World Cup organisers launch impassioned defence of ticket pricing as they provide MKM Stadium update

It has been a hot topic since England opened the tournament with an emphatic win over Samoa, with only 5,453 spectators attending New Zealand's clash with Lebanon in Warrington.

Supporters have pointed to the cost of tickets, which range from £25 to £84 for adults wanting to attend the game between the Kiwis and Jamaica at Hull's MKM Stadium on Saturday night.

Mick Hogan, the tournament's revenue director, has told fans that there are still tickets remaining at the cheapest prices, as has been the case at every match in the first week.

"You can get in on Saturday for £25 as an adult and £15 for kids," said Hogan.

"You compare that to any other World Cup in any other team sport and it's a fraction of cricket, rugby union and football.

"Those prices stack up against what you would pay at Hull FC and Hull KR.

"There are still thousands of tickets left at £25 and £15. Ultimately it's about choice – if you want to sit in the better seats, it does cost a bit more.

"In the eight games so far, there hasn't been one single game where we have run out of the lowest-category ticket. If you wanted to pay £15 at Leigh, there were tickets still available.

"It could look better on TV but there are people who paid for Cat A and Cat B tickets two years ago and it wouldn't be fair now for people to come in at £25 or less and sit next to those people. We have to honour that support."

The MKM Stadium has been a regular venue for England and Great Britain matches, last hosting an international four years ago.

Tournament bosses remain hopeful of attracting a big crowd in a city that lives and breathes rugby league.

"We are currently just past 6,000 tickets," added Hogan.

"We hope that with the last couple of days of sales we can get to a five-figure crowd.

"It's a reasonable crowd but we'd love it to be bigger. In any major tournament, there are group games that will sell better than others.

"It's a chance to see the current number one ranked team in the world and the chance to see a new team in Jamaica. We hope that gets cut-through in the final few days.

"We also know there's a cost of living crisis and every minute of every game is available on the BBC.

"We want people in the stadium cheering on both teams and creating an atmosphere."

Tournament chief executive Jon Dutton has made it clear that they are running a break-even budget, taking into account a rights fee that will be used to grow and develop international rugby league through to the next World Cup.

Organisers remain confident that the total attendance of 458,483 recorded nine years ago will be surpassed during the delayed 2021 event, with ticket sales for the semi-final at London's Emirates Stadium already in excess of 35,000.

"On Saturday night after the England game, we had our highest sales since we opened the ballot two years," said Dutton. "The top buying postcode was for London.

"What we are seeing is a trend where people are plotting the England path to potentially Wigan, the Emirates and Old Trafford, which is where the high sales are for.

"Looking forward to Saturday, we're approaching a sell-out at Bolton.

"The total accumulative broadcast match audience so far is 3.8 million. That will grow because it doesn't include the digital figures yet.

"The audience on Saturday peaked at 1.8 million and the audience share for the opening game was 22 per cent, which is incredibly high.

"We're off to a flying start and will surpass quite quickly the match audience that we had for 2013.

"The stat that really stands out for me is that 55 per cent of those inside St James' Park were from the north east which is really quite staggering."