Ticket Prices

[armaghniac]

Very expensive is that same for Division 3 and 4?

Crowds are very poor down the leagues for many counties. Just doesn't seem necessary to me, the crowds are not that good outside Division 1.

div 3 & 4 are €10 entry

This should suit economically minded Down and Cavan people, aristocrats fallen on hard times.

[Truth hurts]

IN the north, the current average monthly pay packet is £1,967.

Parts come in a bit under and parts come in a bit over. The disparities won't come as a surprise to you.

Derry city and Strabane, Fermanagh/Omagh and Newry, Mourne and Down are at the bottom of the scale.

The predominantly unionist strongholds of Lisburn and Castlereagh (avg £2,174) and Antrim/Newtownabbey (£2,074) skew the figures.

Take tax, National Insurance, mortgage, heating oil, electricity, car payment, fuel – by the time you're done with all that, you start to understand why disposable income for homes in the north dropped to £95 a week last autumn.

It's a lucky home that has as much as that.

There are areas of the north that are among the very poorest in the whole of the UK.

Where the average annual wage in the Republic is £39,000, it is just £30,000 here. That is well shy of even the UK's average.

Brexit has driven living costs up, closing the gap in the cost of living.

The UK as a whole has become a depraved and despicable part of the western world.

Their government has spent 13 years taking feathers off a frog and handing them to those that have so much they don't know what to do with it.

A fifth of houses across the UK now have an average weekly shortfall of £60. They have to choose between paying for energy, rent, food and fuel.

Unfortunately, we sit beneath their umbrella in the north.

A government that we don't choose has ultimate control and the DUP, charged with helping run this place, are sulking in the corner.

The £600 energy payment that pensioners in England started to receive in November is only starting to arrive here because the DUP can't have the right sausages.

Have you been in a hospital lately?

It's only when you've been through the doors at the minute you could even begin to understand how bad it is. It is like a warzone.

On one evening, there were two nurses to cover the whole of A&E in Altnagelvin. There must have been 100 people waiting to be seen. They had four cubicles in which to triage patients and 25 beds that were all taken up. The ambulances queued at the door.

The nurses felt guilty for taking a break to eat. They were exhausted and at the point of breaking. You find yourself consoling the people that are there to look after you. What else can you do?

This is real life right now. It's not particularly pretty.

Ordinary people are struggling and it is a struggle that will continue for a long time to come.

So look. What's the GAA sticking an extra €3 on to the cost of a league game to you? Maybe nothing. It's grand when you can pay it and not notice the difference.

But it was so unnecessary of the GAA to do it. Right now, like?

In 2019, the last normal season for which figures are available, the GAA made €5.4m in gate receipts from the football and hurling leagues. They cost €1.9m to run.

The rest of the money, in accounting terms, was put down as going towards the GAA's injury fund (€540,000) and paying for team expenses (€2.9m). It was a complete break-even deal in the books.

That same year, owing partly to the replayed football final, gate receipts from the football championship rose to €18.2m from €12.7m the previous year.

It's just four years since fans were being charged €12 in to watch league games. This year, it will be €18. A 50 per cent increase since 2019.

Financially it has been a couple of tough years for the GAA too. And they do put a huge chunk of their income back out each year.

They have their own costs but, frankly, I don't really want to hear the excuse about rising costs causing this price increase. That's inevitably what it will be when it comes at the release of their annual report next month.

It has been far tougher on households and families.

The cost of attending a game is far greater than just the cost of the ticket. Fuel and food prices have become so prohibitive. A day out for two people at a league game could easily sting you for £100.

Championship, more still. Throw in the kids (albeit it's admirable that U16s still go free in the league) and it starts to become a very expensive hobby.

With the condensed season now, you're looking at between two and four games on one paycheque.

It's simply not affordable for so many people.

Football hasn't been this competitive in a long time. New management in Mayo, Galway's rise, Tyrone's struggles since winning Sam, Kerry's ascension to the throne, Dublin in Division Two with Derry – there's a good chance that despite all the negativity around the game, crowds will increase this spring.

