The Eternal Ticket questions

[Lone Shark]

Tis into the season of ticket scraping for all concerned, though unfortunately once again we don't have to worry about it. It's a sensitive topic that everyone likes to give out about, but I have to say that I have great sympathy for the organisers behind it. Everyone complains about the lack of tickets for all Ireland finals and the like, but when you see the actual distribution list and where they go it's awful hard to pick out places that you could cut back.

Also, you get people giving out about touts as well. Still, the touting issue has a lot of grey areas too.

Just out of curiosity, I'd be interested in a wee survey just to get general attitudes together. If ye have time, fire in responses to the following few questions, and sure if you feel like discussing the issue, by all means do.

(1) People complain about who gets the tickets - that preference in key games is given to officials from non-competing counties over supporters of participating teams - who do you feel (for argument's sake) deserves a ticket to the upcoming hurling final more: (a) A lifelong Limerick supporter who goes to every game, or (b) the treasurer of a club in Longford with two football teams and one junior hurling team.

(2) If a system was put in place at the start of the year whereby you could pay a fixed sum and be guaranteed tickets to all your counties games, the sum dependent on your likelihood of success (i.e. €100 for div 1 teams, scaling down to €25 for div 4) would you (a) buy this option, (b) consider it acceptable but not buy, or (c) think it's unfair to be extracting more money from supporters when they mightn't even get anything in exchange.

(3) We all dislike touting, but if push came to shove, it was Offaly in an All Ireland final, ten minutes to throw in and you could buy a ticket for one weeks wage - would you buy it - (a) yes, or (b) no.

(4) Tickets have been cropping up on sites such as ebay and needaticket - obviously the GAA could get the numbers and trace them back to where they were issued. If a ticket can be traced back to a particular club official, who says that he sold it on at face value in good faith - what do you do? (a) Punish the club and by extension innocent members by cutting their ticket allocation and/or fining the club, or (b) Let it slide, thus effectively granting a licence to tout to all ticket recipients and removing any deterrent.

(5) Several groups within the GAA get their share of tickets (handball, camogie etc.), most of which get used as gifts to sponsors etc. Should the GAA (a) continue with this, or (b) Cut the allocation and increase their direct financial support instead, thus freeing up more tickets for participating counties but removing the choice from the administrators of these groups?


This might go nowhere, but I felt it was worth a topic! For the record, my answers would be....

1 - B
2 - A
3 - A
4 - A
5 - B

Let's be having ye....

[DD]

1. Has to be A - I sympathise with the great clubmen around the country but the counties involved have to be 1st in line.
That said I think a simple system where a supporter from a competing county can prove (with coupons etc) that he/she has been to the preceeding matches, that person should then automatically qualify for tickets.
Systems like this are used for example for English soccer clubs competing in the FA Cup Final.

2. A. A good idea, especially seeing it's only €25 for us

3. Depends on how much drink had been taken but probably A. There should be an option C, kick the shit out of the tout and take the tickets off him!

4. A Something has to be done and even if some poor unfortunate was to suffer along the way, it is still the right thing to do.

5. B

[Bord na Mona man]

I think the ticket problem might be a bit overstated. Most (though not all) people who persevere to the very bitter end will eventually get a ticket.
The problem is that it takes fans too long to get AI tickets.
For Offaly All Irelands, I've always gotten the ones I want at the very last minute. Granted that Offaly would be the probably be the easiest county in the country to arm with tickets. But they have originated from some quare places at quare times.

People (rightly) get upset at being left dangling until the last minute. If Joe Duffy and Marian Finucune followed up the week after the All Ireland, they'd probably find that Thursday's distraught callers managed to get sorted the morning of the final. It will never warrant a mention though.

Croke Park holds almost 2% of the population of Ireland. The tickets are not as scarce as Willy Wonka's golden ticket.
Granted when Dublin or Cork get to an All Ireland, it is impossible to satisfy all genuine fans.
It would be so much easier on everyone if there was a transparent way of knowing in advance you had earned your ticket.
There would be far less ticket gripes, if you there was a transparent criteria to match.

I'd hate to be a club official in charge of allocating them. Half of All Ireland Sunday is spent dishing out tickets that arrive into your hand hours before throw in.

[The Magpie]

1 - A - I'm surprised at B answers here. I wonder how many Munster championship matches the Treasurer was at? I wonder how many times he paid to watch Limerick get the sh*t beaten out of them? Or how many times he stood watching Limerick in the rain in March? But come the sunny afternoon in September, he gets preference!
2 - C - Tough one. Personally, I'd probably buy the ticket-batch. But this is not a practical option for some families or people that are less well-off, so I'll choose C.
3 - B - Not a chance. I've bought from touts a couple of times, but never paid more than 50% over face value.
4 - A - Tough call. The official has to use his judgement when selling the ticket. I guess they should only be sold to trusted club members. If there is any doubt, the ticket should be returned for re-allocation. Reducing the ticket allocation in the future is punishment enough.
5 - B - No great argument here.

[turk]

On the first question of giving tickets to clubs in non-participating counties, something is wrong when fans that followed all season can't get a ticket cos they are allocated to these clubs and a few weeks later the railway cups are held and the players are competing in front of 100 spectators and a dog.

Something's not right about this. I don't think if this allocation was cut that it would denegrate the all-irelands in any way or would it result in 1000s of gaa stalwarts turning their back on the association.

[Sydthebeat]

1 - A..... the lifelong supporter deserves first crack at a ticket to see his own county in the all-ireland.... i cannot fathom someone answering B here... please explain your point of view on thi sone

2 - C..... why would a div 1 supporter be expected to pay more for the same product?

