Tickets on sale for euro cross country today

thirstywork

http://www.athleticsireland.ie/content/?p=7204
20euro for adults and 10euro for children.seem a little over priced to me.
would be great to get a huge crowd to give the athletes plenty of support.

TheRoadRunner

This is a joke. I've been to a few euroX in the past and didn't have to pay (not always the case mind you). The AAI should be using this as an opportunity to raise the profile of athletics in this country. An entry fee will not help IMO

Clum

Really looking forward to this event. I've enjoyed watching it on tv over the last few years so it'll be a nice change to actually see all these athletes in action up close.

It's a good location too. I've seen and enjoyed events held in Santry before like the national cross country, which I think was free admission (I wasn't charged on the day).

Unfortuantely the Euros are going to cost me just that, euros. 20 of them. Tickets went on sale today.

dublin2009.ie

Find it quite annoying considering the European Team Championships this summer are free: leiria2009.com

As far as I can tell the the euro cross country in Brussels last year was free. I can't find ticket information on the website in the English section but in the Dutch section I did find
"Tickets
De toegang tot de SPAR Europese Kamp. veldloop Brussel 2008 is gratis." under a link for tickets on the main website.

Was is free last year? Why are we paying a very large admission this year?

Clum

I just started a new thread on this topic:

here

Can these be merged please?

Thanks.

myflipflops

Clum wrote: »

As far as I can tell the the euro cross country in Brussels last year was free.
?

It was free into Brussels. It was a great set up to and a spectator friendly course too. The set up or the Inter Clubs in February was supposed to be the same as it will be for Euro X and it was a terrible course for spectating in my opinion.

A €20 entrance fee is terrible news. Let's face it, I'll be attending the event in any event but I'm not the type of spectator they should be trying to attract. There will be a core group of irish athletics followers there but a €20 fee will put off the casual fan, particularly ones with kids (people wont be willing to pay 40/50 in for themselves and their kids).

I remember the entrance fee to the World X in 2002 was about 15/20 for each day (open to correction on this) and that certainly affected attendance even with Sonia there as a draw. We will also be p**sing off fans from other countries who will be over here for the event. They need to adopt the Brussels model of free entrance or risk a half empty course. Realistically, they should be sending out invites and free passes to clubs around the country and schools in the locality.

I'll be writing a mail to the organisers (i'll sourse the best place to send it now) stating my objections to this and i would encourage others to do the same.

runjb

I was absolutly shocked when i read the AAI site today and saw the ticket prices. There is no incentive for clubs to bring athletes to the event, for example the GAA have a very good offer for some of their big matches such as League finals where a group of children from the same club are admitted free of charge once accompanied by some adults or coaches.

This is rediculous by the AAI and I can gaurantee that it will do nothing to attract the normal average Irish person or even those with a mild interest in athletics. We are in a recession for goodness sake!!

Entry for children should definitly be free and adult prices halved at least. Some incentives for clubs should be introduced to allow the children to see the stars compete and thus help encourage them to do likewise. Expect a very poor turnout from supporters if it remains as it is, and anyone who does attend will not be treated to a good, fun atmosphere that could be achieved with a large crowd.

I am usually a positive supporter of AAI but on this matter I have to say shame on them.

Racing Flat

thirstywork wrote: »

20euro for adults and 10euro for children.seem a little over priced to me.

Not as overpriced as 10Euro into the National Novices! I think that's a terrible strategy as the only people going are family of the juveniles running that day and maybe a few coaches and club members. If it was free a few non running locals might pop in and get interested...

dpo

It was free in to Legnano in 2006, and Toro in 2007 as well. Whatever about adults, charging €10 for kids is disgraceful.

Racing Flat

dpo wrote: »

It was free in to Legnano in 2006, and Toro in 2007 as well. Whatever about adults, charging €10 for kids is disgraceful.

I agree, it's so short-sighted

TheRoadRunner

Racing Flat wrote: »

Not as overpriced as 10Euro into the National Novices!

