Ireland's Games In Croker

okidoki987

Reported in the paper today that soccer fans could be forced to buy the 4 home games in the qualifers in a block booking at 300 EURO or 75 Euro a game :eek: :eek: :eek:
If that's true, it's disgraceful.
Okay we all know prices will be dear for certain matches but who wants to spend that kind of money to watch the weaker teams playing?
It also means you will have to pay upfront.
To bring a kid will cost the ordinary punter 150 euro per match.
That's way too dear for Joe Public.
The FAI had better be careful before they price the ordinary fans out of the matches. There's only so many "corporate fans" out there.

Sandals

where's your source?

MrJoeSoap

okidoki987 wrote:

That's way too dear for Joe Public.

And Joe Soap I'm afraid. I can't say I'm surprised though, the FAI clearly stand to make a good deal of money out of it and if there is one thing they are good at (and there probably is just one thing) its making a buck or two. I'd love to go but I'm not going to lose all rationality and get cloudy vision over going to see a soccer game in Croker.

okidoki987

Back page in one of today's Sunday papers.
Can't remember which one though, I'll have a look later.

DonnieBrasco

i know eircom season ticket holders, who travel to home and away games every week and cant get their hands on international tickets.
this might help them, granted at a price.

It should go half way to filtering out some of the ole ole ole gang who are not keen on seeing ire v finland and that type of opposition.

some people pay 300quid to travel to a liverpool...or celtic or utd etc etc

300 quid for international 4 games is probably not that bad a deal.

incidentally, i still have my ticket to ireland V brazil from 1987 - apparently my old man had no problem getting those tickets. nobody was into it then!

I've tried to go to every home game possible since, searching high and low for tickets. I went to every friendly last year. im not a club member or anything but i go to some eircom games and have made a few ticket source contacts since, but come the big games im the last on the list.

I didnt manage to get one of the block book of tickets the last time around(when we played brazil again) but my mate, who had never been to lansdowne,dalymount,croke park,tolka park,turners cross etc etc in his life...got one because he had friend in ticketmaster. I tried to buy a ticket but they were whipped up.

no doubt... i wont get a ticket for the opener in croker and he will.

Aquos76

okidoki987 wrote:

Back page in one of today's Sunday papers.
Can't remember which one though, I'll have a look later.

Go on tell the truth, you know which one it is but are to afraid to say it, as you know the responses you will get about that rag...

Its the News of the World. So more that likely its total crap

cournioni

Block booking is fine by me, that is the way it should be to make sure real soccer fans get the tickets. But that price is ridiculous.

smemon

yeah it's all right when you have the cash up front but not too many people pay for everything up front.

*sweats upon looking at credit card*

PHB

Block booking is fine, on the condition can you pay in installments.
300 quid off the block is pretty tough for a lot of people, even real fans.

Bluetonic

PHB wrote:

Block booking is fine, on the condition can you pay in installments.
300 quid off the block is pretty tough for a lot of people, even real fans.

Ah for god sake, 300 euro in installments? You've gotta be taking the piss. Get a loan of the 300 euro and work something out with a lender (bank etc..) but you can hardly expect the FAI to offer credit terms?

Big Nelly

PHB wrote:

Block booking is fine, on the condition can you pay in installments.
300 quid off the block is pretty tough for a lot of people, even real fans.

To be honest these days 300 quid is nothing. Sure you would spent that in a week on s**t anyway. I don't mind it and if I need to spent 300 quid thats fine by me as long as we don't have the ticketmaster crowd that was the Brazil game etc. No atmosphere or nothing(please note that real fans who got tickets for those games I am not taking a pop)

I think at this stage in Ireland there will be very few people that can't pay 300 quid for a few games when half the time they are paying that to buy a ticket to some crap band at slane

rahim

300 quid is a lot of money these days no matter how much anyone might spend on s**t in a week! You're being asked to fork out this cash before the games (well before the games for some of them) so that these people can make rediculous amounts of interest on your money before they have to pay any bills, I can safely guarentee it's not for the benefit of the real fans.
Also, you can't buy a single ticket for a game you might be around for, people might not be able to make it to all four games yet they have to pay for all four if they can only get to one. Real fans may also miss out on seeing any of the four matches, remember if one sells out all four sell out so you may end up not seeing any at all (unlikely, but still possible).

