The national stadium in Cardiff will be at its 74,500 capacity for the tournament for the third year running after clubs, debenture holders and official supporters’ club members snapped up tickets.
The only remaining routes to Principality Stadium for supporters wishing to follow head coach Rob Howley’s Wales for their 2017 Championship campaign is via official hospitality (direct from the WRU or via Events International), official travel packages (Gullivers Sports travel), WRU member clubs or the WRU’s regulated official resale marketplace website (Seatwave).
Travel packages are available for Wales matches starting at £199 per person (www.gulliverstravel.co.uk) and for official off-site hospitality (www.eventsinternational.co.uk/events/rugby) prices start at £395 with all tickets guaranteed by the WRU – with on site Principality Stadium packages also available directly from www.wru.wales/hospitality or by calling the WRU Hospitality team on 02920 822 413.
Access to a WRU endorsed and regulated resale marketplace has been in place since 2015, (www.seatwave.com/wales-rugby-tickets/season) where member clubs can put a small percentage of their allocations on sale – prices vary and can go down as well as up as demand fluctuates, but currently start at £129 for a ticket to watch Wales play Ireland.
And the Union has issued a strong message to supporters still in the market for tickets, imploring them to make sure that they ‘buy official’ at all times.
Only official sources (WRU member clubs, Seatwave, Events International, Gullivers Sports Travel and WRU hospitality) will provide tickets which are guaranteed by the governing body of Welsh Rugby.
Fans are advised to only buy from official sources, but this advice of course becomes even more important when games sell-out well in advance of fixtures.
The agreement reached with Seatwave in 2015 allows the WRU to regulate secondary market ticket sales and protect supporters.
The WRU guarantees each ticket which is made available, so that fans do not risk purchasing counterfeit or duplicate tickets, which would inevitably lead to them being refused entry.
The WRU is also able to ensure that money generated from ticket sales in this way is not lost to the game, allowing all clubs in Wales to offer a percentage of their ticket allocations via the Seatwave site.
The website also offers pricing advice, so supporters can see what the average and previous prices have been for a ticket and if tickets are available at lower cost or face value elsewhere.
Every penny of profit generated by ticket or hospitality sales from official sources is guaranteed to be fed back into the game in Wales and the supporter is also protecting their own purchase if they ‘buy official’.
Appointing Seatwave, Gullivers Sports Travel and Events International is part of the WRU’s drive to regulate the secondary ticket market in Wales, preventing supporters from being mis-sold tickets or hospitality packages by centrally guaranteeing the source of tickets, and to keep revenue in the game.
The WRU’s over-riding message to all supporters is ‘buy official’, whether that be from clubs, from the WRU or from an official partner, in order to avoid disappointment.
