May 28th LSFC time change, common sense prevails

[PAULD123]

Those ticket prices are on the high side, should be no more than £20 for seats and £10 for terrace. These prices combined with the CL final will probably ensure the game is not a sell out.

According to Christy Cooney in today's Irish News the clash of games is "not good for the TV companies, it is not good for our partners and sponsors or our supporters so we have to recognise all that".

Good to see he has his priorites right. Well his salary won't pay itself I suppose.

I'm sorry but I do not think the prices are high at all. No other form of entertainment provides as much value for money as the GAA. Just an sample of events from around the same time:

Ireland vs Pakistan (cricket) - £25 (uncovered)

Michael Ball (Waterfront) - £33 - £38

Katherine Jenkins - £55-70

Spamalot (Dublin) - €35 - €50

Rep Ireland vs N. Ireland (Dublin) - €30 - €75

Magners League semi (Leinster vs Ulster) - €25 - €50

I think the GAA offers excellent value for money. I love sport and attend Soccer, Rugby, GAA and Horse racing. I've been to soccer world cup games, rugby world cup games, the Heinekan Cup final, Cheltenham, and quiet a few All-Ireland finals. The GAA is by a mile the cheapest and the entertainment is at least as good and often better.

[Hound]

Good to see the Leinster council have a bit of sense unlike their idiot
counterparts in Ulster who refuse to change Armagh v Down match. Some sort of siege mentality by the Ulster board, how dare the spectators want to also see the Champions league final.

[i]Offaly's Leinster SFC first round game against Wexford on Saturday, May 28 has been brought forward to avoid a clash with the Champions League final.

Originally scheduled to throw in at 7pm in Tullamore's O'Connor Park, the game will now get underway at 5pm, meaning supporters will also be able to catch the big soccer final between Barcelona and Manchester United, which is being shown on several TV channels at 7.45pm.[/i]

Now it clashes with the Magners League final, which will involve at least one, and probably two, Irish provinces!

[thewobbler]

You can talk about GAA ethos all you like, and you're more than welcome to bang a great big drum about standing up on our own two feet and not worrying about soccer and soccer heads. Part of me is with you all the way.

But, I'd ask that if you choose to do this, you never again involve yourself in the subject of poor GAA marketing, and never again ponder why attendances are low.

If you face facts, on Saturday 28 May, one of the biggest sporting events in the world is happening. As an event it has a natural pull for fairweather followers of sport; it's not the easy option - it's the only option.

I'll be in Armagh that night, along with I'd imagine 19k other people will be too. Down and Armagh both have the core support to pull that off. But throughout the game, 10k of that crowd will continually be distracted by SMS, mobile browsing and tweets. At halftime, supporters will be talking as much about goings on in Wembley as in the Athletic Grounds. And if either Down or Armagh pulls away early, there'll be nobody left in the ground at the final whistle; they'll all be in the pubs watching Messi teach Rooney a lesson in soccer.

The only way the GAA can come out of the exercise beaming is if Armagh and Down serve up a classic.


On a side note, ticketing information for the Armagh Down game has not yet been released, even though there's just a fortnight to go. I wouldn't be surprised if there's discussions about moving the game between the Ulster Council, BBC and RTE going on as we speak.
 

[PAULD123]

It's a very tight timescale for ticket release Wobbler. There are policing issues to be addressed with moving a game, especially in as sensitive an area as Armagh city. Personally I expect the game to go ahead as planned though I would rather it was played on Sunday. And unlike a lot of posters here I fully understand that dilemma a lot of united fans feel about this match. I would choose GAA but I think no less of someone who makes a single exception in this instance.

However I think anyone who is a Down or Armagh fan and not a United supporter is putting on a poor show if they stay at home to watch a match on TV between two teams they don't support instead of attending a live championship event with a team they do.

As for the game I don't think it will be a classic but I expect it will be exciting by virtue of the close nature, I also think Down will pull away in the last ten minutes and the match will peter out, but the place will still be fairly full with five minutes to go.

[Blowitupref]

Those ticket prices are on the high side, should be no more than £20 for seats and £10 for terrace. These prices combined with the CL final will probably ensure the game is not a sell out.

According to Christy Cooney in today's Irish News the clash of games is "not good for the TV companies, it is not good for our partners and sponsors or our supporters so we have to recognise all that".

Good to see he has his priorites right. Well his salary won't pay itself I suppose.

I'm sorry but I do not think the prices are high at all. No other form of entertainment provides as much value for money as the GAA. Just an sample of events from around the same time:

Ireland vs Pakistan (cricket) - £25 (uncovered)

Michael Ball (Waterfront) - £33 - £38

Katherine Jenkins - £55-70

Spamalot (Dublin) - €35 - €50

Rep Ireland vs N. Ireland (Dublin) - €30 - €75

Magners League semi (Leinster vs Ulster) - €25 - €50

I think the GAA offers excellent value for money. I love sport and attend Soccer, Rugby, GAA and Horse racing. I've been to soccer world cup games, rugby world cup games, the Heinekan Cup final, Cheltenham, and quiet a few All-Ireland finals. The GAA is by a mile the cheapest and the entertainment is at least as good and often better.

While i agree the GAA is as good when it comes to entertaiment your forgetting the GAA is still amateur e.g if i went to see a local amateur opera singer instead of Katherine Jenkins it would be a fraction of the price.

[Hardy]

Those ticket prices are on the high side, should be no more than £20 for seats and £10 for terrace. These prices combined with the CL final will probably ensure the game is not a sell out.

According to Christy Cooney in today's Irish News the clash of games is "not good for the TV companies, it is not good for our partners and sponsors or our supporters so we have to recognise all that".

Good to see he has his priorites right. Well his salary won't pay itself I suppose.

