If you’re not at Eden Park on Saturday, good luck finding somewhere to watch the final alongside other fans. David Skipwith reports.

This story was first published on Stuff.

There are no fan zones in place throughout the country for the Rugby World Cup final, despite there being a raft of such spaces for the 2011 men’s World Cup.

In 2011, when France played New Zealand in the final, fans gathered in their thousands at four fan zones in Auckland – at The Cloud in central Auckland, which attracted more than a million visitors over the course of the cup, as well as in Albany, Henderson and Manukau.

For the night of the men’s final, New Zealand musician Gin Wigmore headlined a free concert in front of an estimated crowd of 12,000 on Queens Wharf, which also featured performances by Avalanche City, Cut Off Your Hands and The Checks and Kids of 88.

An earlier concert was also staged ahead of the bronze final match, featuring rock bands Shihad and The Datsuns, while a total of more than 99 bands and musicians played shows over the course of the tournament, making it the biggest line-up of New Zealand musicians ever seen in this country.

This year, despite a crowd of more than 40,000 expected to watch the Black Ferns take on England in the tournament final at Eden Park on Saturday, those sites are standing empty.

There are also no plans to recreate the fan trail that linked Auckland’s waterfront to Eden Park for matches at the 2011 men’s World Cup.

In 2011, more than 120,000 people walked the fan trail route throughout the tournament, taking in a range of entertainment that included musical performances, and more than 30 acts from Kermit the Frog to a local Auckland Harley-Davidson Club.

When asked for a rundown of activities taking place in the lead-up to the final this week, World Cup organisers said there would be prize giveaways at the tournament Fan Store at Te Komititanga Plaza in Downtown Auckland on Friday, where a World Cup Player of the Match trophy is also on display.

Schools throughout the country were also chipping in, a spokesperson said, with children making hundreds of poi to give away to fans at Eden Park on Saturday.

There would also be a meet and greet between children from Ko Taku Reo school for the deaf and hard of hearing, with players from the French team at Eden Park on Wednesday.

However, the onus had been put back on fans to make their own fun on game day, with World Cup organisers asking rugby clubs and provincial unions to host viewing parties.

“We are calling on fans throughout the country to host watch parties in their homes, local rugby clubs and neighbourhood pubs, bars and restaurants,” a spokesperson said.

Both Wellington City Council and Christchurch City Council confirmed that at this stage there were no events planned to take place in the lead-up to Saturday.

Part of the reason for the absence of events around the country was the fact that the successful bid in 2018 to host the first women’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand didn’t include hosting matches south of Auckland – a decision that was also the most cost-effective.

“The main reason there were no events organised for the women’s RWC is because there were no matches in Wellington, there was no obvious demand from fans – and because the matches are being shown free-to-air – especially the final,” Wellington City Council spokesperson Richard MacLean said.

MacLean said fan zones set up for previous events had been jointly organised by local councils and the international sports organisations. The council generally only set up fan zones when tournament matches had been held in Wellington, he said.

According to a Rugby World Cup policy document, New Zealand put forward an “exceptional” bid to host the cup that “reflected the desire to evolve the tournament and the women’s game”.

“The bid expresses a desire to build a colourful and energetic atmosphere at all of the match venues through fan zones and trails, music and community festivals,” the document said.

New Zealand Rugby, which had staff working as part of the Women’s Rugby World Cup organising committee, had no plans to stage any events independently.

In a statement, the organisation said it was “proud of the contribution our people have made, including their work on the tournament’s organising committee”.

“The RWC organising committee’s strategy of focusing investment on the two main venues in Auckland and Whangārei has been borne out with unprecedented crowds, unforgettable match day experiences and large television audiences,” the statement read.

“The fan zone set up at Te Komititanga Plaza on the Auckland waterfront has been a resounding success by all measures.

“We look forward to supporting the Black Ferns this week, and during what promises to be an enthralling RWC Final at Eden Park on Saturday.”

Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development – now Tātaki Auckland Unlimited – would be contributing $650,000 towards the cup and had “several” event plans, the document said.

Chris Simpson, head of major events at Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, said the agency had fulfilled its promotional commitments that were agreed upon as part of New Zealand’s bid to host the tournament.

That included “a range of marketing and leverage activities”, including filming a launch video of the trophy tour, delivering a Taste of Pasifika event at Eden Park, putting event flags up in the city centre and the wider Auckland region, and promoting the cup through the agency’s social channels.

“The decision by the tournament organisers to make the match venue the focal point for fan engagement is one that Tātaki Auckland Unlimited has supported,” Simpson said.

“The response we have seen so far speaks for itself – record-setting crowds in stadium and massive audiences watched the games on television.”

The lack of public events in Auckland this week comes despite the Black Ferns’ matches in their first World Cup on home soil attracting unprecedented attendances for women’s sport in New Zealand.

