Price Of entry to O Conor park senior final

[erinman1]

Does anyone think that 15 euro each was too much yesterday to see the county final, personally I believe it was a rip off firstly I am a member off the Gaa and long time attender to all matches at this and most other venues, I would like to point out that I only made it in for the senior match and that the first game between Rhode and St Brigids was over, at the gate they wanted to charge 15 euro although one game had finished, surely this is a bit much ARE WE NOT IN RESSISSION not in the Gaa we are not. I proceeded to ask at the gate why I was being charged the full entry fee only to be told to take it up with the stewarts. So I did bearing in mind that both my wife and I were present and attending the match the mouth full of abuse I recieved was completely unacceptable really dissapointed. long and short 30 euro for 2 people for one game is extorsionate any comments please

[Lone Shark]

Obviously I can only speak for myself, but I'd disagree for what it's worth. The fact is that the package was for two games, and if the county board pursued a policy of reducing the rate, then by that logic you'd have to refund people who chose to leave after the first match - and that's just not realistic from a practical point of view. You might say you've no interest in the first game, but that's up to you. I'd love to go into a shop and buy only the red skittles out of a packet, but they don't allow that so it's back to me whether or not I want to buy the whole bag for the price they set, or pass up on the offer.

Secondly, I would think that €15 for an afternoon of high level sport is a very fair price. I appreciate that people are under a lot more pressure now financially but I would still reckon that €15 for a day like yesterday would stand fair comparison with anything else you could do for that money. Even if it was just one game, it's a match of huge significance featuring the most in form footballers in the county. We may be in a recession but the Offaly county board have to balance the needs of people on moderate incomes with the needs of the county to get revenue to keep things ticking over. I'd say €15 is striking the balance well.

The issue of receiving abuse from the stewards when you chose to question it is another matter entirely. Anybody is entitled to raise an issue and assuming you were polite, and even-handed with them, then you deserve the same in response. Of course using emotive language like "rip off" might not help, but if you did raise it in a calm and moderate fashion (and I don't know you from Adam so you could have the temperament of Mahatma Gandhi or a raving lunatic) and got an abusive response, then that's something I'd be looking to follow up.

[townman]

it was 15 euro for the hurling semil final so it will be 15 for the final when you look at it 30 euro for two is alot of money in theses time's.
as for Lone Shark 15 euro for high level sport i don't know what matches he was watching the hurling wasn't that anyway, i wasn't at the football
but there was enough lads giving out about the standard that was on show so far this year, 10 or 12 euro would be enough for a final one senior game.

[Over The Black Spot]

I'd have to agree with Lone Shark, I think €15 is fair enough for a double header containing the Intermediate and Senior final. We'll probably have the same admission price for the Minor/Senior and Junior A/Intermediate double headers over the next two weekends and, while the fair provided on the day mightn't always turn out to be great, the profile of the fixtures merits the charge. I can see the common sense in the point re reduced admission for the second game of a double bill, but I haven't seen the GAA nationally or any other county board do it so we're not alone.

One thing I would love to see is for our county board to make the whole occasion much more of a spectacle. Mini-games, crossbar challenge a la the u21 all ireland final, skills competition for juveniles, presenting a previous winning team (I would prefer club teams rather than rolling out another county team, all of whom we've had countless presentations for at his stage). I know some of these things might sound like trivial wastes of time to some here but we need to do more to attract people to come and enjoy the day out. Family ticket pricing is another thing that could be done, free coaching sessions for schools with former/current inter-county starts on the morning of the match in O'Brien Park with free passes for all the kids after (obviously they get in free anyway but hand them a ticket and make them want to come back, we could also bring them into OCP early and show them round the dresssing rooms and press areas and wherever that migh peak a young childs interest). We probably all agree that the games in the county are at as low an ebb as we can remember so why not do something to generate a feel good factor. I may be speaking pie in the sky but wherever there's a fun day out for kids to go, parents will be made follow and as these kids get older, they'll bring there kids and so on.

I know I've wandered miles from the topic subject but a bit of forward thinking might just make the admission price seem less relevant. And a bigger crowd and a better atmosphere definitely won't do the games any harm...

[Lone Shark]

The hurling on show in the semis was very poor, but that was hardly the fault of the county board. They provided a good pitch, comfortable surroundings, and the four sides playing were by far the best four teams in the county this year. That Rynaghs and K/K underperformed so badly is hardly their fault.

If we operated a system whereby we charged based on expected entertainment value, I'd be able to get into the Aviva stadium tomorrow night for the value of the change in my pocket.

Again, I would challenge you to come up with something else two people could do for thirty euro that would fill an afternoon.

I'm all in favour of letting kids into games like this for free or as near as makes no difference, but for two adults, I think €30 is fair.

[townman]

what i did notice at the hurling semil finals was the amount of people that left after the first game the same happen the tullamore Birr and KK Kinnitty matche's
why pay 15 euro to watch just one game beats me.

[joe bloggs]

what i did notice at the hurling semil finals was the amount of people that left after the first game the same happen the tullamore Birr and KK Kinnitty matche's
why pay 15 euro to watch just one game beats me.

