Blues Vs Hurricanes – Huge crowd creates bottlenecks

The largest Super 14 crowd since 1997 created a number of challenges for stadium bosses last night.

16,000 tickets were pre-sold for the event and a further 7,000 turned up on the night looking to purchase a ticket at the ground. This created a bottleneck at various areas and included waits of up to 30 minutes at ticket pick-up counters.

Stadium General Manager Brendon O’Connor admitted there was some new learning from last night. “We had delays for pre-sales and those walking up at the last minute to buy tickets. There was also delays for the people getting food on the embankment. We were surprised by the large crowds and we will make some changes for future events.

The traffic management plan worked well but there were delays for people getting to and from the city. We had reports of some taking 45 minutes from Mt Eden, while someone who traveled on the Western route made it in 25 minutes from the city”.

Grant McKenzie the Blues Marketing Manager said “People left the run a little late and we had several thousand arrive 15 minutes or so before the game and we just couldn’t cope. Some how we need to get the message across that you need to leave earlier to make sure you are in before the game starts.”

The weather was fantastic, it was the first game of the 2010 Super 14 season and was between rivals the Blues and the Hurricanes. It was a recipe for a big crowd and this should have been anticipated.

The Blues supporters would have left with their tail between their legs after the Blues showed a dejavu approach to the game, repeating much of their ‘trade mark’ stupidity and ill discipline that was unfortunately part of their game last year.

The report on the game last night can be found here.