The All Blacks defeated England 16-15 at Twickenham on Saturday.GETTY IMAGES
The Rugby Football Union was expected to receive record total revenue of close to £15M ($19.4M) for what was "expected to be the most lucrative Test match outside the World Cup" when England faced New Zealand at Twickenham on Saturday, according to Gavin Mairs of the London TELEGRAPH. The demand was such that the RFU sold out its 6,500-capacity corporate hospitality facility in the new £81M ($104.6M) East Stand, including all 1,000 of the most expensive tickets, which cost £1,345 ($1,740) (plus VAT) each. The RFU’s decision to raise 8,000 of its premium match tickets to a record price of £195 ($252) also did not deter supporters, with a capacity crowd of 82,000 guaranteed months ago for the first meeting of the two sides since '14. On secondary market websites on Friday, tickets were selling for as much as £1,070 ($1,380), without any hospitality. In the year that the RFU has made more than 60 members of staff redundant in cost-cutting measures, the extra revenue "will be welcome." Previously, such tests generated around £10M ($13M). RFU CEO Steven Brown said that the extra income "would have major implications for funding for the game" (TELEGRAPH, 11/10).
