Rugby World Cup hits ticket sales targets

Rugby New Zealand 2011 has announced that, with two matches still to play, ticket sales revenue targets for the Rugby World Cup have been achieved.
Sales have exceeded the NZ$268.5 million target set more than two years ago by Rugby New Zealand (RNZ) 2011.
RNZ 2011 Chairman Brian Roche said sales this week from the final tranche of tickets for Sunday's final between New Zealand and France and the bronze final between Australia and Wales, both being played at Auckland's Eden Park, had pushed revenue to NZ$268.7 million.
Overall, 87% of available tournament tickets have sold.
Roche said in a Rugby World Cup statement "ticket revenue eclipses by more than 11 times the previous largest grossing event in New Zealand history: the 2005 British and Irish Lions (tour).
"Sunday's sold-out final alone has generated more than NZ$50 million in revenue, twice that of the Lions' tour.
"We achieved this against the backdrop of a challenging economic environment and the tragic Christchurch earthquakes."
New Zealand's World Cup Minister, Murray McCully, said the tournament had been a "wonderful celebration of New Zealand and proof that this small country can successfully hold a large and complex event like a Rugby World Cup.
"We could not have wished for a better platform to promote ourselves to the world."