HK Sevens chief hopes for mass return of foreign fans
Hong Kong China Rugby chief executive Robbie McRobbie said on Friday that he expects to see a large number of international fans return to the Hong Kong Svns in April, given that it will be the last time the event is held at the Hong Kong Stadium. The tournament will move to the Kai Tak Sports Park in 2025. McRobbie said almost 5,000 three-day tickets have already been snapped up for next year since sales began at 10am on Friday, adding that 20,000 tickets had already been sold to clubs, sponsors and partners.  He said last year's event attracted a lot of local fans and he expects to see numbers continue to rise. "Previously, 50 percent of the audience was actually from overseas. It would be wonderful if we got back to that number. But having said that, what we did do during November 2022 and April 2023 was we actually built up the local audience base up to 27,000," he said.  "So I think from our perspective, if we get 10,000-12,000 overseas visitors, that for us would be fantastic. It would mean that the local interest has remained steady, but we've got some of our traditional overseas fans back as well." McRobbie said 27,000 tickets were sold for the 2022 tournament, amid the pandemic, and 32,000 in April 2023, but he hopes the 40,000 capacity stadium will be sold out next April.