Béziers-Brive play-off match: the great rush of supporters, already more than 14,500 places sold

Océane and Alexandre saw club fans passing through the store. Midi Libre – L.F.

A la billetterie, Nicolas Cristofol ne chôme pas depuis plusieurs jours. Midi Libre – L.F.

More than 14,000 spectators had already purchased their tickets on Thursday, May 23, at midday. A record for years which requires special management upstream, whether in terms of ticketing or security at the stadium. The store, for its part, recorded a 60% increase in sales.

His phone keeps ringing. He gets up, sits down again, taps on his computer, edits a ticket, another, prints an accreditation… This Thursday at the end of the morning, Nicolas Cristofol, the ASBH ticket office manager, did not touch the ground. It’s the big rush before the play-off match this Friday, May 24, between Béziers and Brive. "At 11 h nbsp;nbsp;14 170 tickets had been sold, notes the one who also wears the hat of "stadium manager& ;quot; (stadium manager). We are currently basing ourselves on a stadium capacity of 16,000 spectators." If the number were to increase ( at 5:30 p.m., there were 14,500 who had reserved their place), the club would consider opening the weighing, the perimeter of the field, which would bring the number to 18,000.

The cheapest tickets are in Béziers!

Unlike the regular championship, when the final phase arrives, it is the National Rugby League which takes charge of the ticketing, the club becoming & quot;its subcontractor, specifies Nicolas Cristofol. On the other hand, we are the ones who set up the pricing. Ticket prices range from 10 € at 30 €. We have negotiated the lowest rates. This is a desire of the club knowing that during the championship, we sell places for between 10 and 20 €."

Nicolas Cristofol has been taking care of the ticketing for ten years. This is the first time he has seen such a crowd at the stadium. This clash between Béziers and Brive unleashes passions and as soon as the ticket office opened, it was felt. Even the computers took a beating: "We opened it at 11:30 p.m. last Friday and we sold 1,600 places in just 1:30 p.m. Even the computer 'buttered'. You had to wait about five minutes to buy a ticket!"

One hundred agents for security

2 000 places have been reserved for the Brivist camp. As of midday on Thursday, 825 had been sold but the number is expected to rise further in the hours before the match. It remains to be seen whether the 2006 record, reached during the Béziers-Montauban match, i.e. 16,002 spectators, will be beaten…

On the security side, Nicolas Cristofol also had to work harder than usual. He explains that "one hundred agents, responsible for searching, directing people, managing the different access zones…"< /em> will be on deck.