On the back of selling out their final home game last season with a pay-what-you-want ticket initiative, the Vodafone Warriors have today unveiled a ‘1990s prices’ concept they hope will have fans flocking through the turnstiles for their NRL season-opener against the Bulldogs at Mount Smart Stadium on March 16.
While the 2018 home finale was focused on farewelling veteran Simon Mannering in his milestone 300th appearance, the first home game in 2019 kicks off the club’s 25th season with a number of celebrations planned for what promises to be a must-attend occasion.
With the Vodafone Warriors returning to their original 1995 colours, fans are being encouraged to ‘rock the retro’ gear while the match will also double as the annual Old Boys’ Day.
Tickets to the clash go on sale at 12.00pm today (Wednesday, February 20) – 25 days out from the start of the club’s 25th season.
In another New Zealand sporting first, the Vodafone Warriors are marking the moment with an innovative pricing model for what promises to be a massive celebration of the club’s history.
From February 20 and through to February 24, all reserved seat adult tickets have been set at a price that puts them in line with what fans would have paid in the mid-to-late 1990s to attend games.
Then, from February 25 to March 1, the reserved seat tickets will increase slightly in price to early 2000s pricing levels.
From there, every five days the reserve seat ticket prices will increase slightly to reflect a bygone era of pricing, culminating in 2019 prices on game day.
The pricing strategy means fans who buy early will be able to purchase the best seats available for just $35 a ticket - $25 less than their normal retail price. It also means gold uncovered tickets start at just $20 while reserved seats in the silver bays start at just $15. All GA tickets will remain at an already-low $15 for the season.
“We’ve set ourselves a key goal of delivering wow moments for our fans on every single game day in 2019 and this is just the start,” Vodafone Warriors CEO Cameron George said.
“This Bulldogs game is one you have to get to. We’ll be rolling out a ton of awesome initiatives as we celebrate our 25th season and we want a packed stadium.
“But if you want amazing tickets at 1990s pricing, you better get in quick. We are expecting any platinum seats will be gone on the first day.
“To work out our prices, we’ve basically looked at the inflation rate over the last 25 years, taken this year’s pricing and worked backwards to determine what they would have been back in the day.”
Tickets for the Vodafone Warriors’ remaining nine games at Mount Smart Stadium this year also go on sale today (February 20) but the 1990s pricing initiative is available only for the Bulldogs game.
Tickets for the club’s home-away-from-home clash in Wellington against the Cronulla Sharks – with Shaun Johnson on their roster – went on sale last week and are also selling fast.
“We’ve got some other ticketing initiatives we are going to launch during the season,” George added.
“But for now, I’d say lock in your seats for the Bulldogs game and get down here and get behind the boys as we chase premiership glory.”
The season opening game day features two matches with the Vodafone Warriors taking on the Bulldogs in the Intrust Super Premiership in the curtain-raiser (2.45pm kick-off) followed by the NRL fixture at 5.00pm.
