Price of international tickets

CliffClav

Am I the only one who feels that the current price of supporting the national team is obscene?
€80 for one match is far too much. Coupled with the fact that all clubs bundle all tickets in one so as people can not cherry pick juicy matches, means that it will cost a supporter at least €320 to go to any of the six nations matches. Sure it's supply and demand and all that but I for one have lost all enjoyment from going to international matches, and have stopped.
Much better to watch it in the pub.
Not that this is in anyway ground breaking or anything, but I am curious if anyone else feels that same.

Goodluck2me

they actually went up this season, and are €91 for the stand and €38 for the Hill.

It's absolutely disgraceful how they are pricing fans out of the sport constantly, as the game is turned into a brand more and more each year.

For a man to bring his 2 kids say, it'll be €273. I know for absolute fact that next year's won't be as expensive, what 70,000 people will pay €91 to watch Wales, Scotland and France?

chupacabra

CliffClav wrote: »

Am I the only one who feels that the current price of supporting the national team is obscene?
€80 for one match is far too much. Coupled with the fact that all clubs bundle all tickets in one so as people can not cherry pick juicy matches, means that it will cost a supporter at least €320 to go to any of the six nations matches. Sure it's supply and demand and all that but I for one have lost all enjoyment from going to international matches, and have stopped.
Much better to watch it in the pub.
Not that this is in anyway ground breaking or anything, but I am curious if anyone else feels that same.

Yeah its true 80 quid is rather alot. Alot of people were complaining on off the ball tonight about the difference in price between the Ireland France game and the Dublin Tyrone game at the weekend, i wouldnt go drawing any comparisons to either of these games due to the fact that i wasnt there and wont be at the french game but i mean the IRFU have to pay the GAA a large amount of money for rental and of course the players need to get paid etc etc. However in todays economic climate, its a bit much alright.

D.S.

They are on the pricey side to be sure. However, the IRFU need to fund the game and if you can 70,000 through the door at that price, surely it's not a bad thing in one sense either.

What concerns me is the prices they'll set when Lansdowne comes on stream. It's an expensive stadium with only 50,000 in there....i'd expect it to be real pricey and with less seats, little hope for the average punter ever to see a game..

bleg

not a chance of me going to any of the international matches. train from cork to dublin, food, accomodation maybe a night out...guts of at least 350 quid

Serenity Now!

If you want obscene prices, buy from a scalper.
The rest is basically supply and demand in a stadium that is expensive to hire and run a game at.

NickNolte

I prefer watching internationals on telly. For a start you can see what the hell is going on. Never mind the fact that you're never more than a stone's throw away from the bar/the fridge! Having said that, I would go to the matches if I could get tickets. I just wouldn't go to any trouble to try and get them.

Blisterman

I personally stick to the provincial matches.
Less than 30 quid usually a match, and the standards about the same.

That being said, if I could afford it, I'd prefer to see the internationals. There's more at stake for me.

corny

The sad thing about supply and demand is that the IRFU could charge 150 euro and they'd probably still fill croker. 2 reasons for this. People in this country are generally very passionate about their sport and travel in huge numbers to most sporting events. The second and more crucial issue is people are so used to being ripped off in this country they'll pay anything. Supply and demand relies on the consumer being sensitive to changes in price, I think the Irish just hand it over regardless so the price will go up and up even with this downturn!

RoscoBosco93

Us schoolboys pay a tenner for our tickets

ScrubsfanChris

Just be glad you don't support American football. Prices can got as high as 300 dollars and will only go as low as 150 for the crappy 'up the back' seats. Ireland tickets are expensive but remember that it is a rented stadium.

cgarvey

goodluck2me wrote: »

I know for absolute fact that next year's won't be as expensive

Source?

goodluck2me wrote: »

what 70,000 people will pay €91 to watch Wales, Scotland and France?

Where is 70,000 coming from? The new Lansdowne capacity is no where near that. Take out the pre-sold coporate and sponsor tickets, and it's still no where near that. Which of course means that of last year's 80,000 for the Wales game, there's a reasonable chance around a third of those will actually stump up the same money to see it in Lansdowne. Play them in Croke Park? I doubt IRFU will want to for a while, and even after a while it'll probably be only the high-profile games (v Eng or v Fra, for example), and at a push.

Yes, I think it's too expensive especially for the less glamourous matches v Italy and Scotland.

However, supply will be drastically reduced, so demand will go up. The price may change, but it won't be reduced by all that much, if common sense prevails. A good trick would be for the IRFU to announce a 2-year price freeze now (at the high prices)!

Ulstermell0

its defo too expensive - i hope the IRFU dont go the route of the english - i went to watch Eng-NZ last year and (i think i may have already ranted on this one but)

Sponsored boards for the English fans to hold up during the Haka - blocking my dads view of the one spectacle in rugby he really wanted to see. (apart from an Irish GS of course!) although i think it was only the bloke in front of us and a few others that actually held them up.

'Hair Transplant' Healy advertising some stupid weight gain drink on the big screens right up to the beginning of the match - he actually uses a phase reffering to his arms as 'guns' in a serious way!

big screen text quizzes during the match!!- who is the fastest saki or rocokoko? sponsored by Microsoft

inflatable banner sponsored by powergen blocking half the stadium duing the anthems.

its absolutely ridiculous.

'come to twickenham and be sold to' - would be interested to know what its been like in terms of commercialism at croke park?

Serenity Now!

cgarvey wrote: »

Play them in Croke Park? I doubt IRFU will want to for a while, and even after a while it'll probably be only the high-profile games (v Eng or v Fra, for example), and at a push

None of those games will be at Croke Park as the IRFU's CEO has already clearly stated (and the reasons why).

Goodluck2me

cgarvey wrote: »

Source?



Where is 70,000 coming from? !

Be in croke park until Autumn Internations 2010, so 70k.

Flashman

Support Ireland A for 15e instead!

Sandwich

I think they are a little too cheap. The IRFU should be charging more to better match supply and demand. Until they are being left with a small number of unsold tickets prices are loo low. Even with the gotta-buy-the-pair deal with the Autumn Internationals they were all sold out pretty quickly.

Oafley Jones

Sandwich wrote: »

I think they are a little too cheap. The IRFU should be charging more to better match supply and demand. Until they are being left with a small number of unsold tickets prices are loo low. Even with the gotta-buy-the-pair deal with the Autumn Internationals they were all sold out pretty quickly.

An incredibly bizarre, shortsighted and fundamentally flawed strategy when placed in this context. Are you seriously proposing that the IRFU should inflate prices in order to achieve economic equilibrium in ticket distribution? It's like an idea you'd hear from a kid who has just been introduced to economics.

cgarvey

Serenity Now! wrote: »

None of those games will be at Croke Park as the IRFU's CEO has already clearly stated (and the reasons why).

Yup, that's why I said for a while. There may be some matches that are just too tempting not to have in Croke Park, especially once GAA reduce the rent and they sort out the logistics of the corporate boxes/sponsors' tickets. There's definitely a stadium to be paid for, and until other things fit in, matches will be in Lansdowne, but to rule games in Croke Park is too short-sighted, even for the IRFU. Lip service is all we're hearing now, in 3 or 4 years time, we could well be hearing very differently especially as the GAA count the true value of the additional revenue.

goodluck2me wrote: »

Be in croke park until Autumn Internations 2010, so 70k.

OK, so that's closer to 80,000 for most matches there. So my points still stand. As does my question of your source for your "fact".