Sale of season tickets thriving

The Highlanders are reaching new heights in season tickets.

Nearly 7000 memberships have been sold for the 2017 season, a record for this time of the year.

That figure was a 10% increase on this time last year and included a 97% renewal rate from 2016 members. The tickets covered entry to the team's seven games at Forsyth Barr Stadium.

With the February 24 season opener against the Chiefs still over three months away, the franchise was hoping that number would rise another 10%, although was extremely happy with how things were going.

''The fact that we are already at record membership levels this far out from the season, we're just so thrilled with the response of our fans and our followers,'' general manager of commercial and marketing Amelia Kininmonth said.

''We're so pumped that our members that have been with us for the past few years are loyal and faithful.''

Kininmonth said several factors were likely to have contributed to the rise. It comes off the back of a successful period for the Highlanders, which has appeared in the Super rugby playoffs each of the past three years, winning the competition in 2015.

Alongside that, Dunedin will host a British and Irish Lions tour match, as well as a Bledisloe Cup test in August, creating excitement around the sport in the community.

While the date to purchase tickets for the Lions match against the Highlanders had passed, fans would get preferential rights for seats to the All Blacks' test against Australia.

The franchise was set to extend its membership options to cater for different types of people, which it hoped would help continue the rise. It would offer a three-match package, which would be released early next year.

The details of this package, including the games it would involve, had not been finalised.

Meanwhile, on Monday tickets to the new Little Landers Club will be released. They will provide an adult and child with passes to games against the Blues and Reds, along with children getting merchandise and having training sessions with the team.

Those will remain on sale until Christmas and will be limited in numbers.

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