That takes the biscuit and really doesn't surprise me.

I remember when I was a juvenile my folks brought me to Cork to run the nation XC. We had to stay overnight which added to the cost and the following day the folks had to pay into watch me run around some smelly farmers field. I was only about 14 but was so pissed at the time. My folks knew nothing about running and were happy to pay the entrance fee but it still really galls me to this day.

Racing Flat

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

some smelly farmers field.

Carraignavar?

Racing Flat

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

That takes the biscuit and really doesn't surprise me.

I remember when I was a juvenile my folks brought me to Cork to run the nation XC. We had to stay overnight which added to the cost and the following day the folks had to pay into watch me run around some smelly farmers field. I was only about 14 but was so pissed at the time. My folks knew nothing about running and were happy to pay the entrance fee but it still really galls me to this day.

Ya it's exploitation, the parents are there because they have to be their to transport/mind their kids. You could see how the 'payer' in the family might look for any excuse to get out of going. If the child was to express any reservation about going due to nerves or weather or whatever, the payer might encourage them not to go to save the money, on top of not having to stand around all day.

I wonder about the legality of it. If a race is on in Santry Demesne, if this is a public park, how can you be charged to go in there?

TheRoadRunner

Racing Flat wrote: »

I wonder about the legality of it. If a race is on in Santry Demesne, if this is a public park, how can you be charged to go in there?

You have a point. I don't know what the situation is now but years ago I was told many times from club officials that the nationals would never be held in the Phoenix park as it was a public park and the AAI/BLE could not charge an entrance fee.

However, public parks are closed off for paying concerts nowadays so maybe it's no longer an issue. By the way is Santry demense a public or private park ?

TheRoadRunner

Racing Flat wrote: »

Carraignavar?

Ha ha, yes I think it may have been. I'd need to check the program that I have at home to double check. The program cost money as well by the way :rolleyes:

Stupid_Private

Racing Flat wrote: »

I wonder about the legality of it. If a race is on in Santry Demesne, if this is a public park, how can you be charged to go in there?

Probably the same way as when concerts are on in public parks.

Just to make the prices sound even worse you have to remember that you're buying the tickets through ticketmaster. The cost is really €23 for an adult and €13 for a child.

shels4ever

Couldn't believe this price when I read it. Was expecting €10 they must be planning some event...

jlang

Don't mind them charging for parking or a nominal amount but them's just mad prices.

robinph

With prices like that they are going to have an empty park with a few people running round in circles in the middle, and maybe Woddle stood on one corner with his camera. Not the best set of TV coverage to be shown around Europe, and possibly Ireland, but wouldn't like to bet on if RTE will show it live or not yet.

To get people to turn up on a wet December day to a muddy field and watch people run round in circles getting muddyer the entry fee has to be zero or so close to zero that it doesn't matter. You'll then end up with loads of spectators lining the route and create a much better spectacle and atmosphere. Also with more people there, that don't feel like they have been ripped off before the day has even begun, you then stand more chance of extracting extra cash from them in the form of program sales and any other stuff that you can think of to flog them.

You make more money by getting more people to turn up for minimal entry fee and then charging for "extras" than you do by charging a large entry fee and only two people appearing.

ChickenTikka

dpo wrote: »

It was free in to Legnano in 2006, and Toro in 2007 as well. Whatever about adults, charging €10 for kids is disgraceful.

I think its an absolute disgrace that a child is been charged €10 to go to this. Any juvenile member of AAI should be able to attend this for free. When I heard first that Ireland was hosting this event, I was excited. We have over 200 juveniles in our club and I was hoping to organise a bus to travel to Dublin for the day with 50 or so of the older group and have the club pay for it as a treat. To have to fork out €500 to AAI for the privilege of this is nonsense and we definitely won't be going now.