Problem with all this is that the provincial councils will still need their pound of flesh. So even though the spring's revamped provincial championships are greatly reduced in lustre, will that be reflected in ticket price reductions? Bet your bottom dollar it won't.

The summer will see an expanded programme packed with group stage matches that mean nothing. You can't price championship games cheaper than league games, surely, so is €18 your starting point?

It just feels like a never-ending spiral of rising costs to attend Gaelic football matches.

"Market value, market forces, can't undersell ourselves", yada yada. Look over there at the price of going to rugby!

We're not rugby and we're not the Premier League.

What we are is very lost down a very dark alley.

The GAA, make no mistake about this, has transitioned into seeing the public first and foremost as paying consumers.

'How far can we push this boat out and get away with it? €15... sure it went grand. Will we try 16? 17? Nah, let's go €18. They'll complain but they'll still pay it.'

And they will pay it. They'll find ways to pay it. Look at the McKenna Cup. 4,500 at Armagh-Antrim, 4,000 at Down-Derry, 3,500 at Derry-Tyrone. At least the same again at the final. Mad stuff for January. People are obsessed with it and would move heaven and earth to be there.

I was amazed landing to Owenbeg last Wednesday night and no sign of a ticket van or any form of entry barring scanning the phone.

The GAA wants to go cashless but hasn't got the right infrastructure in place to do it. It's the fans who end up paying for that.

Look around you at the first league game and see the proportion of the crowd made up by people aged 50-plus. They're the cash users and a huge part of the GAA's core audience.

Yet they're being made to feel like a nuisance. Either learn to work Ticketmaster or stay at home is the message.

Younger people don't care about having to buy online and scan their phone. It's handier, even. But the goose and the gander aren't the same.

Surely we can open a cash turnstile or two and have a terminal where people can tap a bank card to pay at the gate.

It's genuinely stressful for older people, maybe there on their own for an evening out of the house. They've forgotten to download it before leaving home, there's no 4G, they can't get it open. Genuine problems to which no alternative is being offered.

The season ticket is a bit of a sham got. At €150, it would cover seven league games at €18 and the first championship game up to €24. Will that game even cost €24? If not, are there refunds?

There's no actual discount, just fluffy add-ons.

You can attend the club finals and National League finals as part of it but unless your county is involved, there wouldn't be many taking up those options.

Mostly, though, there was simply no need for the GAA to raise its ticket prices for the leagues, no matter how they may try to justify it in the coming weeks.

It's a fine line between harnessing enthusiasm and exploiting it.

[AustinPowers]

Thanks for posting

Agreed, the  ticket price rise was  uncalled for

And I really don't like  this move towards cashless turnstiles.  Not one bit

Are tickets no longer available  in SuperValu or centra?

[Baile Brigín 2]

Thanks for posting

Agreed, the  ticket price rise was  uncalled for

And I really don't like  this move towards cashless turnstiles.  Not one bit

Are tickets no longer available  in SuperValu or centra?

No pay at the gate is fine. But have a booth. It's bonkers to turn away punters who rock up on the day.

[Armagh18]

Thanks for posting

Agreed, the  ticket price rise was  uncalled for

And I really don't like  this move towards cashless turnstiles.  Not one bit

Are tickets no longer available  in SuperValu or centra?

No pay at the gate is fine. But have a booth. It's bonkers to turn away punters who rock up on the day.

Madness bar the obvious sell out games. Do people actuslly be turned away?

[thewobbler]

RANT


Rising ticket prices is another clear sign that the paid bureaucrats across our association, have firmly wrestled control (and strategy) away from the volunteers.

As summary of how it works:

A well-meaning provincial volunteer officer identifies that the association could benefit from placing a full-time coaching officer in the province, to provide leadership, direction etc.

After 6-12 months in post the new officer identifies and propositions that the need an S&C specialist officer too, who initially starts on a part time time basis, but quickly "proves the need" for a full time role.

