Ticket sales for Rugby World Cup 2011 may have reached the one million mark, but tournament chief executive Martin Snedden was keeping quiet about figures for the Dunedin matches when he visited Forsyth Barr Stadium yesterday.
Mr Snedden announced one million tickets had been sold for the event, bringing in revenue of about $220 million.
But he was keeping to himself details on ticket sales for the four Dunedin games.
"Dunedin is going well. We're not releasing any specific figures today, but they have been ticking along really strongly."
Ticket sales for the Dunedin games, which start with England versus Argentina on September 10, reflected the "anticipation" surrounding the Rugby World Cup and the new stadium.
"I think people are recognising the `special-ness' of this stadium ... It is just looking magnificent," he said.
Mr Snedden said he had visited the stadium about seven times during its two-year construction, but nothing had prepared him for the progress to the covered pitch since his last trip.
"It's been about three months since I was here last and when I walked in today I just looked up and thought `Wow'." He was confident facilities at the stadium would be well-tested before the cup matches, with four fixtures planned.
While some thought had been given to hosting the All Blacks versus Fiji test on July 22, the tight timeframe would have put too many pressures on the stadium construction process.
Mr Snedden is travelling the country with the Rugby World Cup roadshow and the William Webb Ellis trophy in a custom-designed truck. The roadshow will be open in the Octagon today, between 6.30am and 9.30am.
The "enthusiastic" turnout from visitors since the truck left Bluff three days ago, had been exciting, Mr Snedden said.
The roadshow would help build momentum for an ongoing marketing drive to sell the remaining tickets.
"We've still got 362,000 tickets to sell, but we are confident people will respond."
There were limited tickets available in some seat categories, but "what's been happening in general is that people have been purchasing the more expensive tickets first", he said.
There were "still lots of really cheap tickets left", but Mr Snedden expected sales to increase as the tournament starting date drew closer.
Rugby World Cup 2011 is forecasting total sales revenue of $268.5 million.
Ticket sales during the past two days have boosted revenue by $17 million, achieving 82% of the tournament's total revenue target - a figure nine times higher than the record-grossing 2005 British and Irish Lions tour, which generated $24 million, Mr Snedden said.
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