Ground membership in freefall at Carisbrook

[beige]

The number of ground member ticket holders have plummeted at Carisbrook, with the drop blamed on the credit crunch, night rugby and team performance.
The Otago Rugby Football Union yesterday said it had 803 ground members for 2009, a 38% drop from 1300 last year.

In 2004, the union had 3700 ground members but it has dropped 78% over the past five years.

ORFU marketing manager Chris Green said there were numerous reasons for the drop and the union was not immune from the tough financial situation which was facing the economy.

A crowd of about 4000 turned up to Carisbrook on Friday night to see the Highlanders lose in the last minute to the Brumbies in the opening game of the Super 14.

Read more: http://www.odt.co.nz/sport/rugby/436...efall-039brook

[PerthGirl]

It's a shame, a highlight of a trip to NZ in 2000 was watching a game between Otago and Waikato at the "House of Pain". There was more than 4000 there that day

[WF2006]

Wow, puts our "plummeting" membership/crowd figures into perspective.

[shasta]

Is a ground membership same as a season ticket? 803 is a disaster if it is. The WA Reds have likely sold more than that.