The crowd at last Saturday's Super 15 game in Invercargill was less than budgeted for but that does not mean the Highlanders will not play in the southern city again.
A crowd of 6335 turned up for the game, with the bulk of those buying tickets on the day. Highlanders general manager Roger Clark admitted slow sales in the build-up to the game made the management jittery.
''The bottom line is there are a whole lot of reasons why we played there and not at Forsyth Barr Stadium. But it [playing in Invercargill] is something we will be revisiting with the board and whether we continue to play games down there,'' Clark said.
''It is pretty hard to takes games away from Forsyth Barr Stadium but the fact is there is a lot on there from the end of January until the end of April. There is only so much of the discretionary dollar to go around and people are starting to pick and choose.''
The Highlanders were loathe to play the game against the Cheetahs at Forsyth Barr Stadium as it would have meant three games at the stadium in the first four weeks of the competition.
He confirmed the Invercargill game did not meet budget expectations, though the final figures were still being worked out.
It did not help the game against the Cheetahs was being played on the same weekend as the Wanaka A&P show, the Motatapu multisport event and the cricket test in Dunedin.
''With those events on you take a certain amount of people out of the mix.''
Clark, though, was relaxed about the relatively small crowd.
''It is not a major in the budget and was one we did not get carried away with when we set out budgets.''
The Highlanders were also under budget in their opening game against the Chiefs.
The crowd was 19,100 for that game on February 22, which was won by the Chiefs.
Problems with scanners led to the figure being recorded as 17,511 on the night but it was bigger than that.
Clark attributed the slightly smaller crowd than expected to the rugby league match between the New Zealand Warriors and the Brisbane Broncos, played at the stadium the following night.
''At the start of that week ticket sales were going well but we just didn't get that late rush of sales which usually happens. I think people were saying we can go see the Highlanders another time but the Warriors are only coming here once.''
Clark said overall he was confident gate sales would meet the budgeted figure for the year.
But, like every sporting team, crowd figures very much depend on success on the field and the Highlanders must turn that around quickly to get people through the gates.
The team averaged more than 17,500 to games at the stadium last year, its first year at the venue.
The Highlanders take on the Hurricanes at Forsyth Barr Stadium on Friday night in what is shaping as a must-win for the side.
