ones
featuring New Zealand, Australia, Wales, Ireland and France." Organizers, who had to pay the sport’s global governing body World
Rugby an £80M ($125M) guarantee to host the world’s
third-biggest sports event, "are hoping for a sellout." Rugby World Cup Managing Dir Stephen Brown said, "Our ambition is to fill every single stadium. We’re reasonably confident we can do
it." The event will be televised in 207 territories and free-to-air
broadcasts "could help attract fans in nations including the U.S.,
Brazil, Germany and China." World Rugby "expects the event" to make more
than £200M ($313M), on revenue of between $800M and $900M (BLOOMBERG, 8/18). The INT'L BUSINESS TIMES' Jerin Mathew wrote the event is expected to generate about £1B ($1.56B) for the U.K.'s transport and tourism sector, according to research. GoEuro.co.uk, the search engine for comparing flights, coach and rail travel options across Europe, said that "the upcoming Rugby World Cup will be the biggest generator of tourism since the 2012 London Olympics." London will host 17 matches and earn more than £197M ($309M). Transportation companies will earn more than £15M ($23.5M) "due to the inflow of spectators in the capital." The 11 host cities are expected to generate between £3.5M ($5.4M) and £197M "in terms of money spent on inner-city transport, accommodation and food and beverages." For the tourism industry as a whole, the Cup "is expected to generate" £957M ($1.5B) (IB TIMES, 8/19).
