And for those who get in quick enough there will be the bonus of being able to buy a top price ticket for the potential RBS Six Nations Championship showdown with Ireland on 19 March 2005. Debentures in the new issue cost £6000 each and will guarantee the owners top grade seats in the Middle Tier of the South Stand at the Millennium Stadium – Blocks M19 and M20. This will mean 19,700 seats at the ground are owned by debenture holders once all 800 are sold.
The new debenture scheme will be the eighth offered to the public by the WRU since 1969 and when sold out will raise £4.79m after costs for the Union as it heads into its 125th anniversary season in 2005/2006.
“The impact on ticket sales on the building of the Millennium Stadium and the revival of the Welsh national team has been massive,” said WRU Group chief executive David Moffett. “We had a record breaking Autumn Series, when more than 220,000 fans came to see Wales play South Africa, Romania, New Zealand and Japan, and we have had to install extra seats for the Six Nations games this year to cater for the demand.
“Not only that but we are getting more and more enquiries for corporate facilities and debentures. With the 125th anniversary of the WRU coming up in March, 2006, we decided to meet some of that demand by offering another, limited debenture issue for the fans.
“Our Jubilee Debenture Issue sold out last year and since then we have been stockpiling requests for more. Now we have earmarked a new area in the middle tier for our 125th Anniversary Debentures and we expect them to move very quickly.”
Since the first issue of debentures were offered to the public in the late sixties at £50 and £100 over a 50 year period, the WRU has been able to bank more than £27.5m to help pay for its two rebuilds on the world renowned Arms Park site. Since selling out of Jubilee Debentures, a huge amount if interest has continued to stream into the WRU’s debenture office with over 600 people having registered their interest in purchasing debentures.
And now, the Union has agreed to offer an incentive package to those who commit early by giving them the chance to buy top priced tickets to the Wales v Ireland match next month – for applications received with payment by Friday 4 March.
“We thought we would give the early birds a bit of an incentive by offering them the chance to buy tickets to the game against Ireland. They won’t be in the designated seats they will eventually hold for the next 25 years, but they will be just as good,” added Moffett. “We will be sending our new prospectus to the 600 or so names already on our debenture database this week and writing to all our clubs. We will be selling on a strictly first-come-first-served basis on completion of the application form and full payment.
“Those interested in receiving a prospectus can call our debenture office on 029 2082 2431/2, make a request by email (debenture@wru.co.uk) or call into Golate House, St Mary Street, Cardiff in person from Monday, 28 February.”
The debenture issue entitles fans to purchase a ticket in a designated seat for all home Six Nations matches and a ticket for all international matches where the WRU is the host. Debenture holders also qualify to buy tickets for other events where the organiser or promoter makes tickets available. These include FAW matches. The investment made in purchasing a debenture is fully redeemable at the same value at the end of the 25 year period.
There are currently 18,900 debenture seats in the Millennium Stadium which are owned by 6,800 people.
There were three issues used to help fund the first development of the old Cardiff Arms Park, which raised more than £2.5m. Since the Millennium Stadium was developed on the site of the old Arms Park, a further £25m has been raised. There were 12,673 debenture seats in the old Arms Park – 24% of the overall capacity and 31% of the seats – while the Millennium Stadium currently has 18,600 Debenture seats – 25% of its 74,600 seated capacity.
WRU DEBENTURE SCHEMES
Issue Duration No Issued Money made Cost
1969 50 yrs 7,323 £366,156 £50
1976 50 yrs 1,750 £350,000 £200
1983 50 yrs 3,600 £1,800,000 £500
1999 25 yrs 2,539 £11,827,500 £5000/£3950*
1999 25 yrs 2,474 £9,772,300 £3950
1999 25 yrs 769 £3,037,550 £3950
2002 25 yrs 500 £2,300,000 £5000/£3950
* Issue to WRU Clubs only