Big Nelly

rahim wrote:

300 quid is a lot of money these days no matter how much anyone might spend on s**t in a week! You're being asked to fork out this cash before the games (well before the games for some of them) so that these people can make rediculous amounts of interest on your money before they have to pay any bills, I can safely guarentee it's not for the benefit of the real fans.
Also, you can't buy a single ticket for a game you might be around for, people might not be able to make it to all four games yet they have to pay for all four if they can only get to one. Real fans may also miss out on seeing any of the four matches, remember if one sells out all four sell out so you may end up not seeing any at all (unlikely, but still possible).

First off if you cant afford 300 quid then don't pay it. I know me and all my mates who go to most friendly games will have no probs forking out to watch 4 games in the mighty croker. Have been to many a GAA game and its class stadium. I will be be there for sure if I can get tickets

Also if you are a "real" fan then you would want to go to all the games not just pick and choose which game you want to go to because they are playing a "bigger" game/team. This is the fans that we want to get rid of because the atmosphere in Landsdown over the last while at the bigger games has been terrible because of the "fans" like this.

Also, what you expect the FAI to do? give you the tickets? quit crying about the ticket price and just pay up to watch your national team. If you don't then Im sure the tickets will still sell and Im sure you won't be missed.

Again 300 quid alot of money??????? don't think so!

MrJoeSoap

€75 for Republic of Ireland V Wales: Steep, only worth it because its the first game in Croker
€75 for Republic of Ireland V Slovakia: No thanks.
€75 for Republic of Ireland V Germany: Steep but worth it as the biggest of the four games.
€75 for Republic of Ireland V Cyprus: Rofl!

I went to see Ireland -v- Wales in Tolka ffs, tickets were probably less than a fiver.

rahim

Ok, fair enough 300 quid isn't alot of money to you, but try looking at it from the point of view of say a parent, two kids that you always used to bring to matches, if you want to bring them its gonna be 900euro for you, before you even get there. Also, i'm not talking about picking and choosning my matches, i'm talking about those who live abroad wanting to see a historic moment in Irish history, when Ireland play in Croker of all places! What are you supposed to do, fly over and stay here until you've seen all four matches or get a flight over and back four times to see them, thats a lot of cash right there.
I live in Dublin, i'm young enough to not have to worry about bills etc so I can afford this amount, I go to as many Irish games as I can get tickets for and used to go to quite a few EL games (havn't been in a while but I must start back again this season). Thats not the point tho, I just think its a lot to ask anyone, be them "real fans" or not.

cournioni

In fairness Nelly, €75 per game is a total rip off. No matter what way you look at it. That is almost double what you'd pay for a normal game.

Bluetonic

PORNAPSTER wrote:

That is almost double what you'd pay for a normal game.

The stadium is more than double in terms of facilities and comfort wise than for a normal game.

People are crying out for good facilities and a good stadium but yet you don't want to pay the prices?

Also bear in mind that some East and West tickets are priced at 60 euro already for Lansdowne.

There are going to be increased cost to the FAI for the running of these matches, if your looking at double the attendence then I'd say double the increased costs, security, staff, policing, setup, clean up, etc..,

MrJoeSoap

Bluetonic wrote:

Also bear in mind that some East and West tickets are priced at 55 euro already for Lansdowne.

Well if you want to bare that in mind then bare in mind the price of a GAA ticket at Croker, I'm sure even All-Ireland final tickets aren't even €75.

People are crying out for good facilities and a good stadium but yet you don't want to pay the prices?

I can't believe people are trying to justify €75 minimum for an Ireland game against Cyprus (if the information in the OP is correct of course).

cournioni

I'm not doubting that is it double the comfort and double the facilities but it is still a rip off. €55 for Lansdowne is a rip off too.

Bluetonic

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Well if you want to bare that in mind then bare in mind the price of a GAA ticket at Croker, I'm sure even All-Ireland final tickets aren't even €75.

The big difference here is the GAA own the stadium and don't have to pay rent. Average price during the summer is 35 euro in Croker. All Ireland final tickets average 45 euro.

What are the GAA going to charge per match for rent? What other costs are there for the FAI per match?

