One item was in hot demand in Dunedin yesterday - tickets for Saturday's rugby play-off game at Forsyth Barr Stadium between the Chiefs and the Highlanders.
By late yesterday, only about 3500 tickets were left.
There was a queue of about 50 at the stadium ticket office when it opened but the vast majority bought tickets the modern way - via the internet.
Some had to wait for about an hour because of the demand.
By 10am, the franchise had sold 4000 public tickets, and Highlanders management decided to open up the western end of the stadium, making another 5000 seats available.
Almost immediately, 550 tickets were sold in that stand.
With just under 11,000 tickets sold to members and others in ''pre-sale'', by the end of the day about 19,500 tickets had been sold.
Highlanders general manager Roger Clark said to sell 19,500 tickets inside three days was a great result and showed the team was well supported.
''All the tickets we have sold are just to local people so we are going to have a great crowd for the team on Saturday,'' he said.
''I am surprised at the take-up but it is a great game, a great fixture and the team deserve all the support.''
Although he did not want to predict a sellout, he said the quick result was better than he expected.
A few tickets were still available in the north and south stands, with the rest in the western stand.
There were no plans to put up seats at the eastern end of the stadium.
