Cheap seats for Sevens fans

The Wellington Sevens is as well known for the entertainment in the stands as the action on the field. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Slow sales and competition with other events mean bargains for Wellington tournament.

Going cheap - a ticket to the Wellington Sevens (costume not included).

With four days to go, the rugby tournament has not sold out - and bargains are available as many fans try to offload spare tickets at well below cost price.

Increased competition from the likes of the newly established Auckland Nines - to be held at a sold out Eden Park the following weekend - has led to a fall in demand this year.

In previous years, tickets to the annual sevens tournament have sold out in a matter of hours, with scalpers able to command inflated prices to those who missed out.

But Sevens bosses say Westpac Stadium will still be at capacity.

Of the 213 listings for Sevens tickets on Trade Me on Sunday, a majority had "buy now" prices for less than the original cost of the tickets, or were placed with a $1 reserve.

Sam List put some two-day tickets on Trade Me with a $1 reserve after some friends could no longer attend.

The 30-year-old was one of many fans to also offer the tickets on the official NZ Sevens Facebook page, and eventually sold them for about $130 each - losing about $80 a ticket.

Sevens Wellington general manager Marty Donoghue said only about 1750 tickets remained, and they would be sold by Friday.

In previous years more tickets had been pre-sold with commercial partners and rugby clubs, but this year more were put out for sale online.

That change and ticketing glitches accounted for the slower sales.

Mr Donoghue said it wasn't just the Auckland Nines that the Sevens was competing with - music events such as Homegrown and Eminem were also factors.

Comparing notes

Wellington Sevens
* About 33,250 tickets sold of 35,000 available for the two-day event on February 7 and 8.
* $209 two-day and $95 one-day tickets still available yesterday.

Auckland Nines
* More than 44,400 tickets have been sold for the two-day event on February 15 and 16, with promoters putting on extra seating after the venue sold out.
* Final seats from $303 for the two days still available yesterday.