Congress to Consider Rugby World Cup Role

[Redhand Santa]

A simple 'smart' membership card could help boost attendances and also track those people who need to be rewarded by their constant attendance at games.

If you go to league games or championship game then you scan your card and your attendance is logged. Credits are given for each game.

Then if your county gets to an All Ireland final you are put into a lottery for a ticket from your counties allocation. (if you have enough credits)

If your county doesn't get to the final you are still put into a lottery for neutral tickets.

Wouldn't be too hard to do. 2/3 scanners at each ground for league games (when there are lots of games on) and ensure more scanners for championship games.

I'm sick of people I know, who don't go to a game from one end of the year to the next, getting to go to All Ireland finals because they know someone on a county committee or some other position

Is this a wind up because people choose not to use the season tickets or are you being serious?

[neilthemac]

very few people have season tickets, in relation to the number of people who attend games

this idea could be used in conjunction with, or seperate to the season ticket

[Lar Naparka]

That idea reads exactly like what the Season Ticket already is.

I don't think it is.
Like neilthemac says, very few people have season tickets; many can't afford them and others may not be in a position to go to games on a regular basis. Those with season tickets can be entered in a draw simply by putting their names into a drum.  In their case, there is no need for scanning technology of any sort.
I think neil is thinking of the ordinary punters who buy their tickets on the day when they go to games.

[neilthemac]

That idea reads exactly like what the Season Ticket already is.

I don't think it is.
Like neilthemac says, very few people have season tickets; many can't afford them and others may not be in a position to go to games on a regular basis. Those with season tickets can be entered in a draw simply by putting their names into a drum.  In their case, there is no need for scanning technology of any sort.
I think neil is thinking of the ordinary punters who buy their tickets on the day when they go to games.

bingo

the GAA need to reward their most loyal customers and keep them coming back for more.
any forward thinking business would do it

supermarkets do it
mobile phone companies
fuel companies
as do hotel chains

[armaghniac]

There is merit in this idea, but it would be wrong not to acknowledge that the season tickets (although not perfect) have moved a substantial way towards improving the situation. If someone cannot afford the €75 for the season ticket then they can't afford to go to the All Ireland, while those who do not go to regular games will not accumulate much credit with any scheme. But the messing with scanners for season tickets suggests that there is still some way to go to get the infrastructure in place for this. There should be some scope for such a card to link with commercial use as well, maybe discounts on tickets if you patronise certain businesses.

[Eamonnca1]

There is merit in this idea, but it would be wrong not to acknowledge that the season tickets (although not perfect) have moved a substantial way towards improving the situation. If someone cannot afford the €75 for the season ticket then they can't afford to go to the All Ireland, while those who do not go to regular games will not accumulate much credit with any scheme. But the messing with scanners for season tickets suggests that there is still some way to go to get the infrastructure in place for this. There should be some scope for such a card to link with commercial use as well, maybe discounts on tickets if you patronise certain businesses.

That's where I'm coming from. I don't understand what group of people that idea is supposed to help. If you're a regular attender then the season ticket significantly reduces costs, and if you're not a regular attender then what loyalty do you expect to have rewarded?

Having a season ticket doesn't improve your chances of getting an All-Ireland ticket. Your man's proposal would reward a loyal customer patron by increasing his chances of getting one.

[Lar Naparka]

There is merit in this idea, but it would be wrong not to acknowledge that the season tickets (although not perfect) have moved a substantial way towards improving the situation. If someone cannot afford the €75 for the season ticket then they can't afford to go to the All Ireland, while those who do not go to regular games will not accumulate much credit with any scheme. But the messing with scanners for season tickets suggests that there is still some way to go to get the infrastructure in place for this. There should be some scope for such a card to link with commercial use as well, maybe discounts on tickets if you patronise certain businesses.

That's where I'm coming from. I don't understand what group of people that idea is supposed to help. If you're a regular attender then the season ticket significantly reduces costs, and if you're not a regular attender then what loyalty do you expect to have rewarded?

I live in Dublin and support Mayo and I would find it impractical to travel to all their league matches. Home matches are fine, weather permitting, but some away matches could involve long return journeys to places maybe 150+ miles away. (Cork, KIllarney, Ballyshannon for example or even a home game in Crossmolina.)
As a season ticket is both county and code specific, it would be of no use to me if I wanted to see a game where Mayo would  not be involved. For example,  I was at the Leinster hurling final this year  and paid the full whack for my ticket. Over the years, I have attended far more IC games (in both codes)  where Mayo have not been involved than ones where they have been.

IMO, the scheme proposed by neilthemac is similar in concept to the National Lottery- there are a finite amount of prizes (AI tickets) on offer and every punter who pays into an IC game has an outside chance of winning one.  I see nothing wrong with that.

[armaghniac]

Having a season ticket doesn't improve your chances of getting an All-Ireland ticket.

It gets you an AI ticket, if your county are there (which I'll admit is largely hypothetical for Armagh folk). It should give you a shot at a ticket if you minors are playing, but does not.

I take Lar Naparka's point about other games (although the season ticket get you in free to other league games, handy sometimes  for games on Saturday night with your own game on Sunday). If people have season tickets with barcodes and accounts, it is not clear why these cannot be used in some way if someone wants to head along today, for instance.

I would restrict admission to AI finals to members and issue tickets against membership numbers.

[Lar Naparka]

I live in Dublin and support Mayo and I would find it impractical to travel to all their league matches. Home matches are fine, weather permitting, but some away matches could involve long return journeys to places maybe 150+ miles away. (Cork, KIllarney, Ballyshannon for example or even a home game in Crossmolina.)
As a season ticket is both county and code specific, it would be of no use to me if I wanted to see a game where Mayo would  not be involved. For example,  I was at the Leinster hurling final this year  and paid the full whack for my ticket. Over the years, I have attended far more IC games (in both codes)  where Mayo have not been involved than ones where they have been.

IMO, the scheme proposed by neilthemac is similar in concept to the National Lottery- there are a finite amount of prizes (AI tickets) on offer and every punter who pays into an IC game has an outside chance of winning one.  I see nothing wrong with that.

Right, so it's about regular neutral attenders (attendees?). And more specifically, about regular neutral attenders that don't regularly attend their own county's matches. I didn't catch that from the initial post. To be honest, excepting journalists and a few lads from down the country now living in the shadow of Croke Park, I don't think many people really meet the above description. Certainly not enough to operate a specific scheme for them. Additionally, any scheme along those lines would seem to discriminate against those that can't be regular neutral attenders because of their commitments to their local club scene. I wouldn't be comfortable with that.

Actually, I'm not thinking of neutral spectators only. I have all who attend IC matches in mind.
(I never had a season ticket so I'm relying on what others told me and on gaa.ie for information about them.)
AFAIK, only those who have attended 60% of games and whose counties reach the AI final are guaranteed tickets. That cuts down the number who are eligible to a very small percentage of those who have season tickets. In turn, those who actually have tickets to begin with are only an equally small percentage of spectators at any given match.
Throw in the fact that such tickets have to be purchased online and that a lot of people may not have €85 or so to pay upfront and may not be able to attend 60+% of their county's matches and the number who will be guaranteed a chance to get an AI ticket will be very small indeed.

I am thinking of a lottery system where a set number of AI tickets would be on offer. They would not be given away free but merely made available for purchase to the lottery winners. Each admission ticket to a competitive IC game would be entered in the draw so the more games a punters attend, the more chances they have to come up lucky.