Leaving after the first game is the same as arriving only for the second. They may have to be somewhwre els, or maybe they only attended the game to watch a friend or family member play, but dont really have an interest in the game outside of that. however they will still have to pay full price either way.

€15 for a county final is not that bad. I would say it is the same across the country, and remember that kids under 14 are free so it is not too costly a day out for a family if you compare it to bringing the kids to the cinema for example where you will be ripped off on the popcorn etc.
As someone said, the couty final day is important for the finances of the CB who must attempt to at least balance the books each year.

[summerindublin]

It was €15 in to the Kildare final yesterday with a double bill, the minor + senior final.

[townman]

what i did notice at the hurling semil finals was the amount of people that left after the first game the same happen the tullamore Birr and KK Kinnitty matche's
why pay 15 euro to watch just one game beats me.

Leaving after the first game is the same as arriving only for the second. They may have to be somewhwre els, or maybe they only attended the game to watch a friend or family member play, but dont really have an interest in the game outside of that. however they will still have to pay full price either way.

€15 for a county final is not that bad. I would say it is the same across the country, and remember that kids under 14 are free so it is not too costly a day out for a family if you compare it to bringing the kids to the cinema for example where you will be ripped off on the popcorn etc.
As someone said, the couty final day is important for the finances of the CB who must attempt to at least balance the books each year.

maybe it shows the interest in offaly hurling at the moment jasus i remember years ago a double header in Birr you wouldn't get room to turn at them
both games and supporters staying for the two games and if your club was on second you still be in for the first game sign of the times probable.

[Lone Shark]

maybe it shows the interest in offaly hurling at the moment jasus i remember years ago a double header in Birr you wouldn't get room to turn at them
both games and supporters staying for the two games and if your club was on second you still be in for the first game sign of the times probable.

That'll happen when you have a fiercely contested, even championship involving some of the best players in Ireland. Sadly we are a long way from that now.

[townman]

maybe it shows the interest in offaly hurling at the moment jasus i remember years ago a double header in Birr you wouldn't get room to turn at them
both games and supporters staying for the two games and if your club was on second you still be in for the first game sign of the times probable.

That'll happen when you have a fiercely contested, even championship involving some of the best players in Ireland. Sadly we are a long way from that now.

so why charge 15 euro so if you haven't a fiercely contested championship as i pointed out earlier in the post

[Plain of the Herbs]

Because, dimmy, the Senior County finals would be one of the board's main local fundraisers. No other club matches come near the attendance the two Senior finals draw each year.

Running the County teams costs money, y'know. Look on it as your contribution to costs such as hurls, balls, medical, travel, meals and the like. may I remind you that you're the hurling genius who would like to see Nicky English, Micheal (sic) Walsh or Justin McCarthy manage the County team. Where do you think the money to pay for them is going to come from?

so why charge 15 euro so if you haven't a fiercely contested championship as i pointed out earlier in the post

[DAF]

€15 euro is a fair price for a double header like the hurling a couple of weeks ago and the football yesterday.The hurling was disappointing due to the one sided nature of the matches but the football yesterday although not high quality was very exciting as both games went right down to the wire and I felt it was good value entertainment as hopefully the hurling will be on Sunday.The trouble with sport is that there is no way of knowing how entertaining a match will be so any price for some games could be considered bad value for money.I was worried going in to O'Connor Park yesterday that the price may have been €25 euro but I dont think you can complain paying €15 to see both senior and intermediate finals.

any idea of the crowd it looked to be close to 7000 by my estimation

[Plain of the Herbs]

I'd agree with you there. Anyway, what's the alternative? Let them in for free and charge them on the way out, depending on whether it's a good match or not!

A report on the offalygaa gives the crowd at "almost 6000" which is probably fair enough. I was on the terrace and the stand (which holds 7.5k) was about three-quarters full.
http://offaly.gaa.ie/offaly-news/edende ... ainstclara

€15 euro is a fair price for a double header like the hurling a couple of weeks ago and the football yesterday.The hurling was disappointing due to the one sided nature of the matches but the football yesterday although not high quality was very exciting as both games went right down to the wire and I felt it was good value entertainment as hopefully the hurling will be on Sunday.The trouble with sport is that there is no way of knowing how entertaining a match will be so any price for some games could be considered bad value for money.I was worried going in to O'Connor Park yesterday that the price may have been €25 euro but I dont think you can complain paying €15 to see both senior and intermediate finals.

any idea of the crowd it looked to be close to 7000 by my estimation

[townman]

Because, dimmy, the Senior County finals would be one of the board's main local fundraisers. No other club matches come near the attendance the two Senior finals draw each year.

Running the County teams costs money, y'know. Look on it as your contribution to costs such as hurls, balls, medical, travel, meals and the like. may I remind you that you're the hurling genius who would like to see Nicky English, Micheal (sic) Walsh or Justin McCarthy manage the County team. Where do you think the money to pay for them is going to come from?

so why charge 15 euro so if you haven't a fiercely contested championship as i pointed out earlier in the post

well Joe Dooley got a good cut out of them over the last few years or are you one who says and sure he gets nothing doing it for the love of the game