Fewer than 7000 fans turned up for the Highlanders' first home game of the season, but the news is not all bad for Carisbrook.
Season memberships at the ground have finally stopped sliding, with nearly 900 sold this year.
Otago Rugby Football Union marketing manager Doug McSweeney said the union had passed last year's mark of 803 season tickets, and had now sold about 870.
It was only six years ago that Carisbrook attracted more than 3500 ground members but that number has slipped progressively over the years.
It took a big hit last year, dropping from just over 1300 to 803.
But McSweeney said with so much entertainment on offer and money tight, the union was happy with passing last year's figure.
"Any time you can get more, or at least match what you did last year, you've got to be happy," he said.
McSweeney said the ability of ground member ticket-holders to secure preferential rights for World Cup games next year may have persuaded a few people to purchase a ground member ticket.
The Highlanders attracted a crowd of 6700 to Friday night's game at Carisbrook against the Blues, even with a large walk-up crowd coming into the ground in the 10 minutes before kick-off.
That crowd was below union expectations.
The side is now in South Africa for three weeks and its next game at Carisbrook is on March 20 against the Sharks.
The match is followed by a band, The Black Seeds, performing at Carisbrook.
