Saturday's Mitre 10 Cup final at Eden Park is free entry - a brave move from Auckland Rugby and an even better gesture aimed at both rewarding their dwindling but fiercely loyal fanbase and trying to attract a turnout worthy of the occasion.
But what the ARU may have (also) unwittingly signalled here is that the Mitre 10 Cup is now officially rugby's version of the Emperor's New Clothes.
The competition has long been stripped of its importance and significance, the near empty stands all season bearing clear witness to that.
And it's not a new thing. The disconnect between comp and crowds has been all too obvious for years. The once-called A-Team get less punters to home games these days than the Breakers. And in fact, many college 1st XV games regularly attract more spectators than the professional provincial side.
Perhaps the best bit about Auckland's random act of human kindness though is that it might just be exactly what NZR needs to remove its ostrich head from the sandpit and address long since raised that just won't go away.
This competition, once so proudly labelled as the best provincial rugby played in the world, is no longer part of most people's lives. While the national body remain at best distant, at worst uninspired unwilling or just unable to acknowledge how far its fallen and figure out what (or not) to do about it.
Since when was attending the country's major domestic sporting prize given away for free? Problem is the problem doesn't stop there either.
How difficult might it now be next season to ask people to pay to see any of the team's matches when those same punters know the 2018 showpiece was free entry?
As for the sponsors, so generous loyal and patient, what do they think about something they've invested so heavily in now being a freebie because plainly the product, the shop stock, isn't what the customers want?
But good luck to Auckland rugby. I hope the weather matches the crowd on Saturday and both are fine.
As for NZR the rather sizeable elephant now camped in the boardroom is surely asking how to reconcile how their once so proudly lauded world's best National Provincial Championship has devalued into a freebie NPC called No Paying Customers.