Its a golden opportunity for the young athletes to see the top runners in Europe in action and raise the profile of the sport. AAI will raise some mickey-mouse money by charging kids. Suppose they raise €10k from kids this way ... I'd bet it would be wasted in a blink of an eye on some highly regarded PR consultant. Or on a few hours of a couple of solicitors time. Or on junkets to warm-weather training where we seemed to have a ratio of 1 support person for every 2 athletes recently.

We've got our financial priorities wrong - fleece the parents and kids and waste the money raised.

TheRoadRunner

ChickenTikka wrote: »

AAI will raise some mickey-mouse money by charging kids.

Yep was thinking that myself. If they are hoping to make a significant amount of cash from this they are living in cloud cuckoo land.

I agree with Robin's pint above also. An empty course will not look good on live TV.

Racing Flat

Would a query/complaint to the AAI have any effect? Or is it too late for this to be changed?

robinph

Racing Flat wrote: »

Would a query/complaint to the AAI have any effect? Or is it too late for this to be changed?

Doubt that anyone has bought any tickets yet, or will for a long time, so plenty of time for them to see sense and drastically reduce the price or make it free.

TheRoadRunner

Racing Flat wrote: »

Would a query/complaint to the AAI have any effect? Or is it too late for this to be changed?

I think when they nobody is buying the tickets they will start dishing them out for free. But as an exercise in PR this is close to a disaster.

Either way I will probably pick up free tickets from board members in my club but if I don't I'm not going to attend. They charged into the worldX in Dubllin and that was also a disaster in terms of spectators.

Rineanna

Racing Flat wrote: »

Would a query/complaint to the AAI have any effect? Or is it too late for this to be changed?

Well, Mary Coughlan's latest blog is all about communication and its importance, and she includes her e-mail address twice so I do believe this rather short-sighted development warrants a flurry of e-mails in that direction, or, at least, one general e-mail with the signatures of several dissatisfied boardsies.

cesytnuochtaem

I believe they were pondering on having a mass-participation event prior to get a crowd into the venue. Looks like they went for the mass-non-participation option instead.

tunney

I live opposite the park. I was looking forward to going and watching this with the missus. Whatever chance I had of talking her into walking the 5 minutes to the park and watching it are gone once she hears it will cost €40 for the privilege.

robinph

I'd love to go along an watch an event like this, but for €20 I'll just tune into the BBC to see what is happening just down the road instead. I think at most a fiver on the gate, and free for accompanied kids, and you'll then get loads of people turn up and actually make more money from it. For €20 in advance though people will not pay up to get rained on. But I think I'd be happy enough paying a fiver on the gate, even if it was chucking it down on the day, if it meant I got to see a major international sporting event.

It does not have a big enough profile to get me or anyone else to part with twenty notes or more though, and will certainly not get people with only a passing interest in athetics to come along either. It's those people who are a much more valuable comodity for the AAI to get to come along than those of us here who are already interested in some way.

ChickenTikka

Rineanna wrote: »

Well, Mary Coughlan's latest blog is all about communication and its importance, and she includes her e-mail address twice so I do believe this rather short-sighted development warrants a flurry of e-mails in that direction, or, at least, one general e-mail with the signatures of several dissatisfied boardsies.

I think people should email the ceo directly as Rineanna suggests and diplomatically point out why we think it is wrong to charge these prices. Otherwise the decision will remain as is and they may be reluctant to change the prices at a later stage if a few hundred were already purchased e.g. from abroad.

shels4ever

It seems to be a common thing in irish sport not just Athletics with Soccer and Rugby also cashing in on big events, I used to go to all ireland games until a couple of years ago when the price went from the €20 mark , last game cost me over €100 for 2 tickets so I said never again.

Even running races here is crazy as discussed in many threads prior to this. Total rip of .

If I do go it would want to be free carparking too.....

Clum

I wonder what sort of turn out the AAI are expecting at this event?

I bet there are plenty of clubs around the country who hoped to bring bus loads of juveniles to the event but they may change their minds now.

