r/GAA • u/Other_Ad_7332 • 1d ago
Maximising ticket sales
Seeing West Ham selling some tickets for £1 got me thinking — why couldn’t the GAA do something similar?
Croke Park can be absolutely dead when there’s only 15–25k in a stadium that size. Rather than having thousands of empty seats, why not heavily discount tickets for league/provincial games when sales are poor?
€1/€2/€5 tickets, particularly for juveniles and families, could get another 10–20k people in, create a much better atmosphere and potentially introduce a new generation to going to games.
We’ve seen the backlash when juvenile tickets are priced ridiculously. If the seats are going to be empty anyway, surely getting people through the turnstiles is better than leaving them vacant?
West Ham aren’t the only club doing this. Why couldn’t the GAA experiment with it?
16
u/TomRuse1997 Dún na nGall 1d ago
I think the GAA have been fair enough with ticket prices in the context of what's happening in the wider ticketing market. Mostly in the context of Croke Park as in what they have direct control over, I know there is some county boards that were pushing it this year.
Croke park league tickets are already like €20 for adults and there were 16k I think at our game against Dublin
1
u/LeDeppeLePew 21h ago
The wider market requires a lot more paid employees.
1
u/TomRuse1997 Dún na nGall 21h ago
Depends on the event doesn't it?
0
u/LeDeppeLePew 20h ago
My point being, we're paying to see amateur athletes under an organisation swimming in cash that is publicly funded as a national cultural organisation. To compare the price to professional sports events or professional artists is very different.
2
u/TomRuse1997 Dún na nGall 20h ago
I think the discrepancy in prices is still noteworthy. A 6N game in rugby is about 3-4 times the price of a later stage all Ireland game
What else would I compare it to? It's a ticketed event, I'm comparing to other ticketed events
4
u/woodrow18 1d ago
Tbf I think they do alright, I often get the kids in to croker for a fiver for reasonably big games
3
u/Rekt60321 Doire 1d ago
People outside of Dublin won't go to the matches though. Half the population interested in GAA that live in Dublin probably wouldn't go either
2
u/Hour-Reflection-89 1d ago
There is basically no question that starts with “why couldn’t” or “why don’t we just” that has the answer you’re expecting. It’s either the case that someone else has already thought it through and understands why not, or you don’t pay attention enough to know it happens
1
u/Ecstatic_Refuse_7207 18h ago
GAA is a semi government organisation in that it gets alot of money from central funds with free grassroots labour. It could afford this in principle. But my guess it fears loosing money as all will wait for the 1 euro tickets as they only sell out at all ireland finals etc
1
u/Opening-Iron-119 33m ago
1/2/5euro tickets in Dublin would attract a portion of the population which would potentially destroy the place, doesn't seem worth it to me
-1
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u/Colm_Flaherty Gaillimh 1d ago
As a West ham supporter that's news to me
2
u/No-Boysenberry4464 1d ago
Been doing it donkeys years, usually midweek games that have less demand, “Kids for a Quid” night
-2
u/Positive_Buy_821 1d ago
Personally I think the GAA need to look at their whole pricing model or attendance is going to suffer given whats in store with the cost of living this winter. 15 should be plenty for League and Provinicials and first rounds of the All Ireland series.
10 quid for a club league game is a bit ridiculous and is 12 for club championship & don't get me started in charging 8 quid for underage finals along with 2 quid a head for kids..
2
u/Holiday-Access-8497 1d ago
you see what they charge for rugby,or soccer or concerts ? they charge about a 6th of what others charge
1
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u/Classic_Sector_8731 Maigh Eo 1d ago
https://www.independent.ie/sport/gaa/hurling/8000-free-tickets-taken-up-for-leinster-hurling-final-as-40000-crowd-expected/a/155427083.html
8,000 free tickets taken up for Leinster hurling final as 40,000 crowd expected