Ireland Ticket Prices

[fuzzylogic]

Havnt heard, Sky have got England and BBC Wales have the Welsh games. Havnt heard about Ireland.

[cables]

From the BBC website this evening:

SATURDAY 6 NOVEMBER
Ireland v South Africa
Live: 1710-1930, BBC Two/online

SATURDAY 13 NOVEMBER
Ireland v Samoa
Live: 1415-1630, BBC Northern Ireland/BBC Red Button/online

FRIDAY 19 NOVEMBER – DATE QUERY
Ireland v New Zealand
Live: 1700-1930, BBC Two/online

SUNDAY 28 NOVEMBER
Ireland v Argentina
Live: 1400-1630, BBC Two/online
Further details and radio information to follow.

[Rooster]

On RTE as well

[Rooster]

CONOR POPE

RUGBY TICKET PRICES: HOW WOULD YOU like to see the rugby giants of New Zealand run riot this autumn? With tickets costing between €32.50 and €55 (or just €11 for a child), it seems like excellent value and we have to take our hat of to the rugby authorities for pricing the tickets so fairly in the middle of the darkest recession in more than 70 years.

Sadly, it is not the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) who deserve the kudos for this enlightened pricing strategy. All praise should be directed at their counterparts in Scotland. The upcoming match in Murrayfield is operating under a three-tiered pricing system with tickets selling for £45 (€54.99), €25 (€30.55) or €11.26 (£10) for schools.

When the Irish prices for the four autumn internationals against South Africa, New Zealand, Argentina and Samoa were announced, there were howls of protest as the IRFU tried to sell them as a package with stand tickets costing €340, an average of €85 per ticket. People who shelled out these sums would have to have gone to the matches – a couple of which might be less than brilliant – on four consecutive Saturdays throughout November, a big ask for any fan, but particularly those who live considerable distances from the Dublin 4 ground.

It is clear that Irish rugby fans who want to go to the Aviva Stadium are being asked to pay substantially more than rugby supporters elsewhere.

The ticket prices for South Africa against Australia in Pretoria this year are €48.43 and €38.67; while Australia versus New Zealand in Sydney is €62.62. So two adults and two children can see two of the best teams in the world battle it out for €140.71. Closer to home England against Samoa at Twickenham will cost between €30.55 and €79.43 (for the very best seats in the house), while school children will pay €12.20. Ticket prices for France’s game against Australia next month will cost between €15 and €110 – with all but the most expensive tickets costing less than €75.

The IRFU has claimed it needs the money to develop and nurture the game but after the protests over this four-game package reached an almost deafening crescendo, it was forced to rethink its strategy. After discussions with the provinces and clubs, it agreed that tickets for the November test series could be broken into a pair of two-game packages.

The South Africa/Samoa matches now has a price tag of €150 while and the New Zealand/Argentina games will set fans back €190. As always the match tickets will be distributed through the provincial branches and clubs.

When it comes to the Six Nations – which is a much bigger draw – the prices are also steep. Tickets for Ireland’s home matches against France and England are being sold as a package at a cost of €250 for an adult for the two games and €80 for children. A family of two adults and two children going to see Ireland in the spring will have to shell out €660 and that is before any questionably priced “gourmet” burgers and drinks sold in and around the ground are added to the mix.

You’d want to be a big fan with big pockets to shell out such sums and sources within the club structure have spoken of a slow take-up for the autumn series.

The IRFU points out that it is a not-for-profit organisation and the only dividend it produces is one of participation in sport. It says the Ireland squad and international games at the Aviva Stadium need to produce a financial surplus that is then fully distributed throughout all levels of the game.

In an interview published in this newspaper last Friday the Union’s chief executive Phillip Browne defended the ticket pricing. He said the IRFU was working off a shoestring and claimed that if it started reducing ticket prices to the extent that it actually impacts the professional game, we wont have competitive teams. If we dont have competitive teams, well find that we wont get the support were getting at national and provincial level.

