Danny Murphy says Ulster Council may have to raise admission prices for C'ship

[T Fearon]

The point is Trevor Hill is pointless, full stop

[ONeill]

If the Ulster Council are struggling to pay the bills, reduce your outlays. Feck the razzamatazz, we'd watch Tyrone v Derry in a bog in Kildress.

Take a pay cut Danny.

[Trevor Hill]

If any GAA county had a loyal fanbase of 20k+, you would have a better point Trevor Hill.

I doubt any county in Ulster has a dedicated fanbase of over 7-8k.

When you've got a 35k stadium, then the fairweather fans are needed. The laws of supply and demand suggest you can't put the price up.

How much of an increase are we talking here? £2 at most. It isnt going to break the bank in my opinion. If a small price inmcrease is going to keep you away then you are not really a supporter. If Down end up playing in Clones in July I will gladly pay an extra few quid to see them. My only criticism of the Ulster Council is that they need to look after us season ticket holders a bit better. Hopefully they will get it right this year.

[samwin08]

I attended 5 Mc Kenna cup matches, with wife and family (adult unemployed son and student  daughter) Paid 9.00 each -£36.00 5 times = 180, watched reserve team football, bought my weekly club  lotto ticket for all the family  (£7.00) bought 50.00 ticket for another club, bought 3 lotto tickets for other clubs, ,  contributed  ? to Haiti at a match, bought 5 x £1.00 tickets for  HT draw.
Now I like to think we are the grass roots, who support the club   other clubs and help out around the club. Oh I paid my family membership in January too (£100.00).
I haven't  gone to any National League matches yet, as I would have to leave most of the grass roots at home. When that happens the grass roots might  dissappear. To those who set the prices, here is a question : when was the llast time  you brought the family to a reserve team GAA match and paid for the family  the gate, Come do think of it when did you last go to any match with the family and pay at the gate.

[thewobbler]

How much of an increase are we talking here? £2 at most. It isnt going to break the bank in my opinion. If a small price inmcrease is going to keep you away then you are not really a supporter. If Down end up playing in Clones in July I will gladly pay an extra few quid to see them. My only criticism of the Ulster Council is that they need to look after us season ticket holders a bit better. Hopefully they will get it right this year.

You're missing the point completely. It's not that it's £2, £3, £10 or £50. When demand outstrips supply, you put your prices up. When supply oustrips demand, and increasingly so, you defnitely don't put your prices up. If the GAA wants to behave like a business, it should follow the rules of business.

Gaining supporters is a much better exercise for businesses to undertake than testing supporters.

[lawnseed]

me thinks Danny wants more money to renovate the foresters in armagh. i heard the ulster council bought the place to extend their already large office. the job has become more urgent since armagh council did the whole town center up (i meant the hapless armagh ratepayers) and now the foresters is a real eyesore with greenery sticken out of every hole its been derelict for quiet some time. doing it up to fit in with the mock georgian style surrounding it will cost a packet. i stand to be corrected

[Trevor Hill]

Gaining supporters is a much better exercise for businesses to undertake than testing supporters.

I agree with you, but a couple of pound isnt going to stop most people going to watch their team. Clones will be full or pretty close to full on Ulster final day no matter who is playing.

[thewobbler]

Ulster Final day isn't the issue Trevor Hill. And a £5 hike on tickets for that probably wouldn't affect attendances.

But it's all the games that precede it where numbers are falling. And for the third time, raising ticket prices when supply far exceeds demand is not the answer.

[Trevor Hill]

I see what you are saying, but dont agree with you entirely. For certain games there will always be a big demand. I cant remember the draw for Ulster off hand, but there will be some very well attended games. Donegal v Down will be a full house or there abouts, anything involving Armagh or Tyrone will also attract a good crowd. Antrim are bound to have attracted more supporters after their good run last year. Maybe the Ulster council should look at marketing the games a bit better, but I think our games represent good value for money.

[Gabriel_Hurl]

If the Ulster Council are struggling to pay the bills, reduce your outlays. Feck the razzamatazz, we'd watch Tyrone v Derry in a bog in Kildress.

Take a pay cut Danny.

He had a nice handy trip to Canada over the weekend 

[theskull1]

Does anybody have any idea of what the increase in wage costs would be over the last 10 years for GAA administrations at county and at provincial council level?

[tyrone86]

Does anybody have any idea of what the increase in wage costs would be over the last 10 years for GAA administrations at county and at provincial council level?

There are many, many more government/lottery funded posts now than 10 years ago. If the funding went they'd also go. A more pertinent question would be outside the provincial / county secretaries how many people are being paid directly by the GAA without being subsidised from somewhere

[lawnseed]

i heard patk og nugent the armagh sec. is on 55000 per annum and hes not available out of hours and his house even if you want to put an envelope through the door is out of bounds. what a bargain that might be a guide as to what kinda bucks the ulster council pay.

[T Fearon]

well certainly the coaching jobs don't pay well (according to the ads) £20k.

The irony is that 10 years ago the Ulster Council operated out of a wee office in Clones with minimal staff, no full time county admins etc. Has the plethora of full tme staff improved things that much?.

PS Basic economics are way over the head of Trevor Hill. He just doesn't understand that increasing prices will deter rather than encourage people to attend

[Trevor Hill]

Fearon you dont seem to understand that a true fan will pay in to see his team. The price is irrelevant. Its strange that you never seem to complain about the admission prices for Celtic or Tottenham. It shows where your true loyalty lies.