There will ONLY be approx 60,000 paying customer for the FAI per match even if it is full capacity.

rahim

The Hill is usually about 15-20 (granted they can't use that for soccer)
Average price for the stands was 25euro, it went up to 35euro for quarter finals, semi-finals and the final.

gracehopper

if the tabloid reports are true then it's a disgraceful price and i wont be going to one of the home games. The GAA are F**king the FAI with the rent of the ground and FAI are trying F**K the fans. Usual crap from the FAI imo!

I might go to either the Wales or Germany away fixture, it'd be better crack than a half full croker!

MrJoeSoap

Bluetonic wrote:

The big difference here is the GAA own the stadium and don't have to pay rent. Average price during the summer is 35 euro in Croker. All Ireland final tickets average 45 euro.

What are the GAA going to charge per match for rent? What other costs are there for the FAI per match?

There will ONLY be approx 60,000 paying customer for the FAI per match even if it is full capacity.

The fact that the FAI are having to charge extra because they are only renting the stadium makes no odds to me. I don't care who is ripping us off, €75 is too much for 90 minutes of (most likely mediocre) football. I'd go to the first game at the drop of a hat (as would 99% of the population of this country I'd imagine) but after that I've no interest in spending my hard-earned wages on an inherintly incompetent association.

I stewarded at an Ireland game last year though, might be an avenue worth exploring, getting paid to watch the game!

gracehopper wrote:

I might go to either the Wales or Germany away fixture, it'd be better crack than a half full croker!

If the FAI do sell the tickets in blocks as the OP suggested then there is little or no chance of Croker being half-full.

Bluetonic

MrJoeSoap wrote:

I've no interest in spending my hard-earned wages on an inherintly incompetent association.

So is it the fact that in your opinion the association is incompetent that you wouldn't pay the prices or that the actual prices are too much?

If the association was not incompetent would you happily pay the prices?

I find it hard to find fault with someone who attempts to charge the most for a commodity within reason. I mean people are quite happy to pay the exact same prices for similar events where the associations or promotors are as incompetent and the running time is as short.

Regardless you can be sure Croke Park will be full.

As a side I'm looking forward to the few six nation matches that will be held there - somehow can't imagine your usual rugby type enjoying a pint in Ballybough.

cournioni

gracehopper wrote:

The GAA are F**king the FAI with the rent of the ground

Not really, they are charging the FAI for less than what they would full house in Lansdowne. The FAI would make €1.6m on a full house in Lansdowne and the GAA are charging them €1.5m per game. That I think that is pretty fair. Do you not think so?

gracehopper

PORNAPSTER wrote:

Not really, they are charging the FAI for less than what they would full house in Lansdowne. The FAI would make €1.6m on a full house in Lansdowne and the GAA are charging them €1.5m per game. That I think that is pretty fair. Do you not think so?

Fair enough but do the FAI not rent lansdowne from the irfu? I'm not sure the 1.6mil is nett profit after they square up with the irfu. I Could be wrong though.

If the croker rent is considered fair, where are the FAI getting their prices from then? Do they just pluck these figures out of the sky.As somebody mentioned below, the first game will be a huge spectacle and a definite sell out and the rest with the exception of the germany match will be the usual 30-40 thousand attendance like landsdowne. Dont expect people to go just because the matches are played in croker. If a father wants to bring his son to a match it will be €150. I'm sorry but thats a joke! Irish people have been known to sucumb to ridiculous prices in the past but i cant see more than 20-25 thousand supporters paying them prices, i know i wont be.

Bluetonic

gracehopper wrote:

i cant see more than 20-25 thousand supporters paying them prices, i know i wont be.

Rubbish, I fully expect 60,000 to pay those prices no problems at all. There is plenty of people out there with desposible income who will be interested in going to the matches.

I can't see too may block bookers turning down the tickets as they'll be bumped off the list, so that 35,000 already before you even talk about the general public.

What do you think the prices are going to be in the new Lansdowne, 2 bob and six pence?

gracehopper

Bluetonic wrote:

What do you think the prices are going to be in the new Lansdowne, 2 bob and six pence?

honestly, i would have thought 35-45 euro. Until now

Bluetonic

gracehopper wrote:

honestly, i would have thought 35-45 euro. Until now

Well considering they are offering 10 year tickets at the moment for 7,500 euro and we have an average of 7 home games each season thats around 110 per match for the next ten year. Granted is does include 'access' to the best seats (where available!) and access to premium facilities (hot dog stand and bar), so you can see what their intent is for years to come.

cournioni

gracehopper wrote:

Fair enough but do the FAI not rent lansdowne from the irfu? I'm not sure the 1.6mil is nett profit after they square up with the irfu. I Could be wrong though.

