Advertisement
Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney: The GAA hope ticket packages will fill stadiums like this for the remainder of the summer.
Good Save

The price is right? GAA pushes ticket packages that won't break the bank

If you know how to do it and are up for minding ten kids for the day – you can get some GAA tickets for free.

GAA FANS WORRIED about ticket prices for matches over the summer, need not. Tickets can be got for nothing, literally, if you organise yourself.

The provincial councils have reacted to falling attendances so far this year by promoting ticket packages that can have major savings for families, groups and clubs, and all councils say there are great deals left for their respective provincial finals.

Just yesterday, the Ulster Council slashed ticket prices for their Senior Football decider between Donegal and Derry on 17 July by 10% for the stand and 16% for the terraces. Ticket prices now stand at €27  for the covered stand and €16 for the pleasure of standing on the Clones Hill.

This price reduction comes on the back of news that attendances across the board in this year’s championships have fallen by 25% on 2010 figures.

The Leinster Council have also slashed prices from last year, with adult tickets up to €15 cheaper if bought in a package. Stand tickets for both the hurling decider between Kilkenny and Dublin, and the football decider between Dublin and Wexford are €35 per single ticket for an adult, while admission to Hill 16 is €20. Kids tickets for both are €5.

However under ticket package offers, children can get in for as little as €3, while an adult accompanying a group of ten kids can watch the drama unfold for free. Pensioners and students must pay the full price up front but can claim back €15 at Croke Park on production of cards.

“The thing that we try and do is to keep evolving”

The Munster Council is also flying the package deal flag, and they tailored their ticketing system to meet the new economic realities earlier in the year. Enda McGuane, Deputy CEO and Financial Officer of the Munster Council, told TheScore.ie that although attendance figures are holding up on 2010 comparisons, they expect a shortfall in revenue of about a half a million for the same period.

“We are aware of the situation at present and we have put in place a variety of packages to that end,” McGuane explained.

“It means the people, the families, the kids – the lifeblood and future of the GAA, can all attend the games at excellent prices. In some of the packages, a child can get the best seat available in a stand for the football or hurling final for as little as €5.”

We as an organisation have to evolve with peoples needs. We have been around for 127 years, which shows the organisation has always done this.

“To get the people to attend games is not just the matches, but also the stadiums. They have to cater for people’s needs and give them an experience. We feel in Munster that we have achieved these developments in Limerick, Killarney and Thurles over the last number of years.”

“The thing that we try and do is to keep evolving and to try to do what we do better every year,” McGuane concluded.

The Connacht Council were not available for comment.