The anticipated crowd on Saturday would be another world record for women’s rugby, surpassing the figure of 34,235 set on the tournament’s opening day when the Black Ferns were the finale in a triple header and fought back for a 41-17 win over Australia on October 8.

That was also the highest standalone crowd for a women’s sports event in New Zealand.

Meanwhile, organisers of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 – which is being jointly hosted in New Zealand and Australia from July 20 to August 20 – will next year announce details around a planned World Cup Fan Festival to run throughout the tournament.

Aucklanders and visiting football fans can look forward to a range of different events as part of Elemental AKL 2023, with the dates of the winter arts, food and music festival shifted to coincide with the tournament from July 20 to August 6.

Is Eden Park sold out? Can’t they add more seats? Why aren’t tickets for sale on Trade Me? And, most importantly, will we win?

Yay! The Black Ferns made the final of the Rugby World Cup. I have to go and see them play England. I must. So how do I get my sticky little hands on tickets for this Saturday’s final at Eden Park?

You can’t.

What?!

Yeah sorry. While Eden Park has stopped short of calling this weekend’s final a sell out, almost all of the venue’s 40,000 tickets are gone. “While current seating is almost entirely allocated, a review of remaining space is underway as we look to release every last seat for fans,” said an Eden Park spokesperson. “We’re encouraging fans to keep a look out throughout the week for the chance to snap up the final few.”

Oh, OK. Eden Park can just add more seats right, like they do for popular All Blacks games and other major events?

Yes, it can. But it won’t be doing that.

What? Why not?

“We have explored the possibility of adding temporary seating for the final following the extraordinary turn-out of fans throughout the tournament,” said Eden Park’s spokesperson. “Due to the time constraints and logistical challenges involved in installing temporary seating, we made the decision to focus on filling every possible available seat in the existing stands and leave no stone unturned to ensure the stadium is at capacity for Saturday.”

How many extra tickets will go on sale?

According to this 1News story, a few hundred extra seats could be released soon. But they’ll be snapped up fast. You can find them, if and when that happens, here.

Well there are other options. Aren’t live event tickets going cheap on Trade Me right now?

They are for other things, like recent concerts by Kings of Leon and Aldous Harding. But this is special, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the Black Ferns lift the Rugby World Cup at home at a time when the success of women’s sport is being supported and celebrated like never before. It feels like that time everyone wore red socks for the America’s Cup, or when David Tua took on Lennox Lewis. Everyone wants to be part of it. But while Trade Me was allowing tickets to be sold yesterday, some for as much as four times the original price, today those listings have been removed.

Why?

The event is covered by the Major Events Management Act 2007, meaning the on-selling of tickets for profit is banned. “The reselling or trading of a ticket for a value greater than its original sale price, either in person or online, is an offence under the Act, punishable by a fine of up to $5,000,” a spokesperson for RWC 2021 told NZH. “Fans obtaining tickets from unofficial sources run the risk of having those tickets cancelled, being refused entry or being evicted from a venue.”

Weren’t tickets less than $50 originally?

If you bought them before Saturday night’s win against France, yes.

And didn’t it used to be free to watch the Black Ferns?

Yes. Until this World Cup (literally one month ago), you never had to pay to see a Black Ferns match on its own (double-headers with All Blacks are a different thing). Isn’t it amazing what a little bit of marketing can do for commercial viability?

Ugh. If people had enough foresight to buy tickets in advance, why would they want to sell them anyway?

Yesterday, one seller said they now had to work the night of the game. People were not happy at how much profit they were making, so it makes sense Trade Me has removed them all today.

How about Viagogo?

No. Please. Just don’t. If you must spend your money, someone’s charging $250 for this ridiculous RWC banner. At least you’d actually get something that way.

Sniff. But I want to see Ruby Tui score the match-winning try against England live. What are my other options?

Many bars will air the game live. If you’re in Auckland, choose one in Kingsland or Mt Eden, the suburbs closest to Eden Park, and you can soak up the pre- or post-game atmosphere. For everyone else, the game’s available to watch free-to-air on Three or on Spark Sport. Organisers expect more than a million people to tune in. “We’re calling on Kiwis to not only make history in the stands with another record crowd, but to achieve record viewership for women’s sport in New Zealand,” said Eden Park’s spokesperson.

Is there anything else I can do to nab tickets?

Short of breaking into Eden Park with a sleeping bag and spending the night on the roof – which we are absolutely not suggesting you do – not really, no. Just keep looking out for news alerts and refreshing the ticketing home page.

No sleep, then,  till Saturday. So who’s going to win?

Who knows? (The Black Ferns.) England have won their last 30 games. (Definitely the Black Ferns.) Even Black Ferns coach Wayne Smith sounded a little scared of them when he said, “… they’re pretty frightening like, they’re so efficient in what they do”. (The Black Ferns, 100%.) So it really is going to be very tight and one hell of a game. (The Black Ferns, obviously.)