Yes, but the fact is that they are renting out an 82,000 capacity stadium, with some of the best facilities in Europe and not a 34,000 capacity stadium that is run down into the ground.

If the FAI aren't plucking figures from the sky, why then would they make a profit of €4.65m on a full house for one game in Croker if they charged €75 a ticket? :rolleyes:

It isn't like the GAA are holding a gun to the FAI's heads saying they have to charge €75 a ticket.

jesus_thats_gre

**** it, am glad its so expensive Hopefully it will put alot of the average joe's from taking their allocation and I will actually be able to get tickets - finally!! Poxy ****ing waiting list!!!

okidoki987

Germany and Wales are the only 2 games worth that kind of money.
Slovakia and Cyprus aren't.
Why should you have to pay the same amount for all those games?
Just hope we're still in the running for qualification when we get to the Cyprus game .
I noticed the prices of the 10 year tickets and I thought they were very expensive.
Mind you said the same when they came out first time around!

The Rooster

gracehopper wrote:

honestly, i would have thought 35-45 euro. Until now

Well then you're not living in the real world. Even at the moment its over €40 for upper deck in the East or West Stand to watch Sweden in a friendly in Lansdowne Road.

Lower deck in the Hogan or Cusack will be at least €75. The question is will they extend the same price all around the stadium, or will they offer lower prices for upper deck and for Canal End?

I've no doubt the tickets for the rugby games will hit 3 figures. Sure they were charging (and selling) €70 to watch Ireland - Italy a couple of weeks ago.

Pal

It's not even a complete stadium !

there's only three sides to it.
great planning eh......

how can they charge that money ?

Bluetonic

Pal wrote:

It's not even a complete stadium !

there's only three sides to it.
great planning eh......

how can they charge that money ?

Have you been to many world class stadia lately for a world class event? Thats the going rate.

okidoki987

Have you been to many world class stadia lately for a world class event?

World class stadium YES
World class event YES
World class team Eh I'll come back to you on that

Bluetonic

okidoki987 wrote:

World class stadium YES
World class event YES
World class team Eh I'll come back to you on that

So do you think the price should be based on how well the team are playing?

Why don't we charge 30 euro for the first game, then if we win that 60 for the next and so on.... :rolleyes:

eirebhoy

Bluetonic wrote:

Well considering they are offering 10 year tickets at the moment for 7,500 euro and we have an average of 7 home games each season thats around 110 per match for the next ten year. Granted is does include 'access' to the best seats (where available!) and access to premium facilities (hot dog stand and bar), so you can see what their intent is for years to come.

The 10 year ticket is not for the average fan. Its for those that don't care how much they pay as long as they have the best seat in the house. Every stadium has a premium section,=. Its easy to notice Celtic's as there's no colour there at all. Unfortunately Lansdowne have a bloody huge premium section.

Bluetonic

eirebhoy wrote:

The 10 year ticket is not for the average fan. Its for those that don't care how much they pay as long as they have the best seat in the house. Every stadium has a premium section,=. Its easy to notice Celtic's as there's no colour there at all. Unfortunately Lansdowne have a bloody huge premium section.

If it was for those who don't care how much they are paying as long as they ahve the best seats in the house then surely they would price it a lot more expensively than they are. 7,500 euro over 10 years is nothing if what you say is true.

eirebhoy

Bluetonic wrote:

If it was for those who don't care how much they are paying as long as they ahve the best seats in the house then surely they would price it a lot more expensively than they are. 7,500 euro over 10 years is nothing if what you say is true.

€150 a game is nothing? I'll be sure to ask you for a lend when I'm broke. The FAI had to increase the amount of premium seats because the price of the stadium increased.

Kingp35

I think the price of €75 is a bit ridiculous tbh. The point of playing in a better stadium with better facilities doesnt hold up because the GAA dont charge that. i go to every DUblin game and only one have I paid that much for a ticket as I had to pay double to get my ticket on the black market because I was away at the time tickets were on sale. It is simply a case of the FAI trying to get as much money as possible and if people cant see that there is something wrong with them.

Saying that though I am a huge reland fan so I will pay the money because I want to see my team but I wont be happy about it especially considering I am a poor student!

