Rugby World Cup set to be most expensive sporting event in history

The 2015 Rugby World Cup will be the most expensive sporting event in history, with the average price of a normal ticket more than $254.

The tournament begins on Saturday morning (NZT) when England play Fiji at Twickenham and the majority of the 2.4 million tickets available for the tournament have been sold, with an average price of $254.57.

£104.17: average rugby World Cup ticket price = most expensive major sports tournament ever. http://t.co/hflGiUGnG1 pic.twitter.com/YZmZYGHEat

— Nick Harris (@sportingintel) September 13, 2015

While some tickets will be as cheap as $17 for children in pool games, more than half of all tickets will cost more than $244.

The second most expensive tournament was the cricket World Cup New Zealand hosted last year. The average price for a ticket was $248.

Football's World Cup in Brazil cost an average $231 per seat, adjusted for inflation, and the 2012 Olympics $214 per seat.

More than 2.3m tickets have been sold, with only only 50,000 still available through official platforms. But tickets for next Friday's sell-out opener between England and Fiji at Twickenham were last night quoted at $2019 on one unofficial website.

Organisers are urging fans to purchase tickets only through the official World Cup website - tickets.rugbyworldcup.com.