Now there's two of them, and they're full to the gills of plans for how to improve everything GAA. They push and proposition hard that a dedicated nutritionist is needed, and a specialised primary schools lead coach is needed. And voila they appear.

Of course at this point they need a (well-paid) head of department to oversee their progress, and it's only right that these coaches pass on their skills to the next generation, so they all enjoy at least one of a junior officer and/or a university placement student.

With all these staff floating around, there's now a clear need for a HR manager and a recruiter. Plus an office admin because none of the coaches are ever on hand. So we've a new department, and need a head of operations to lead them.

And at this point it would be folly not to have a well-paid CEO to set the vision and shake hands with everyone.

———

That's been the path of the GAA during my adult life.

Every year the Association expands its employee base and wage bill.

And you don't need an accountant to realise that the only sure fire way to ensure that profits continue in an upward trend, is to raise ticket prices.

Why a non-profit organisation needs to have an upward trend in profits has always  baffled me, but that's for another day.

——-

The most pertinent question to ask here isn't why ticket prices have to go up. This is obvious. The right question to ask is whether 30 years or so after the first full time officers came on board, has the Association improved any for their "efforts"?

It has. There's been improvements.

But not a lot.

We (the clubs) have a lot more paperwork to do as a result of all these officials being in place. We (the followers) have currently a worse end product, due to over over conditioned, mistake-free football coached across the board. And to pay for this bureaucracy, we (the fans) are getting shat upon by ticket prices.

Personally I've no interest in the GAA being a commercial organisation. I don't want to see it competing with soccer.

I'd truly love to decimate the paid ranks of the GAA.

[RedHand88]

If you think there haven't been many improvements in the GAA in the last 30 years then I don't know what to say!

[Truth hurts]

RANT


Rising ticket prices is another clear sign that the paid bureaucrats across our association, have firmly wrestled control (and strategy) away from the volunteers.

As summary of how it works:

A well-meaning provincial volunteer officer identifies that the association could benefit from placing a full-time coaching officer in the province, to provide leadership, direction etc.

After 6-12 months in post the new officer identifies and propositions that the need an S&C specialist officer too, who initially starts on a part time time basis, but quickly "proves the need" for a full time role.

Now there's two of them, and they're full to the gills of plans for how to improve everything GAA. They push and proposition hard that a dedicated nutritionist is needed, and a specialised primary schools lead coach is needed. And voila they appear.

Of course at this point they need a (well-paid) head of department to oversee their progress, and it's only right that these coaches pass on their skills to the next generation, so they all enjoy at least one of a junior officer and/or a university placement student.

With all these staff floating around, there's now a clear need for a HR manager and a recruiter. Plus an office admin because none of the coaches are ever on hand. So we've a new department, and need a head of operations to lead them.

And at this point it would be folly not to have a well-paid CEO to set the vision and shake hands with everyone.

———

That's been the path of the GAA during my adult life.

Every year the Association expands its employee base and wage bill.

And you don't need an accountant to realise that the only sure fire way to ensure that profits continue in an upward trend, is to raise ticket prices.

Why a non-profit organisation needs to have an upward trend in profits has always  baffled me, but that's for another day.

——-

The most pertinent question to ask here isn't why ticket prices have to go up. This is obvious. The right question to ask is whether 30 years or so after the first full time officers came on board, has the Association improved any for their "efforts"?

It has. There's been improvements.

But not a lot.

We (the clubs) have a lot more paperwork to do as a result of all these officials being in place. We (the followers) have currently a worse end product, due to over over conditioned, mistake-free football coached across the board. And to pay for this bureaucracy, we (the fans) are getting shat upon by ticket prices.

Personally I've no interest in the GAA being a commercial organisation. I don't want to see it competing with soccer.

I'd truly love to decimate the paid ranks of the GAA.

excellent post Wobbler,
Ulster GAA really grands me at times, they have so many employees who are getting paid to read of a powerpoint presentation

[Rossfan]

If you think there haven't been many improvements in the GAA in the last 30 years then I don't know what to say!

