Welsh Rugby Union faces £1m hit due to unsold Six Nations tickets versus France
The Welsh Rugby Union could lose £1m this weekend due to empty seats at Sunday’s Six Nations tie between Wales and France.
As of Friday morning there were over 15,000 seats available for the team’s first home fixture of this year’s championship.
A mix of fan fury at the state of the Welsh Rugby Union, combined with a minimum adult ticket price of £50 – rising to £115 for all middle tier seating – could see the 74,000-capacity arena looking rather empty.
It comes amid reports that 2,000 tickets have been offered to stewards for free, while the Welsh Rugby Union says they’ve been selling 1,000 tickets per day this week.
Wales have not won in the Six Nations since 2023 having gone on a spell of 19 matches without a win before a victory in Japan last summer.
Welsh Rugby Union shortfall
And the side, now coached by Steve Tandy, opened their Six Nations campaign with a devastating 48-7 loss to England at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium.
Winger Josh Adams scored Wales’ only try as the hosts romped over the line seven times – which included a hat-trick by Bath winger Henry Arundell.
City PM reported earlier this month that Wales could lose £4m across their three Six Nations fixtures – against France, Scotland and Italy – with 55,000 tickets unsold ahead of the opening round of the tournament.
And the financial blow could be confirmed, in part, this weekend against France, with the Welsh Rugby Union strapped for cash and choosing to cut the number of competitive domestic regions from four to three, much to the anger of the public.
The potential multi-million pound shortfall comes after research by The Sponsor shared with City PM showed that the Welsh Rugby Union could have missed out on £45m by underselling the naming rights to Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.