Season tickets sales are also buoyant as fans are keen to see the side under a roof at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
Highlanders marketing manager Doug McSweeney said so far the franchise had sold 2200 season tickets and there were still 800 of last year's season ticketholders to renew. He was confident the bulk of them would sign up again.
He was confident of selling about 3200 season tickets, 30% up from last year. Tied in with the 3000 stadium members the side should be playing in front of good crowds.
The Highlanders' first game in its new home is against the Crusaders on March 3 and McSweeney said they were aiming for a sell-out.
McSweeney said some research carried out after last season had shown three things had been stopping students attending Highlanders games.
The students had concerns about the price of tickets, the difficulty of getting to Carisbrook and the weather.
"Now with the new stadium being on their doorstep, the roof meaning they aren't going to get wet, and a new price and section to sit then they should be well catered for," he said.
The franchise has renamed the western stand the "zoo" and has activities around the section to entice students and young people to the games.
Tickets are also cheap for the zoo, with a ticket before match day costing just $12.50, McSweeney said.
There would be other attractions in the zoo which would encourage people to dress differently and create a unique atmosphere.
A family pass and take a kid to footy section had also been set aside to encourage others to come to the games.
With the Otago Daily Times stand not currently in use, capacity had dropped to about 22,000 and McSweeney was confident of selling out the ground for the game against the Crusaders.
"We got nearly that amount to the game against the Crusaders at Carisbrook last year. We've already had a lot of interest from people who want to get to the game. There are people up in Christchurch who haven't seen a lot of top class rugby for a while and are excited to come down here and see a top game in this stadium."
McSweeney said it had been a challenging process to transfer existing members from Carisbrook to the new stadium but they were working through the issue.
