Tickets for the match against Fiji, which will also be the All Blacks' only game before the Tri-Nations competition, are selling like mud cakes.
Fewer than 8000 of a possible 28,000 tickets have been sold with just over three weeks remaining before kickoff.
Tickets to last year's test against Wales sold out with a record 29 days to spare, with 85% of those tickets sold to people south of the Waitaki River.
The test match in 2009 against France also sold out, as did the test the year before against the Springboks.
Otago Rugby Football Union media manager Doug McSweeney said yesterday a big crowd was needed for the test.
All net profits from the match would be donated to the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal. Roughly 20,000 tickets needed to be sold to meet the $500,000 fundraising target.
Ticket prices are cheaper than for last year's test, and McSweeney is confident the "price points are about right".
Children's tickets start at $26.50 and the cheapest adult seats in the Neville St and Railway stands cost $51.50.
Terrace tickets begin at $56.50, while covered seats in the main stand cost $116.50 - down from $145 the previous year.
McSweeney attributes the sluggish sales to the ever-expanding rugby calendar and "the fact that we had the last test last year" [against Wales in June].
More than 70% of tickets in the main stand have been sold, but 5000 of the 6000 standing terrace tickets are still available.
New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Steve Tew yesterday said no thought had been given to reducing ticket prices.
He remained optimistic the target would be reached, given the worthiness of the cause.
Slow ticket sales were to be expected given the burgeoning rugby calendar and the relatively late scheduling of the match, he said.
It is not yet known what role the All Blacks will play in promoting the match. Tew hoped an All Black squad would not need to be named until after the Super 15 final, on July 9.
