The Highlanders host the Blues at Carisbrook on Friday in the first home game of the season.
Highlanders chief executive Richard Reid said the side always played better when there was a big crowd at the match and he hoped people would turn up to support the local team.
Reid said the crowd at Albany Stadium last Friday night between the Blues and the Hurricanes was 40% above expected while the crowd at AMI stadium in Christchurch on Saturday night between the Crusaders and the Highlanders was about 30% above what had been expected.
About 23,000 attended both games.
"Though you could hardly call it a trend with just two games played we would hope that people will come along to the game on Friday night.
"We are not extravagant with what we expect to get but we would be hopeful of getting a decent crowd for the first game in Dunedin for the season," he said.
He did not want to put a number on how many he expected to come to the match.
He said it was particularly hard to predict crowd numbers as pre-sales did not give any indication of how many people were going as not many people bought their tickets early.
"But with what happened in Christchurch last weekend the public would have seen that this is a good team which can play some attractive rugby."
The Highlanders have struggled to attract crowds in recent years, averaging about 7000 last year.
The franchise traditionally attracted its biggest crowds to matches between New Zealand teams, and last played the Blues at Carisbrook in 2008, when it lost 40-15.
The match will be played for the Gordon Hunter Memorial Trophy, which was last held by the Highlanders in 2006.
This would be the last home game for the side until March 20 when the Sharks come to visit.
The Highlanders are off on a three-match trip to South Africa following Friday night's match.
Meanwhile, both Mathew Berquist and Nasi Manu will not be available for the Highlanders on Friday.
No 8 Manu left the field after just six minutes in the match against the Crusaders and has suffered a grade two tear to his anterior cruciate ligament.
Highlanders coach Glenn Moore said it was not known how long Manu would be out for or whether he needed surgery.
More would be known later in the week as the swelling in his leg decreases.
Manu, a draft player from Canterbury, has had a poor run with injury for the Highlanders.
He injured his shoulder after only being on the field for a few minutes in the first pre-season game against the Chiefs and did not play in Fiji, in the second warm-up game.
Moore said Berquist, who left the field just before half-time on Saturday night, suffered an injured hamstring on Saturday and would have to wait to see how it responded to treatment.
However, the first five-eighth was unlikely to play on Friday.
