'Stubborn' Lions refuse to budge on Ellis Park homefield stance
UPDATE: The Lions will play their next two Currie Cup games at university fields, but that is ‘out of necessity’ and by no means an indication that they are looking for long-term alternatives to Ellis Park.
After starting their 2026 campaign with a two-point away loss to the Cheetahs (27-29), the Lions bounced back with an emphatic 52-29 victory over the Pumas at Ellis Park this past weekend.
However, the albatross of the event was the embarrassingly sparse crowd (reportedly not even 1,000 paying spectators) that attended the game at the 62,000-seater stadium.
(Continue below ….)
It is a long-standing issue at the iconic venue in the crime-riddled inner-city suburb of Doornfontein, but the past weekend’s mortifyingly absence of significant spectator numbers again raised the question of alternative options.
Even at an affordable ZAR40, the spectators stayed away in great numbers.
The Lions will host the Bulls in a Round Three fixture at the UJ Stadium (capacity 10,000), in the Johannesburg suburb of Westdene, this coming Saturday (August 1), and the Boland Cavaliers in a Round Five fixture at the Wits Stadium (up to 15,000 capacity with lots of standing room on the banks), in the Johannesburg suburb of Braamfontein.
Ticket prices for these matches are also set at ZAR40.
However, for their Round Seven fixture against the Stormers on August 28, they will return to their very unpopular ‘home’ in Doornfontein.
Even if the next two weeks are unmitigated successes and draw sell-out crowds, it will not change the administrators’ minds.
Rudolf Straeuli, CEO of the Lions Rugby Company, told Jan de Koning that it was out of ‘necessity’ that they moved the next two games to university fields and not because of a desire to solve the attendance crisis.
While international tournaments like the United Rugby Championship and Champions Cup are bound to Ellis Park due to strict world-class broadcasting, media, and tech facility agreements, the Currie Cup allows for greater flexibility.
“With back-to-back All Black fixtures being hosted at Ellis Park [South Africa against New Zealand on August 22, followed by the Lions versus All Blacks four days later], we are busy preparing the turf to ensure its readiness,” Straeuli explained to @rugby365com when asked about the decision to move the next two games away.
“UJ and Wits, with whom we have long-standing strategic partnerships, have welcomed us with open arms to host two of our Currie Cup fixtures at their respective venues.”
However, even if the next two games are a success in terms of attendance, the Lions will not consider taking more games to smaller venues.
“Ellis Park will always be the home of the Lions,” Straeuli said.
“If it’s an overwhelming success, of which we anticipate it to be, we will bolster our efforts on attracting those audiences [mainly students], through strategic marketing and collaborations, to Ellis Park,” he added.
Moving matches to smaller venues will create a far more vibrant atmosphere, as has been seen with the sell-out Sunday crowds at the Boland Stadium in Wellington in the Western Cape.
Even the recent Nations Championship Test between the Boks and England failed to attract a sell-out crowd.
The final attendance, 52,000, was inflated by the slashing of prices late in the week and eventually giving tickets away for free.
‘Headstrong’ is one word that can be used for the unwillingness to move away from a venue for a match that costs more to open the gates than what ticket sales, food and beverages can bring in with such scant spectator numbers.
@JanDKrugby
@rugby365com