Bluetonic

Kingp35 wrote:

I think the price of €75 is a bit ridiculous tbh. The point of playing in a better stadium with better facilities doesnt hold up because the GAA dont charge that.

Rubbish, think of every other venue in the country, music ones for example, I don't see the prices of gigs in The Olympia and The Point the same for every band/event who plays there. In fact some of the event prices vary by massive amounts yet they are still in the exact same building with the exact same facilities.

The fact of the matter is that premium events can dictate premium prices. UEFA and FIFA events are premium worldwide high profile events, sadly GAA is not. Don't for one second think that if the GAA thought they could get 75 euro out of you they wouldn't jump at it.

Pricing currently in the GAA reflects the amatuer nature of the sport so lets not bring this into a GAA v FAI pricing.

gracehopper

This €75 euro a ticket fiasco was blown out of proportion by the papers. €75 is for premium lower tier of either hogan or cusack. I'm not sure what canal or upper tiers cost but I've been informed that its not €75 quid a seat all around the ground

I suppose I'll be sitting in the gods in croker then. The new stands in croker gives a good view from anywhere in the stand so it should be OK

The Rooster

The GAA could easily sell out Croker for an All Ireland final at €100 a ticket. They choose not to, and to charge €45 I believe for this years.

Supply and demand are not the only things sport needs to take into account. They have to keep an eye on the happiness of the supporter.

However, everybody knows the FAI could sell out Croker for the 4 games at €75 a ticket, if the tickets are bundled. They could probably go higher than that. The novelty factor will be huge, "everybody" will want to be there. I still dont think they will charge €75 for every ticket. I reckon they will stagger it, so depending where you are in the ground, you pay somewhere between €50 and €75. To get us a bit used to that they'll also take the opportunity to increase the prices in Old Lansdowne for the last home games there.

The fact of the matter is that they'll sell out no matter what the price is for the last few games in Old Lansdowne, the games in Croker and the first year of games in New Lansdowne. Its only when the novelty factor wears off that you'll get fans fighting back against the massive prices, by not going.

I take the argument that top concerts are €75 and more (sometimes a lot more), and they sell out. There's a small but important difference though - if you don't pay, you totally miss the concert - if you don't pay to go to an Ireland game, you watch it on telly.

LostinBlanch

OK I'm not defending the FAI here but I read that one of the elelments of the deal to rent Croker was that neither the FAI or IRFU would release "cut price" tickets for any matoches in Croker. hhe GAA are scared of them using the games there as a marketing tool to get more prospective fans etc i.e. they made sure they couldn't release a load of cheap tickets to fill out the ground. Of course I'm sure the FAI are adding their bit on top to make hay while the sun shines and blame the GAA. From their point of view making usre that people buy a block of tickets for all matches means that they maximise revenue. How many people on here said they wanted to go to all four games?

DonnieBrasco wrote:

i still have my ticket to ireland V brazil from 1987 - apparently my old man had no problem getting those tickets. nobody was into it then!

Oh yes we were. I was lucky enough to be on the Landsowne Terrace behind the goal when Brady scored./ He was playing up front for that game :eek: and got through on goal with a defender and goalie to beat./ He did a little jink and both the golaie and defender did a little hop to their left at exactly the same time and Chippy slipped in the opposite corner.

I used to be able to get tickets for all home games in the late 80's. I was at jack Charltons first ever game as manager 1 - 0 loss to Wales - Ruch scored and Southall broke his leg. All you had to do was queue and their was a good chance you'd get a ticket. That changed after the 1990 World Cup. Ole Ole :rolleyes:

DonnieBrasco wrote:

I didnt manage to get one of the block book of tickets the last time around(when we played brazil again) but my mate, who had never been to lansdowne,dalymount,croke park,tolka park,turners cross etc etc in his life...got one because he had friend in ticketmaster. I tried to buy a ticket but they were whipped up.

I know what you mean, I was lucky enough to block book tickets for those games. The Brazil game was like a concert with all the camera flashes going off! I didn't see the same for the Romania game. I wonder why?

DonnieBrasco wrote:

no doubt... i wont get a ticket for the opener in croker and he will.

You mightn't get a ticket for the opener but I bet you'll be able to get tickets to see Slovakia play, and I bet it'd be a better game than Wales. Remember what Artmedia Bratislava did to Celtic?