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The NRL expects the State of Origin opener to be played before a sold-out 26,500-strong crowd at Adelaide Oval on Wednesday night.

The State of Origin opener is expected to be played before a sell-out 26,500 crowd at Adelaide Oval.

The majority of tickets for the series opener between NSW and Queensland have been sold, with the NRL expecting the few remaining to be purchased by late Tuesday.

The South Australian government has capped the crowd at half of Adelaide Oval's capacity for Wednesday night's game, the first origin fixture to be played in Adelaide.

The government initially forecast up to 10,000 visitors from interstate to attend the match which was originally scheduled for June 3 but postponed amid the coronavirus pandemic.

But that initial prediction has been reduced to hundreds of interstate visitors, despite SA's borders with Queensland and NSW being open, though residents in six Sydney local government areas have been excluded from attending.

Queensland and NSW players and staff were tested for COVID-19 on Monday.

The SA government has refused to detail exactly how much it paid the NRL to host the spectacle, but it's understood to be around $5 million.