I'm starting to change mine myself over a simple 20 euro. I'm sure the price of admission for a bus load of 50 people will help make decisions a lot quicker for cash strapped athletic clubs.

cesytnuochtaem

There's fcek awl parking at the venue. You'll be treking in from Ballymun or Coolock.....:eek:

shels4ever

cesytnuochtaem wrote: »

There's fcek awl parking at the venue. You'll be treking in from Ballymun or Coolock.....:eek:

Yep I know , thats my point

tunney

cesytnuochtaem wrote: »

There's fcek awl parking at the venue. You'll be treking in from Ballymun or Coolock.....:eek:

Multi-story carpark in the hotel beside the park. (more money)

robinph

Any international visitors won't be worried about parking though as they will just need to get a bus from the city centre hotel. But then again who will be coming over just to watch that won't be part of the team and hangers on anyway so probably have free entry?

The market for spectators tickets is only going to be for locals and the odd crazy person from outside Dublin who is interested in driving up to watch, ie zero.

Sunset V

A friend of mine works in AAI and I was on to him there about the ticket costings. Apparently they just wanted to get the ball rolling and put tickets on sale but are working on a range of discounts and offers for members that they are going to announce soon, possibly next week. Ticketmaster just couldn't turn these around to have on their site in time for the launch yesterday so there is still hope yet that we will get in for a good price!!

cesytnuochtaem

Ticket Prices

Adult Ticket: €20

Child Ticket (U16): €10

Special Offer Family Ticket Pack (2 Adults + max 4 kids): €40

Special Offer Group Ticket Pack (10+): Discounted at 20%. Call Group bookings on 01-6486029

cesytnuochtaem

tunney wrote: »

Multi-story carpark in the hotel beside the park. (more money)

Due to traffic restrictions in the area you won't be able to get close enough to see the multi-storey never mind park in it

Woddle

cesytnuochtaem wrote: »

Ticket Prices

Adult Ticket: €20

Child Ticket (U16): €10

Special Offer Family Ticket Pack (2 Adults + max 4 kids): €40

Special Offer Group Ticket Pack (10+): Discounted at 20%. Call Group bookings on 01-6486029

Still to expensive, I've sent my email letting them know of my anger.

shels4ever

Sunset V wrote: »

A friend of mine works in AAI and I was on to him there about the ticket costings. Apparently they just wanted to get the ball rolling and put tickets on sale but are working on a range of discounts and offers for members that they are going to announce soon, possibly next week. Ticketmaster just couldn't turn these around to have on their site in time for the launch yesterday so there is still hope yet that we will get in for a good price!!

Well thats just silly then, or a plan to rip off people in the hope that they buy them before they become aware of a discount for members, surly it had to be done the other way around making clubs aware of what tickets would be available to members and at what charge, before a public sale on ticketmaster at higher prices, will then then offer a refund of what ever the difference is????

So they are either ripping people off or jsut made a mess of everything.. i dont know which is worse.

Rineanna

Sunset V wrote: »

A friend of mine works in AAI and I was on to him there about the ticket costings. Apparently they just wanted to get the ball rolling and put tickets on sale but are working on a range of discounts and offers for members that they are going to announce soon, possibly next week. Ticketmaster just couldn't turn these around to have on their site in time for the launch yesterday so there is still hope yet that we will get in for a good price!!

Christ, this is sounding calamitous already. :rolleyes:

Could they not have waited, or at least have worked out ALL pricing options prior to doing the big release?

I mean the minute the likes of Cliona Foley and Ian O' Riordan get a whiff of this, I presume they're going to take the same opinion on the ticket prices as so many here have already taken. Net result, even more negative publicity for the association.

I can acknowlege that it must be a huge financial burden to host such an event, particularly in the current climate where sponsorship is rare.

