The 38-36 Ranfurly Shield win over Canterbury in Christchurch had been warmly received in the province, Otago Rugby Football Union chief executive Richard Kinley said.
He is hopeful that extra interest will translate into more action at the turnstile when Otago defend the Shield against winless North Harbour at Forsyth Barr Stadium on Saturday.
Otago’s home games have been attracting about 2000 spectators this season.
That is up from last year, but the battle for people’s attention remains a struggle.
"We often tend to get a big walk-up crowd, but early indications are that tickets are selling well," Kinley said.
"There's been a lot of publicity and visibility of the Ranfurly Shield this year, and I think by it shifting across a number of unions [it] has also created a lot more interest as well."
The comeback win over Canterbury was special, but it was hard to erase the effort against Waikato in 2013 when Otago snapped a 57-year Ranfurly Shield drought.
"It would come a close second," Kinley said.
"I’ve certainly felt an increase in connection and people wanting to be part of the celebrations, slightly more so than the previous two times [2018 and 2020]."
Otago’s clash with North Harbour is their final round-robin home game of the season.
But they are on track to host a quarterfinal and, potentially, a semifinal and even a final if all goes well.
"It's great to have these goals, but I've been around a while.
"These last two rounds of the NPC, there's normally a lot of movement that happens on the table with teams battling for those eight spots.
"That's the beauty of the NPC. We don't normally know until that last round who the top eight teams are."
Canterbury (35 points) and Otago (31) are safely through to the quarterfinals regardless of what happens in the final two rounds.
"It will be a real bonus if those playoffs are at home.
"We're getting more and more people talking about our team ... so I think that would continue through to any playoff games as well."
Coach Mark Brown has helped transform Otago from perennial underachievers to title contenders in his first year in the gig.
He signed a two-year deal, but Kinley said they would leave talk of any extension until the end of the campaign.
