We wanted to highlight the RFU, who in December 2020 were able to bring fans back to Twickenham Stadium to watch England play France in the Final of the Autumn Nations Cup while the nation was still in Tier 2.
For the lucky 2000 allowed in, it was a stunning victory to witness first-hand, in what were certainly unusual circumstances for rugby, ‘Golden Point’ Extra Time, which was sealed with a penalty by Owen Farrell.
As Steve Kitcher, Head of Ticketing at Rugby Football Union explained, “not only was it a success on the pitch, it was also a success off it.“
The RFU had used the lockdown period in 2020 to test various elements of new functionalities developed by Ticketmaster Sport throughout the pandemic, as the whole country eagerly waited for news as to when they could return to stadiums to watch live sports again.
The fans themselves were keen to know how a stadium with only 2,000 socially distant fans would look before buying their tickets. As Steve explains: “The online purchase was easy for the customer and having a visual of the how the seating was spaced, offered reassurance that the venue was applying socially distancing measures correctly. They were steered away from buying seating which wasn’t suitable for their group size and gave them peace of mind from a socially distanced standpoint as they could see the groupings and spacing prior to completing the purchase.”
As games eventually make a comeback in 2021, every club and stadium up and down the country is keen to get supporters back in as safely and quickly as possible.
If restrictions are only gradually lifted like they were in 2020 with small numbers of fans allowed in, thanks to our open ticketing technology, Ticketmaster Sport has the tools clubs need to adapt before eventually going to back to full stadia.
