Rugby World Cup Information

The men's Rugby World Cup 2023 kicks off (pun intended) with the All Blacks facing host country France at 7.15am (NZ time) on Saturday morning 9th September.

As has happened over the past two Rugby World Cup's in 2019 and 2015, licensees who hold an on-licence or club licence and wish to televise live matches, must provide notification of which games they will be showing at least 7 days' before the match (note this is days not working days).

Based on that information then, the last day to send us notification of intention to televise the first RWC 2023 match, All Blacks v France on the 9th September, you must get your notifications to the Police and Inspectors by the 1st September at the latest.

You can submit more than one notification if you wish and at any time provided the notification is received 7 days' before the first game on the notice you intend to show. You can submit notification of intention to show all games, you can submit one notification with select games to cover the entire period, or you can notify a few games to start then see how things pan out the further through the competition things go.

Noise management:

• How will noise from the games, patrons arriving and leaving, staff leaving, and rubbish emptying be managed at night? You will need to put some thought into noise management plans as these will need to be submitted with the intention to televise games notification.

Notifications of games intending to be televised:

• Will you do a few matches on one notification? Will you notify all matches? Will you notify a select few with all the quarters, semi's and finals on the list?

Notification of cancellation to televise games:

• This must be sent to Police and inspectors if any games are not going to be televised.

Staff informed:

• Who is responsible for ensuring staff are aware of the rules, the noise management plan, and the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act provisions?

• Who will fill the notification forms out?

First change: Notification of Cancellation to Televised Games

Licensees must now also notify Police and Licensing Inspectors of when they will no longer be televising live games.

We appreciate that Covid is still showing it's face and with Covid rules all now removed there is no need for people to isolate, staff will still get ill. With staff being in short supply and being ill, there may not be enough people to enable the business to open to televise some games.

If this is the case, or if it's considered that there may not be enough customer interest in a game/s and you want to close, then you will need to notify of the cancellation of the game or games "as soon as reasonably practicable".

The full section 45C(6) wording is as follows:

"(6) A licensee who has given notice under subsection (2) but subsequently decides not to televise in the premises any games on the night specified in that notice must, as soon as is reasonably practicable, give notice of the decision to the territorial authority and the constable in charge of the police station nearest the premises for which the licence is held."

Second change: Recording of Information for Research Purposes

This RWC sees a new subsection of the legislation where is a requirement for Police to record more information from licensees than the previous two world cups hence why you will see a few more questions than some of you may have seen previously.

This information is to be used for research purposes by the Ministry of Justice to aid in future legislation considerations.

Information needing to be recorded this time round includes:

• numbers of notices received

• numbers of cancellations

• premises information

• the days and hours of extension

• timeframe between when notice is given and the start of the extension.

The points below are all covered in greater detail in the "Factsheet for Licensees":

Section 45D

1. The licensee has the extension provided in this section to the permitted trading hours, but only if the primary or sole purpose of the premises being open on the night is to allow customers to watch the televised game or games notified by the licensee under section 45C.

2. The premises may open 1 hour before the start of each game to be televised.

3. However, if the first or only game to be televised is to start no more than 2 hours after the end of the last period of permitted trading hours for the premises, the premises can stay open after that period, and until that game starts.

4. The premises can be open during each game televised.

5. The premises are required to close for the sale of alcohol 30 minutes after the end of each game televised (unless that 30-minute period ends after the start of the 1-hour period under subsection (2) for the next game to be televised).

Display of Notice and Statement

• Under section 45F, premises who are intending to televise live games must display a general statement about how the premises will adhere to the rules of the Amendment Act.

• We have created a template statement for you which you can use. This is attached to the Form 2 - Premises Notice of Extended Trading Hours.

The general statement must:

(a) be attached to the inside of the premises ; and

(b) be placed so it can easily be read by people entering each principal entrance.

We've tried to make things as clear as we possibly can when it comes to understanding the hours premises can and can't be open section 45D of the Amendment Act, and the Licensee Factsheet both provide examples of when premises can be open to televise games and when premises must close.

The basics following notify of intention to extend the premises trading hours are as follows:

• your premises can open one hour before the game starts.

• if the first or only game starts no more than two hours after your premises usual closing time, you can remain open in the leadup to the game.

• a premises must stop selling alcohol 30 minutes after the final whistle unless this time is within the premises usual permitted trading hours (or if this time overlaps with the time you can open before a subsequent game).

• on-licensed premises must close to customers one hour after the final game ends. If this time is after 6:00am or within the premises usual permitted trading hours, or if this time overlaps with the time you can open before a subsequent game.

• if the time your premises must stop selling alcohol (30 minutes after the game ends) overlaps with the time the premises can open for the next game (one hour before the game starts), your premises can continue to sell alcohol in through that period, and

• if the time an on-licensed premises must close for customers (one hour after the game ends) overlaps with the time the premises can open for the next game (one hour before the game starts), the premises can stay open. However, you must stop selling alcohol for the half hour in between.

• Guidance for Licensees - Notification of Games & Cancellation Notification (PDF, 229KB)

• Factsheet for Licensees (PDF, 166KB)

• Rugby World Cup 2023 Game Details (PDF, 52.9KB)

• Rugby World Cup 2023 Flowchart - Ministry of Justice (PDF, 77KB)

• Supply of Alcohol (RWC 2023 Extended Trading Hours) Amendment Act 2023

• Ministry of Justice website

Download template notifications below.

Notifications must be sent to:

To submit your notification to extend trading hours for your premises through Business Connect you will need to have a RealMe login (see link below). A RealMe verified identity isn’t required.

1. Click Business Connect https://services.businessconnect.govt.nz/ 

2. Log in using your RealMe login.

3. If you don’t have a RealMe login or if it’s your first time logging onto Business Connect, you will need to verify your email address.

4. From the Business Connect dashboard, click the Hospitality tab.

5. Click on the Rugby World Cup extended trading hours tile to begin the form.

If you are experiencing technical issues with the Business Connect platform, they can contact hello@businessconnect.govt.nz and help with RealMe can be accessed here.

The existing form can also still be used if preferred.