Much easier to rant!!

[thewobbler]

If you think there haven't been many improvements in the GAA in the last 30 years then I don't know what to say!

There has been improvements. But nowhere near enough to justify the excessive and evergrowing middle fat of people that the association now employs. The GAA does not have a need to be an industry.

[JimStynes]

If you think there haven't been many improvements in the GAA in the last 30 years then I don't know what to say!

There has been improvements. But nowhere near enough to justify the excessive and evergrowing middle fat of people that the association now employs. The GAA does not have a need to be an industry.

What would your vision of the GAA be? All voluntary? Genuinely interested to hear

[thewobbler]

If you think there haven't been many improvements in the GAA in the last 30 years then I don't know what to say!

There has been improvements. But nowhere near enough to justify the excessive and evergrowing middle fat of people that the association now employs. The GAA does not have a need to be an industry.

What would your vision of the GAA be? All voluntary? Genuinely interested to hear

To be honest, I'm not sure. I just know the current direction - whereby seemingly everyone can get paid except the players - frustrates and annoys me.

What especially annoys me is the bloat, whether it be in club senior management teams (think about the value and returns of paying 4-5 men separately to run a 90 min training session), or in our ever-expanding regional and national boards (generating power points to run courses aimed at people who can't think for themselves).

What is absolutely grinding my gears is some of our neighbouring clubs taking in professional coaches for juvenile players. I don't care if there's a grant for it. The thinking behind these decisions is so absolutely short term. Within a decade, the knock on effects of this will become clear: volunteers will dry up. Members will ask for expenses then money to coach teams ("well if he's getting it, why can't I?"). More pro coaches will be needed to fill the void. The cost of running a juvenile team will soar tenfold - which will be passed onto parents. The game will become as middle class as rugby. And you know what, our clubs won't be better off for it. Some players will be better coached some of the time, but they'll never have the same passions instilled in them that comes from volunteers doing it for the love of the game. And one thing for sure. This will not solve the player drop off conundrum.

My earlier point about the quality of football we now get for the money we pay to watch it, is no better or or worse than 25 years ago. The players are undoubtedly more skilful and better conditioned. But all that money, all that focus on coaching, has reduced the entertainment levels, not improved them.

I guess if you were to really push me for what I'd like, it's for a change in ethos to be written into the constitution and then battered into administrators all across the land. The ethos would simply state "there are no careers in Gaelic Games". This doesn't mean some people wouldn't get paid some of the time. It would just hopefully change the ethos back to what we used to have ie fix our problems ourselves, and pursue our futures ourselves - don't just throw money at it.

Reducing ticket prices to little above the cost of entry would be a key driver.

[rosnarun]

the GAA is not soccer or Rugby but they compete with thim everywhere for players for space in cities for supporters ETC and they do Charge Much less to attend matches than any of the other but while they Charge at all , Some people will be whinging.
They cannot compete without a pot to piss in. As for Cashless games the biggest benefit for dodgy is its much harder to dip into

[Truth hurts]

If you think there haven't been many improvements in the GAA in the last 30 years then I don't know what to say!

There has been improvements. But nowhere near enough to justify the excessive and evergrowing middle fat of people that the association now employs. The GAA does not have a need to be an industry.

What would your vision of the GAA be? All voluntary? Genuinely interested to hear

To be honest, I'm not sure. I just know the current direction - whereby seemingly everyone can get paid except the players - frustrates and annoys me.

What especially annoys me is the bloat, whether it be in club senior management teams (think about the value and returns of paying 4-5 men separately to run a 90 min training session), or in our ever-expanding regional and national boards (generating power points to run courses aimed at people who can't think for themselves).

What is absolutely grinding my gears is some of our neighbouring clubs taking in professional coaches for juvenile players. I don't care if there's a grant for it. The thinking behind these decisions is so absolutely short term. Within a decade, the knock on effects of this will become clear: volunteers will dry up. Members will ask for expenses then money to coach teams ("well if he's getting it, why can't I?"). More pro coaches will be needed to fill the void. The cost of running a juvenile team will soar tenfold - which will be passed onto parents. The game will become as middle class as rugby. And you know what, our clubs won't be better off for it. Some players will be better coached some of the time, but they'll never have the same passions instilled in them that comes from volunteers doing it for the love of the game. And one thing for sure. This will not solve the player drop off conundrum.

