Otago is hoping for a crowd of 8000 to 10,000 on Friday night for the semifinal between Otago and Tasman, but it will not be a huge financial windfall for the union.
The semifinal is a bonus for the Otago Rugby Football Union which did not budget for it at the start of the year.
It had run into severe financial problems at the start of the year and at one time looked like it was heading into liquidation.
A last-minute rescue plan saved the union and it drew up a conservative budget for the 2012 season.
Union general manager Richard Kinley said crowds for the five home games so far this season were well ahead of what was budgeted for.
The union had been pleasantly surprised by the numbers which had turned up at the stadium.
Kinley believed it came down to a few factors.
"I think people are still really impressed by the stadium and there is still a bit of that wow factor," he said.
"Then people are wanting to try and reconnect with Otago rugby and get along and support them. Plus we have been playing a pretty good brand of footy and scoring some good tries and it is nice to watch."
The union had been very conservative when budgeting for crowd figures so to get more was always a help.
He hoped for a crowd of 8000 to 10,000 for the game on Friday night but it was very hard to gauge how many people would turn up.
The game on Friday night was before a long holiday weekend with Labour Day next Monday.
Kinley said some people might delay trips out of town to stay for the match.
The game had originally been set down for Saturday afternoon but had been changed to Friday night so other teams would get an extra day to recover.
He said the team played well when it had the crowd support behind it, and got a lift from all the support.
Although the game was a bonus for the union he said there were many costs associated with having the game.
The union had to cover the costs of Tasman's travel and would look to host sponsors as a thank you for their continued support.
It would not be a financial bonanza.
Otago last hosted a semifinal in 2003, losing to Auckland, when all eyes were on the World Cup being played at the same time in Australia. A crowd of about 12,500 attended that semifinal match at Carisbrook.
Meanwhile, Tasman has the same sort of injury problems as Otago and will make a decision in the next couple of days on who will start.
Stand-out flanker Shane Christie did not start in the loss to North Harbour last Saturday because of rib and back injuries. Lock Filipo Levi and prop Campbell Johnstone also missed that game because of foot and calf injuries respectively.
Veteran outside back Robbie Malneek injured his leg on Saturday and left the field while lock and captain Joe Wheeler was believed to have been concussed in the match.