Critics are not convinced. Broadcaster George Hook is a particularly trenchant one. He says the IRFU has handled its pricing strategy appallingly since the new stadium opened. “Trying to bundle the tickets as a package of four in the current economic climate was outrageous and made the IRFU look greedy and grasping and made the sport look middle-class,” he says.

Bill Twormey is a member of Lansdowne Rugby Club, a Fine Gael councillor and lifelong rugby fan — he has missed just four Irish home internationals since 1961. He and Hook are on the same page when it comes to the pricing. “The IRFU is charged with developing the game and has been hugely successful but this is a regressive step.

“They are shutting out a huge swathe of people who are interested in the game. They are effectively killing the game or turning it into what it used to be in the 1980s, an elite game with upper-middle class supporters in Dublin and Belfast and a working class backbone from Limerick.” He says the pricing piles up the pressure on families and “shows the folly of the undersized stadium which must be used to bleed dry rugby people”.

The IRFU sells all tickets through the nation’s clubs. Hook says the union is “blackmailing” the clubs into taking a set allocation or run the risk of getting a reduced allocation for the Six Nations matches, tickets for which are “like gold dust.”

Hook says it is “all well and good selling tickets to the fellow in the suede coat and sharp tie in Dublin 4” but it quite a different matter trying to sell these tickets to fans around the country who have to add on the cost of transportation, food and accommodation on to the ticket price.

“The real outrage is that they have trebled the price of the schoolboy tickets. The purpose of the IRFU is to grow the game and the schoolboy places were a great tradition. Now they are saying that because they are providing seating they can charge more which will have the affect of making it an elite sport,” he says.

Of course it is not just the IRFU which has questions to answer. When the stadium was being built, the FAI was brimful of confidence that it would have no problem selling tickets and it predicted that there would be never be tickets on general sale because of advance block bookings and premium seat sales. It didn’t quite pan out that way. People baulked at paying anywhere from €12,000 to €32,000 for 10- year Vantage Club tickets “Everybody knows at this stage we’re in a different climate. It’s a different economy,” conceded the FAI’s John Delaney.

When it comes to soccer, Irish prices have been higher for a long time. At the climax of the qualification process for the World Cup, last year the FAI bundled tickets for the final two home games against Italy and Montenegro and charged €100, €140 or €170 per person for tickets to both. In Copenhagen, tickets for a crucial Denmark versus Sweden game ranged from 210 Kroner (€28) to 475 Kroner (€63). French fans were charged €10 for a seat with the gods at Stade de France and €80 for a seat on the half-way line. The Italian FA charged between €10 and €60 while access to Wembley cost between £14.50 (€15.60) and £58.50 (€63).

But back to Murrayfield: one of the reasons tickets for the Scottish match against New Zealandn next month are so cheap is because the popularity of the game there has dwindled and its union has struggled to fill the stadium for a decade. Irish officials will hope they don’t find themselves in a similar position in 2020.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/pri ... tml?via=mr

[Shan]

The clubs are very angry at the IRFU for their imposition of the rule regarding unsold tickets which will result in either the clubs having to come up with the shortfall or else lose their future allocation for 6N matches. The IRFU are, as usual, completely out of touch with both the clubs they claim to care about and the Irish public who cannot afford their fancy prices in this recessionary time.

The IRFU, through that absolute kn-b Philip Browne, were at pains to use funding of the club and other non-professional aspects of Irish Rugby during their complaints about Irish minister Eamonn Ryan's FTA proposals recently. Now will be the real test to show how much they really care about grass roots rugby.

One of Cork Cons' officials, not sure if it was the President as I didn't catch his name, was on the RTE 6 o'clock news tonight saying that all the clubs need to stick together to ensure the IRFU have to act in a manner beneficial to the clubs and by extension Irish rugby at all levels throughout the island. I am finding myself in a very strange position here in that I agree completely with a Cons man.


Clubs may revolt over tickets.......
http://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/2010/1101 ... ckets.html

[Shan]

Thanks for that Youngman. I wasn't aware of that difference in Ulster. Do you know how badly affected the Ulster clubs are in terms of unsold tickets? I am assuming they are in the same position as the clubs in Munster.

