Dolphins fever has taken over the Sunshine Coast, as the NRL’s newest team prepares to play its first game here.
The game against the Eels at Sunshine Coast Stadium blew all predictions out of the water when the 10,000-seat venue was sold out in just 90 minutes.
Ticketing data has revealed that 55 per cent of all of the casual tickets sold were bought by locals, demonstrating the way the region has adopted the Dolphins as their new NRL team.
But the Dolphins will also be bringing thousands of fans from outside of the region to the area for the match.
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The Dolphins, with master coach Wayne Bennett at the helm, have amassed more than 28,000 members in their first season in the NRL.
And of the members that chose the four-game season membership package that included the Dolphins-Eels game, 94 per cent of them are from outside of the Sunshine Coast Council area.
It all adds to a growing affinity between the region and the Dolphins, which was enhanced last Saturday when the entire NRL squad trained at Nirimba Junior Rugby League Club and then spent two hours running water for junior teams, signing autographs and taking photos with more than 300 local players as well as their supporters.
Dolphins chief executive Terry Reader said the club was proud of the new experiences it had been creating in 2023.
“The Dolphins have obviously put some huge events together with multiple sold-out games in Brisbane and in the Moreton Bay areas,” Reader said.
“We are proud to now be able to do the same thing at Sunshine Coast Stadium.
“The ticketing data we have obtained means that in fact 62 per cent of the total crowd that will attend the match tomorrow will have come from outside of the local Sunshine Coast Council area.
“We think is a great result for local accommodation houses and businesses in the area, and demonstrates the kind of crowd the Dolphins can pull in.”
The Dolphins have won seven of their 14 games to be 10th on the ladder, while the Eels are eighth.
The match will kick off at 3pm at Sunshine Coast Stadium.
