Thousands of fans who have bought official Rugby World Cup travel packages are likely to have paid more in hidden "administration fees" than they did for their seat in the stand.
Tickets for the sell-out Eden Park final sold for between $399 and $1279.
But according to a confidential "invitation to tender" document obtained by the Otago Daily Times, an additional "administration fee" of up to $1200 plus GST applies to each of those final tickets sold around the world as part of a travel package.
The range of administration fees is set out in a table [see box] contained in the document sent in 2009 to travel agents interested in buying match tickets to combine with travel and accommodation components. Twenty international companies signed up as "official travel agents", including Gullivers and Thomas Cook, of England, and House of Travel, of New Zealand.
The table shows an official travel agent tendering for tickets to the final only would pay the $1200 plus GST administration fee for each ticket, on top of the face value of the ticket. By buying tickets to 11 or more different matches the administration fee would drop to $900 plus GST per ticket.
At the other end of the scale, an administration fee of between $23 plus GST and $30 plus GST would apply to non top-8 pool matches.
The tender document was sent to travel agents by Rugby Travel and Hospitality (NZ) Ltd, a New Zealand registered company that paid Rugby World Cup Ltd for the exclusive rights to sell travel and hospitality packages.
Last year, while fending off criticism of the price being charged for corporate boxes, director of operations for Rugby Travel and Hospitality (NZ) Ltd, David White, described administration costs as being a "small amount".
Asked by the ODT last week if he considered a fee of $900 to $1200 plus GST on tickets with a face value of $399 to $1279 a "small amount", he said: "It's a very fair question. If we benchmark ourselves against other international events ... this is a global event and it's for the global travel market.
"What's really interesting to point out is that it's a highly successful programme. We've already sold 110,000 travel packages which is a lot more than we thought we would sell for this World Cup in New Zealand.
"It's a global event and that's what the world pays for these types of events."
Most of the final tickets supplied for travel packages were the cheaper category D and C tickets "designed for the rugby fans", he said.
When it was pointed out the same administration fee applied across all categories, Mr White said careful reading of the tender document would show "significant discounts based on volume and the number of matches an agent purchased". An agent buying 2500 tickets could expect a 5% discount on the fee - but not on the ticket price - and one buying 17,500 tickets could get a 20% discount on the fee.
Mr White said Rugby Travel and Hospitality (NZ) Ltd had paid a "substantial" fee to Rugby World Cup Ltd for the exclusive rights to sell travel and hospitality to travel agents. He would not disclose how much it paid but he pointed out the company did not retain all the administration fee.
"It doesn't all come to us I can assure you of that. It goes back to the development of rugby."
Asked if the fee could be construed as "price gouging", Mr White said: "We price and benchmark against other global events and we are more than comfortable where we are."
Dublin-based International Rugby Board chief executive Mike Miller was reported last month as being disappointed some New Zealanders offering accommodation and hospitality were price gouging and taking advantage of visitors for the World Cup.
"For the most part things are fine, but there are some people taking advantage and it's very disappointing."
