'Big Mac Index' reveals the alarming truth – Springboks' ticket prices are too high

South Africans are up in arms about the ticket prices for the Springboks’ upcoming matches in June and July and it’s starting to show in the slow sales.

In 2024, South Africans packed out stadiums around the country to get a glimpse of Rassie Erasmus’ all-conquering world champions.

All six home Test matches were fully sold out, as South Africans flocked to the stadiums to watch their beloved Boks continue where they left off in France at the 2023 Rugby World Cup the year before.

The international season featured blockbuster two-Test series against Ireland and the All Blacks, while the Springboks also clinched the Rugby Championship in emphatic fashion in Mbombela.

There were a few complaints about the prices of the tickets, especially in Cape Town, where some people paid R4,000 to watch the Springboks take on the All Blacks.

However, over the last week, more South Africans have turned to social media to vent their frustrations about the ticket prices, with many hesitant to spend their hard-earned money watching the Springboks.

The 2025 incoming Test schedule is a lot less glamorous, with the Springboks playing the Barbarians in Cape Town, Italy in Pretoria and Gqeberha and Georgia in Mbombela.

Tickets for the Barbarians game on June 28 were made available to the general public on May 9, with prices ranging from R250 to R3,000.

The R250 to R350 tickets were snapped up quickly, and when IOL went to check the availability of the next best priced ticket, there was only one R500 ticket still available.

The rest of the tickets were priced at between R850 and R3000 per ticket. The same goes for the rest of the country.

Normally tickets for Springboks Test matches sell out fast, but it seems the opposition and the price of the tickets are making people think twice, because there are still thousands of tickets available for all four matches.

Springboks' ticket prices vs Bafana's ticket prices

Recently, Bafana Bafana started to attract crowds again following their revival under coach Hugo Broos and after the South African Football Association (Safa) finally woke up and decided to take matches outside of Gauteng’s borders.

Their previous match in Cape Town got a full house at the DHL Stadium, as the team qualified for this year’s Africa Cup of Nations in some style.

The difference is, though, tickets for the match were priced at R60 for adults, making it accessible for people from all walks of life to come and enjoy a day out at the football with their family.

For a family of four, a trip to a Springboks match could easily cost R3,000 if we work on a base ticket price of R500 per person. That R3,000 would include, conservatively speaking, petrol, food and drinks.

At a Bafana match, you can even afford to go for seconds.

Obviously, though, you can’t compare a match against South Sudan with the Springboks playing the All Blacks at the Cape. But, compared to other Springbok matches happening elsewhere in the world this year, the price to watch the Boks remains quite steep.

'Big Mac Index' shows Springboks' ticket prices taking a bite out of consumers

IOL Business contributor Nicola Mawson helped us to compare ticket prices for some of the Springboks’ away matches this year, including the highly anticipated Rugby Championship match against the All Blacks at Auckland’s Eden Park, using the “Big Mac Index”.

The price conversation was based on foreign exchange rates assuming that the value of each currency was as stated in the Economist’s Big Mac Index, which seems to provide a more accurate reflection of the value of the rand and other currencies as it is based on the cost of a Big Mac across the world. For example, the price of a Big Mac in South Africa is R52, which is $2.89 at Wednesday’s exchange rate of R17.99. However, the Big Mac Index shows that, as of this year, this burger should cost $2.85.

According to the data, the most expensive ticket for the clash between the Boks and the All Blacks is – comparatively speaking after the calculations – R968 compared to the top-end R3,000 tickets for the South Africans’ home matches.

The most expensive tickets for the Springboks’ matches against Argentina in London and Wales in Cardiff are also much cheaper, with the prices calculated at R1,469 and R1,017 respectively.

SA Rugby is running a massive high-performance operation and they need to generate money from various avenues to sustain themselves. But they must be careful not to alienate a section of the South African rugby public because of their ticket prices, as the stats are rather damning.

* IOL approached SA Rugby for comment, but they did not respond at the time of publishing. A follow up article will be done with their response.

@JohnGoliath82