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The crowd on day one of the Wellington Sevens. - Source: Photosport -
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The people poured out of the Stadium in their thousands last
night before the final whistle at the Wellington Sevens but there
was a very good reason, reports Chris Matthews.
One of the big objectives of the Wellington Sevens this year, the
13th annual event, was to get people to arrive earlier.
New initiatives with the best kind of incentive - money - were used
by organisers to try and get people into Westpac Stadium when the
teams started taking the field at 1pm.
An 11am dash for cash, with $1000 up for grabs for the winners of a
set of 80 metre sprints across Frans Walk, only saw approximately
100 people turn up.
The costume competition, which runs over both days and has $25,000
in total prize money, was slightly more popular but still hardly
captured the imagination.
Wellington Sevens General Manger, Steve Walters, believes however
there are good reasons why people arrive late on day one.
"Half the people that come here are Wellingtonians and a lot of
them have to go to work," he said.
"But part of it also may be that people want to hook up with
friends or that they realise it is a long day.... so its our
job to make it more attractive for people to come early and we're
still working on it."
The only problem though is that people tend to arrive early and
then leave early.
tvnz.co.nz witnessed thousands of people stream out of the stadium
before 9pm when there were still four matches to play - including
the home team New Zealand against World Series rivals Samoa.
The reasons were varied and included the price of alcohol, drinking
too much alcohol, wanting to meet up with friends and saving energy
levels for today.
But ultimately, the cost of everything at the Stadium came up as
the primary deterrent for people not wanting to stay until the end
of the day.
"The reason why everyone is leaving is because drinks cost too
much," Hamish, who is 25-years-old, but refused to give his last
name, said.
Daryl Eywell, from Christchurch, agreed that $7.00-$8.00 per beer
over a nine hour event was asking too much.
"The price of alcohol is astronomical, the price is actually out of
control," he said.
He estimated he spent $150 at Westpac Stadium on day one and that
was on top of his tickets, flights, accommodation and everything
else that goes with it.
The price of alcohol remains the same as last year and after 40
people were arrested on the opening day in 2011, for mainly alcohol
related incidents, Walters argues that liquor should not be the
focal point of the event.
"Our issue is that we want people to come here and have a good time
but we dont want people to over-do it and get to the point where
they are a problem for themselves and others," he said.
Kelly Marriet, 26, wasn't concerned about price when she waked out
of the gates at 8:30pm.
"Tomorrow night is the big night and we are saving ourselves for
then," she said.
She won't be alone. In fact most of the City, even those who don't
have tickets to the day two action, are gearing up for a huge night
culminating with the street party on the infamous Courtney
Place.
"People dress up and go into town even if they arent going to the
Sevens," Gemma Freeman from the Costume Company said.
"So I think as time goes on and the Sevens becomes more popular the
people of Wellington will love dressing up more and more and really
get into the spirit of it."
Indeed the costume movement has exploded over the past 13 years and
Walters estimates 95% of people who attend the Sevens and a lot
more in the central city dress-up for the occasion.
"The city embraces it, the city goes off and the more reasons
people have to come to Wellington the better off it is for
everyone."
Wellington Sevens live on TV One and live-streamed on tvnz.co.nz on Friday from 12.30pm and midday on Saturday. Plus catch up OnDemand. [link - < http://tvnz.co.nz/video ]