[cables]

Local news this evening quoted £17,000 in respect of Ballymena RFC.

Andy Ward was also interviewed.

http://www.u.tv/utvplayer/video/133330/108734

[cables]

IRFU admits ticketing 'strategy error'
The IRFU tonight backtracked on its ticket demands for the autumn internationals and admitted making an “error in its ticketing strategy” after clubs around the country raised concerns over selling their allocations.

At a meeting of the IRFU Management Committee it was decided that clubs will only be asked for immediate payment for tickets they have sold for the four match series. The association also gave a commitment to work with the branches and the clubs to assess the situation regarding unsold tickets with a view to reaching an equitable solution to this difficult problem.

“There has been slower than expected demand for this autumn’s Guinness Series,” explained Philip Browne, IRFU chief executive. “There are a number of elements impacting on this situation since the sales structure was drawn up in March 2010, including a further significant deterioration in the economic climate.”

“While the situation varies from club to club we are aware that a number of clubs are still in possession of tickets for matches. In the interests of Irish Rugby, the IRFU, the branches and the clubs, must continue to work hard to sell these tickets right up to kick-off for each match.

“The IRFU do not want to see clubs suffer financial hardship as a result of being unable to sell ticket packages for this Guinness Series and consequently will only seek immediate payment for tickets sold. On completion of the series, the IRFU will work with the branches and clubs to assess the effect of the reduced demand for tickets.”

The IRFU originally packaged all four of Ireland’s autumn internationals together but later divided it into two-match packages. A combined New Zealand, Argentina ticket costs €190 and the South Africa, Samoa package costing €150 with individual tickets available for the Argentina and Samoa games.

“In addition the IRFU will undertake a comprehensive review of its entire ticket sales strategy, which includes price tiering, bundling and distribution channels,” added Browne. “As part of this review, which will commence immediately on completion of the Guinness Series, it will consult widely with its stakeholders.”

It was further agreed that ticket allocations to branches and clubs for next year’s Six Nations matches will not be affected by sales of tickets for the Guinness Series. Ireland play England and France on home soil.
http://www.irishtimes.com/sports/rugby/ ... 73940.html

[cables]

Will UR refund clubs in the North??

Certainly would be delayed even if a refund is to be given.

IRFU seem only to have said that they will 'only seek immediate payment for tickets sold'. That leaves it open that payment for all unsold tickets may be demanded in the future. Until that is clear I don't think UR will refund clubs here.

[Shan]

Certainly would be delayed even if a refund is to be given.

IRFU seem only to have said that they will 'only seek immediate payment for tickets sold'. That leaves it open that payment for all unsold tickets may be demanded in the future. Until that is clear I don't think UR will refund clubs here.

Indeed Cables, this is the most important point in the IRFU statement and it will be interesting to see the outcome. Hopefully it will be favourable for the clubs.

Perhaps the IRFU will in future think about more than how they can get people to cough up over the odds for the tickets but I won't be holding my breath despite this talk of a review.

[HwoodMike2umate]

Off to see our first ever rugby in Wales.
Wales v Fiji on 19th November. A rather pricey £22 each but we'll live with it.

[Dublin4]

Philip Browne confirmed this morning that they cannot fill the stadium for the first match against the world champions due to the catastrophic mis-sale of the tickets.
What a shambles.
This will have huge repercussions down the line for the financing of the Union. They will have to pay off the debt on the Aviva more slowly and beyond the planned 2013. Whither Ireland has a sevens team at the Olympics? Connacht to go under?

[Jackie Brown]

Sure it's just like a Michael Bubble concert...

[Rooster]

They had already written off the 7's squad for Olympics if you look at one of those interviews in Irish Times a couple of weeks ago.

[for dog and ulcer]

Sure it's just like a Michael Bubble concert...

Yes- but did they start selling Buble tickets in sets of 4 only - to include 2 other concerts by lesser names? No -I thought not. I have to say that the outcome of this debacle pleases me- the egg on the face bit anyway. The IRFU appear to be completely out of touch with recession realities. I note the £22 price of HWM'S ticket in Wales. The WRF are clearly more in tune with 2010.