The Australian Rugby Union "has hailed its small-stadium strategy for the Wallabies series against England as a financial success," rejecting claims it could have "made millions more in ticket sales" by playing in bigger stadiums, according to Bret Harris of THE AUSTRALIAN. The first two Tests were played at Suncorp Stadium (52,500 capacity) in Brisbane and AAMI Park (30,050) in Melbourne, while the third will be at Allianz Stadium (45,500) in Sydney on Saturday night. More than one "prominent rugby identity" said that if the Melbourne and Sydney Tests were played in the bigger venues, the ARU could have earned from A$3M-A$5M ($2.25M-$3.75M) more from ticket sales. The ARU claimed the small-stadium strategy "was a financial success and delivered a better spectacle for fans." ARU GM of Operations & Marketing Rob Clarke said, "We had to look at what sort of absolute numbers we’d get through the gate versus the ticket prices for each of the different categories that we sell. ... We think we’ve got the mix just about perfect. I can assure you the ARU is not in the financial position to be throwing money away" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 6/23).
