One New Zealand Stadium has sold out of general seating in five days, a full five months ahead of the One New Zealand Warriors’ debut NRL clash at Christchurch’s new sporting venue.
Tickets for the June 21 encounter with North Queensland hit the market only last Friday but the public snaffled the last of the 22,500 general seating capacity today to make this the fastest selling regular season game in the club’s history outside the opening match against the Brisbane Broncos in 1995.
Only limited premium hospitality options remain.
It’s the third consecutive match the Warriors have sold out in Christchurch after filling Apollo Projects Stadium for encounters with Canberra in 2024 and Newcastle last season.
“It’s absolutely unbelievable,” said One New Zealand Warriors CEO Cameron George.
“We’ve experienced a lot of sold-out games over the last three seasons but outside home finals we’ve never seen tickets move this fast and five months before the game is played.
Match: Warriors v Cowboys
Round 16 -
home Team
Warriors
away Team
Cowboys
Venue: One NZ Stadium, Christchurch
Match broadcasters:
- WatchNRL
“Fans from Canterbury, other parts of the South Island and beyond have responded in an amazing way.
“It just shows again how much our club, the NRL competition and the game of rugby league mean to so many people throughout the country, as well as the level of excitement around this amazing new facility.
“It’s also a warning to everyone wanting to see the Warriors in our other games around the country this year: Get in quickly or risk missing out.”
At the same time. tickets have been selling fast for the nine Go Media Stadium home games that also went on sale last Friday.
The Warriors’ Preseason Challenge clash against the Manly Sea Eagles at McLean Park in Napier on February 14 is close to selling out while the Anzac Day fixture against the Dolphins in Wellington is also selling well.
The ticket-buying boom for the One New Zealand Stadium game on June 21 gives the Warriors an exceptional record of 30 sell outs in their last 36 NRL games in New Zealand.
The run includes the record feat in 2024 when the Warriors became the first club in the competition’s history to sell out every home game in a season.
Home crowds averaged only 16,146 in 2019 ahead of the Covid outbreak but leapt to 22,600 in 2023, rising to 24,600 in 2024 and more than 25,300 last year.