EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS REPORTS
BILL LOTHIAN

SCOTTISH Rugby Union Chief Executive Gordon McKie today issued a stern warning about Murrayfield's finances in the wake of the franchising of Edinburgh Gunners.

McKie used the announcement that ticket prices for next year's RBS Six Nations Championship have been frozen to insist there would be no quick fix for the debt, currently more than £23million.
&He said: "We are not out of the woods and still have that big debt problem that will not go away."

And, referring to the need to sell the game properly in Scotland, he added: "It's important we make the right marketing appointment."

Today's announcement that ticket prices for the home internationals against Wales (February 10) and Ireland (March 10) would be at the same level as for last year's wins over England and France - £30 to £60 with concessions for under-18s - means the SRU are banking on attracting full stadiums. While the Calcutta Cup sold out in 2006, there were still around 15,000 empty seats for the Sunday afternoon visit from France. McKie added that major emphasis would be placed on boosting the crowd for the February 24 visit of Italy.

Tickets for the Italian match start at £20 through to £40 for adults with concessions also available for students that day.

McKie said: "The RBS Six Nations is of huge importance to Scottish rugby, on and off the pitch. Over 70 per cent of the revenue we need to fund the sport is generated through the Scotland brand, mostly at home internationals. So, it would be tempting particularly with our current core debt to increase ticket prices. That happened in the past but it won't happen this time.

"We need full houses and want the crowd to be as noisy as possible in support of their team."

McKie also indicated that clubs would be able to place orders until the end of September but would not have to pay for tickets until the end of January to avoid the situation which arose last season when tickets were returned at short notice.

This article was posted on 31-Jul-2006, 14:53 by Hugh Barrow.