I'm sorry but I do not think the prices are high at all. No other form of entertainment provides as much value for money as the GAA. Just an sample of events from around the same time:

Ireland vs Pakistan (cricket) - £25 (uncovered)

Michael Ball (Waterfront) - £33 - £38

Katherine Jenkins - £55-70

Spamalot (Dublin) - €35 - €50

Rep Ireland vs N. Ireland (Dublin) - €30 - €75

Magners League semi (Leinster vs Ulster) - €25 - €50

I think the GAA offers excellent value for money. I love sport and attend Soccer, Rugby, GAA and Horse racing. I've been to soccer world cup games, rugby world cup games, the Heinekan Cup final, Cheltenham, and quiet a few All-Ireland finals. The GAA is by a mile the cheapest and the entertainment is at least as good and often better.

While i agree the GAA is as good when it comes to entertaiment your forgetting the GAA is still amateur e.g if i went to see a local amateur opera singer instead of Katherine Jenkins it would be a fraction of the price.

You're right, but  for the wrong reason, I'd say.

Yes, the fact that the GAA doesn't have to pay players (much) to play the game means it doesn't have to charge huge admission rates to help finance wages.

But there the comparison with professional entertainers ends. The amateur singer can be assumed to be a lesser attraction than the professional, but GAA sports are, in my opinion, far superior to the professional products they compete with.

[Milltown Row2]

I think it's daft that the Leinster Council have changed the times due to the Champions league final, is this to let punters watch the soccer or so that they get more people in through the turnstiles?

Played a league game many years ago when Man U were playing Bayren, would never have missed the hurling game before watching a soccer game.

Crazy decision

[PAULD123]

Nail on the head Hardy.

1. Just because they are amateurs doesn't mean they are not performing at the highest level possible. The comparison with amateur opera singer (or band, or soccer team, or drama club for that matter) is that you are seeing an inferior product. That doesn't hold with county championship GAA. In this case the comparison with Katherine Jenkins and an amateur opera singer is like comparing the county championship with club GAA. That is a fair comparison and also there is a reflective price difference.

2. Just because players are not being paid doesn't mean the game comes cheap. For the match alone, there is the staffing, stewarding, the much-denied "Expenses!!!", the transportation, the kit, the facilities, the playing pitch, the policing, and a multitude of other costs to be accounted for. Just because players come wage free doesn't mean the match comes free. Secondly the championship profit goes back into other areas of the game such as hosting under-age competitions, developing grounds, training officials, supporting schools football, paying for games development coaches, advertising, and again a multitude of necessary uses of which the matches are the only (at least primary) source of funding.

Is there anyone complaining here about £13 to the terrace that actually has any involvement in the running of their club and therefore a real idea of just how expensive a business it is despite not having to pay players?

[Jinxy]

A lot of those so-called 'professional' opera singers are 4 stone overweight.

[armaghniac]

However I think anyone who is a Down or Armagh fan and not a United supporter is putting on a poor show if they stay at home to watch a match on TV between two teams they don't support instead of attending a live championship event with a team they do.

"Supporting" a team 500km away is risible in any case, between that and the other forelock tugging during the week it is sad reflection of Ireland.

I hope the GAA will remember the stay aways if tickets are in short supply on other occasions.

[Blowitupref]

Fair points Hardy,PAULD123 however the average price for league games was 15 euro & now as Sligonian pointed out double that price in the Championship.

[bennydorano]

On a side note, ticketing information for the Armagh Down game has not yet been released, even though there's just a fortnight to go. I wouldn't be surprised if there's discussions about moving the game between the Ulster Council, BBC and RTE going on as we speak.

In full flow in Armagh. Club requests have to be back in by monday.

[Farrandeelin]

Lads, I'm a Utd fan as well, but there's a club game scheduled in for the same time as the CL final and it's fair to say I won't bother sitting at home on the couch watching the CL final. Then again it'll probably be changed sometime before the final is on anyways.

[Rav67]

Nail on the head Hardy.

1. Just because they are amateurs doesn't mean they are not performing at the highest level possible. The comparison with amateur opera singer (or band, or soccer team, or drama club for that matter) is that you are seeing an inferior product. That doesn't hold with county championship GAA. In this case the comparison with Katherine Jenkins and an amateur opera singer is like comparing the county championship with club GAA. That is a fair comparison and also there is a reflective price difference.

2. Just because players are not being paid doesn't mean the game comes cheap. For the match alone, there is the staffing, stewarding, the much-denied "Expenses!!!", the transportation, the kit, the facilities, the playing pitch, the policing, and a multitude of other costs to be accounted for. Just because players come wage free doesn't mean the match comes free. Secondly the championship profit goes back into other areas of the game such as hosting under-age competitions, developing grounds, training officials, supporting schools football, paying for games development coaches, advertising, and again a multitude of necessary uses of which the matches are the only (at least primary) source of funding.

Is there anyone complaining here about £13 to the terrace that actually has any involvement in the running of their club and therefore a real idea of just how expensive a business it is despite not having to pay players?

Nail on head.  I read in the Irish News recently that the vast majority of inter-county games are loss-making so the GAA has to maximise revenue from the Championship encounters.  £13 in to watch a minor and senior game is hardly breaking the bank for anyone either, you'd spend a lot more for 2 hours entertainment anywhere else or even sitting in a pub for 2 hours.

[ogshead]

I for one will be in the Athletic Grounds. I can't blame Utd supporters for wanting to see the CL final either as it is a big occassion. As far as I am concerned, this is a much bigger match, for me personally. It is the first Championship game in the grounds in 16 years, brand new stadium and a match against Down. We couldn't have asked for a better opener.

I am buring a £13 ticket as well and I think it's great value. I am comparing it to the £10 the county board charge into club games so I think it's great value. Role on the 28th!!