📰 Comparing the cost of a family night out at the rugby

By Cameron McMillan & Bonnie Jansen

Which Super Rugby franchise has the best value for a family of four, and how does a night at the rugby compare with a day at the zoo?

The Herald estimated how much it would cost a family of four to attend a Super Rugby match at the main grounds for each New Zealand franchise.

We searched for the cheapest tickets on offer across the ticketing websites and sourced the food and drink prices from the stadiums for a Super Rugby game. The total costs do not factor in potential travel or parking costs.

Eden Park, North Harbour Stadium, FMG Stadium, Sky Stadium, Apollo Project Stadium and Forsyth Barr Stadium all responded with pricing.

Eden Park came out as the most expensive at $190. Across the bridge, North Harbour Stadium was the lightest hit on the wallet at $139.50.

There are cheaper deals. These pricings don’t take into account family or combo deals, which may vary during the season. Eden Park, for example, has a child’s ticket and meal combo for $20 this weekend, which comes with chips/hot dog and a drink.

The prices also don’t include extras such as merchandise – if your child pesters you all of the first half for a Spiderman-inspired Blues replica jersey.

There is also the cheaper option not to eat or drink at the game. At North Harbour Stadium, that would result in $30 on tickets for a family of four. A very reasonable night out if you can find free parking nearby.

Food and drink prices, set by the stadiums, were similar throughout the country.

There was very little difference for a beer at each stadium, with FMG Stadium the cheapest at $10, and three other stadiums charging $10.50.

North Harbour and Forsyth Barr Stadium both offer the cheapest punnet of chips at $6.50. FMG Stadium charges $7.50, but the chips come in a larger branded Chiefs cup.

Eden Park offers a $10 pie, which is $3.50 more than other stadiums.

Ticket prices for Super Rugby games matched similar family outings on offer. Auckland Zoo, for example, costs $64.60 for entry for an Auckland-based family of four (compared with $70 for the cheapest Eden Park tickets). Based on the menu at the zoo’s Te Puna Cafe, four hot chips ($7.50 each), four pies ($8 each), two soft drinks ($6 each) and one beer and a coffee ($8.50 and $5.80) would lead to a total of $152.90 for the day.

A Saturday afternoon showing of Lilo and Stitch at Reading Cinemas was $70.80 for tickets, plus $60 for a medium drink and a popcorn each. That’s a total of $130.80, slightly cheaper than a Super Rugby match, but with less food.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission.