Wellington's annual NZI Sevens tournament could become even bigger in future years, with plans for a week-long festival.
New Zealand's capital city and the Wellington Rugby Union this year unveiled plans to transform the successful event into a seven-day carnival within four years, 10 years after the first event.
"We're conscious that this is a very good blast for the economy and that it's good to get people into Wellington so we're trying to grow the tournament as being more than just the two days," said Steve Walters, General Manager of the NZI Sevens.
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"We're working on this concept of 'Seven days of the Sevens' so you can come along to Wellington, have a great week, experience all the things that Wellington's got to offer and then have it culminate in the two days of the NZI Sevens."
Eighteen thousand people turned up on the first day of Wellington's maiden tournament back in 2000. On day two 25,000 passed through the gates and, from then on, the tournament has experienced steady and reliable growth.
"To me it's about the spirit of Wellington, it's about the crowd's enthusiasm and creativity, which they bring to this tournament.
The spirit of Wellington
"From the research we've done there are 70,000 people wanting tickets on top of the 35,000 who manage to get them, which is really great."
As well as a phenomenal fan base, the tournament's 50 sponsors and partners also appear willing to weather the global economic downturn and pledge their continued support.
"Our hospitality sales are up - a lot of that was sold six months ago - and our tickets sold out in September. We know we've got a very loyal and passionate following.
"Realistically, we are confident that we will continue to sell out. How well our other markets continue to go, our travel packages and our hospitality, we know we'll take a bit of a dent [on those] but we're still feeling pretty secure about the tournament itself."
Wellington also remains confident of keeping the event long-term, despite developments elsewhere in the country which are set to produce facilities able to cater for greater numbers of fans.
"I'd love to have a bigger stadium but we can't afford to build a 105,000-seater stadium with the kiwi dollar at the moment, which is a shame," said Walters.
"Of course there is Eden Park being rebuilt for the Rugby World Cup, so we're very wary of that but we'll do all we can to make sure that it stays in Wellington."