My earlier point about the quality of football we now get for the money we pay to watch it, is no better or or worse than 25 years ago. The players are undoubtedly more skilful and better conditioned. But all that money, all that focus on coaching, has reduced the entertainment levels, not improved them.

I guess if you were to really push me for what I'd like, it's for a change in ethos to be written into the constitution and then battered into administrators all across the land. The ethos would simply state "there are no careers in Gaelic Games". This doesn't mean some people wouldn't get paid some of the time. It would just hopefully change the ethos back to what we used to have ie fix our problems ourselves, and pursue our futures ourselves - don't just throw money at it.

Reducing ticket prices to little above the cost of entry would be a key driver.

What clubs have professional coaches at underage level? That's mental

[yellowcard]

RANT


Rising ticket prices is another clear sign that the paid bureaucrats across our association, have firmly wrestled control (and strategy) away from the volunteers.

As summary of how it works:

A well-meaning provincial volunteer officer identifies that the association could benefit from placing a full-time coaching officer in the province, to provide leadership, direction etc.

After 6-12 months in post the new officer identifies and propositions that the need an S&C specialist officer too, who initially starts on a part time time basis, but quickly "proves the need" for a full time role.

Now there's two of them, and they're full to the gills of plans for how to improve everything GAA. They push and proposition hard that a dedicated nutritionist is needed, and a specialised primary schools lead coach is needed. And voila they appear.

Of course at this point they need a (well-paid) head of department to oversee their progress, and it's only right that these coaches pass on their skills to the next generation, so they all enjoy at least one of a junior officer and/or a university placement student.

With all these staff floating around, there's now a clear need for a HR manager and a recruiter. Plus an office admin because none of the coaches are ever on hand. So we've a new department, and need a head of operations to lead them.

And at this point it would be folly not to have a well-paid CEO to set the vision and shake hands with everyone.

———

That's been the path of the GAA during my adult life.

Every year the Association expands its employee base and wage bill.

And you don't need an accountant to realise that the only sure fire way to ensure that profits continue in an upward trend, is to raise ticket prices.

Why a non-profit organisation needs to have an upward trend in profits has always  baffled me, but that's for another day.

——-

The most pertinent question to ask here isn't why ticket prices have to go up. This is obvious. The right question to ask is whether 30 years or so after the first full time officers came on board, has the Association improved any for their "efforts"?

It has. There's been improvements.

But not a lot.

We (the clubs) have a lot more paperwork to do as a result of all these officials being in place. We (the followers) have currently a worse end product, due to over over conditioned, mistake-free football coached across the board. And to pay for this bureaucracy, we (the fans) are getting shat upon by ticket prices.

Personally I've no interest in the GAA being a commercial organisation. I don't want to see it competing with soccer.

I'd truly love to decimate the paid ranks of the GAA.

Very good post. This gradual take over of GAA teams by the merry go round coaching fraternity has definitely not resulted in a better spectacle. Yes, the players are more skilled and better conditioned than ever but the games are often dull and lack excitement. Most of the money is being sucked out of the association by a small army of paid coaches, nutriotinists, S & C coaches etc The hundreds of members in each club help fill the coffers to pay a handful of these same merry go round managers. While this growing upward pressure on income remains, the cost to individual members and the paying public has to increase proportionately be it through tickets sales, sponsorship or live streaming. The rising ticket prices are only a symptom of the growing costs which the GAA have failed to address.

If there are an average of 40 clubs in each county I'd guess that at least 30 of those are paying coaches. If the average cost of a senior management team is £30k (some will be considerably more, some will be less) that is almost £1m per county that clubs are paying out on senior management set ups. There is a large part of the problem.