However those prices are extremely prohibitive. I mean, I, like many others, won't qualify for any discounts (since there's no student discount either), and the incentive to travel up from the other side of the country is minimal. I would love to go, though.

rovers_runner

****ing disgrace, typical of the shambles that is AAI though I suppose.
Internal bickering and greed seem to go hand in hand.

ecoli

i reckon the best way to get attention for our complaints through a bombardment of emails on a continual basis by board members outlining our complaints with the ticket prices.
Does anyone know the best email address to contact about this?
I feel that not only is this the perfect opportunity to encourage the non running community but if we dont provide a good turn out it has a negative view of the irish running community form a global perspective and can hinder future attempts to host major events.

Sunset V

Yeah my friend was saying they would be putting something on the site today about prices for members etc. It's not ideal but in fairness as my mate said how many people do you think actually rushed on to ticketmaster to buy their tickets yesterday for the event, very few if any! I don't know about anyone else but I'd prefer to hear about discounts a day later than there to be no discounts at all for members

robinph

Stack 'em high, sell 'em low.

Don't they know there is a ressecion on?

Racing Flat

I for one am not going to miss out on the oppurtunity to see Lebid, Fagan etc. so would be happy to pay. So they are probably counting on my 20quid. But they are going to miss out on 2 extra spectators, friends I go to soccer and rubgy matches with who are highly unlikely to pay 20 quid each for something they are not too aware of or interested in.


The biggest crowd at Santry for years as far as I am aware was for the Brother Memorial Morton Mile meeting last year. There was a great buzz and atmosphere around and great feedback afterwards. The 9 athletes who ran under 4 minutes for the mile were well impressed. That was free of charge.

RoyMcC

Racing Flat wrote: »

The biggest crowd at Santry for years as far as I am aware was for the Brother Memorial Morton Mile meeting last year. There was a great buzz and atmosphere around and great feedback afterwards. The 9 athletes who ran under 4 minutes for the mile were well impressed. That was free of charge.

I believe it was FOC only after a U-turn when they found that no one was willing to pay for a ticket. Other than the complimentaries issued to the athletics community they'd have had a very sparse crowd without eventually throwing the doors open.

Racing Flat

RoyMcC wrote: »

I believe it was FOC only after a U-turn when they found that no one was willing to pay for a ticket. Other than the complimentaries issued to the athletics community they'd have had a very sparse crowd without eventually throwing the doors open.

As far as I am aware it was always going to be free of charge. There was no u-turn. It was never intended to charge as it was known that people wouldn't pay. And the aim was to get as big a crowd as possible. By not charging. The plan was always to get sponsorship to cover costs, as far as I am aware.

Woddle

Ecoli I sent mine to this adress ceo@athleticsireland.ie

dna_leri

Woddle wrote: »

Ecoli I sent mine to this adress ceo@athleticsireland.ie

Just sent my email too. €40 for an adult with 2 kids and all of us are members of AAI . Kids were looking forward to seeing Mary Cullen and Martin Fagan after watching them at the Great Ireland Run in the Phoenix Park (for free). Its a lost opportunity for a minority sport in these days of sporting competition from GAA, soccer & rugby.

If you feel strongly, send your email today.

Woddle

Thank you for your e-mail

Attendance by our membership at this prestigious event is extremely important to its success and to making it a memorable occasion for everyone.

Details of reduced ticket offers will be posted out to clubs in the coming week including promotional codes for Ticketmaster. Senior Member tickets will be €10 (plus service charge) while Juvenile members will be giving FREE entry.

Tickets will also be available at all National Championships on the months running up to event allowing members to benefit by not incurring a booking charge.

The cost of putting on such a great event is close to €1million and by charging for tickets we are simply trying to cover costs and not make money from this event. We want to see as many people as possible out supporting the Irish Team and I hope you and you club will be part of the day.

Amends will be made on our site to include booking fee details.

Stupid_Private

Could have saved us 4 pages of moaning if they just announced that yesterday!

Still think it should be free for all kids regardless of whether they're members or not - but I kind of just want to keep moaning a bit!