3 - B... no, never.... as said above my break point would be 50% above face value...

4 - A... yes, why not.. if every ticket had a name attached and only that person could use it then that would eliminate touting.. this will happen in the not too distant future.....

5 - A... while B is more preferable i think A is realistic.. you are not going to rid the corporate faction from the GAA... tickets to sponsors can result in much greater yield than direct finiancial support from internal finances...

[Lone Shark]

Regarding the logic behind question 1, the reason for the "moral ambiguity" (if that's not too grand a term for something like match tickets) is that while the supporter complains about the Longford treasurer not having any interest in the game and not being invested in Limerick hurling, the comeback to that is that the Longford club secretary has actually got involved in his/her club and contributed to the GAA directly by putting in the hours keeping their own club going. The lifelong supporter by contrast has gone to games that he/she wants to go to.

I'm not saying that it's black and white the other way, merely that AI tickets are the only perk a lot of these unsung heroes get, and it shouldn't be as simple as just taking them off them.

I agree with BnaM man in that in Offaly you are unlikely to ever be truly stuck seeing as we don't have the massive population, but he also makes the good point that the lack of a transparent structure does come home to roost a little. However putting in place a structure when it's not certain what GAA members want is another issue.

[turk]

Regarding the logic behind question 1, the reason for the "moral ambiguity" (if that's not too grand a term for something like match tickets) is that while the supporter complains about the Longford treasurer not having any interest in the game and not being invested in Limerick hurling, the comeback to that is that the Longford club secretary has actually got involved in his/her club and contributed to the GAA directly by putting in the hours keeping their own club going. The lifelong supporter by contrast has gone to games that he/she wants to go to.

They'd be delighted with a railway cup ticket so

[Mighty Pair O' Hands]

1 - B

2 - C

3 - B

4 - A

5 - B

People complain about who gets the tickets - that preference in key games is given to officials from non-competing counties over supporters of participating teams - who do you feel (for argument's sake) deserves a ticket to the upcoming hurling final more: (a) A lifelong Limerick supporter who goes to every game, or (b) the treasurer of a club in Longford with two football teams and one junior hurling team.

I don't believe that in general "lifelong supporters who go to every game" fail to get tickets for an All Ireland - If you are the type of supporter who goes to all Div 4 league games, O'Byrne Cup etc then for Offaly you are one of about maximum 500 supporters. You are most likely a member of your club. You will in all likelihood secure a ticket for the All Ireland. It may be on the Hill. It may be on the 14 yard line on the Cusack. But you will usually get a ticket.
All Ireland finals are the pinnacle of the sport - why shouldnt strong GAA brethren in Longford have the right to go to an All Ireland final ?

[Lone Shark]

2 - C..... why would a div 1 supporter be expected to pay more for the same product?

Sorry, missed this bit. The idea would be that since you are in effect purchasing an "option" to buy tickets for the semi or final if and only if your team is involved, obviously that option is worth a lot more to a team with a high likelihood of being there than it is to a supporter of Wicklow or Offaly right now.

The differential pricing is in order to make sure that it doesn't represent wojious bad value for weaker counties while at the same time making sure that the main counties aren't oversubscribed. (Obviously a limited amount of these options per county could be sold)

[Bord na Mona man]

1 - A - I'm surprised at B answers here. I wonder how many Munster championship matches the Treasurer was at? I wonder how many times he paid to watch Limerick get the sh*t beaten out of them? Or how many times he stood watching Limerick in the rain in March? But come the sunny afternoon in September, he gets preference!.

Judging by Limerick league attendances and the number Limerick fans who went to the first Tipp game, I doubt many of their current fans would satisfy that criteria.
Anyone who does, certainly deserves a ticket.
But you can be guaranteed that there will be a couple of thousand Limerick supporters at the All Ireland, who will probably never attend another GAA match of any form (unless another All Ireland is reached).
It was the same for Offaly, where plenty of people haven't gone to the game since the 2000 All Ireland.

Are they more deserving of the ticket more than the neutral club official?
The line has to be drawn somewhere.
If all people (from any county) who had not attended a GAA match all year were excluded from getting an All Ireland ticket, you'd be surprised at how much the ticket crisis would ease.
Unfortunately there is no way of establishing this.

[turk]

the likes of Terry Wogan will be at the hurling, sitting scoffing at the game

[Treasurer]

1 - A - I'm surprised at B answers here. I wonder how many Munster championship matches the Treasurer was at?

Jeez, for a minute there I thought you were getting personal!

(1) A - IF a proper system can be put in place to ensure that they really ARE lifelong supporters and not bandwagon jumpers. The treasurer (as referred to, not me!) deserves a ticket before someone who hasn't been at a game all year, but who is now desperately seeking a ticket. What ever became of the "loyalty system" that was talked about a few years back?

(2) Hmm... (c) I think but hard to say when we're in the fortunate position that our small population means the ticket scramble isn't what it might be in other counties.

(3) (a) Probably

(4) (a) There has been an effort in recent years to track tickets, clubs have been emailed asking questions about tickets from their allocation. One thing I'd like to see implmented is an official stall/venue where people who end up with surplus tickets could get rid of them at face value. I know there are lots of unofficial venues for this, pubs etc, but I'd like to see it more streamlined to help take the touts out of the equation.

(5) Hmmm... leaning towards (a)

[Sydthebeat]

Sorry, missed this bit. The idea would be that since you are in effect purchasing an "option" to buy tickets for the semi or final if and only if your team is involved, obviously that option is worth a lot more to a team with a high likelihood of being there than it is to a supporter of Wicklow or Offaly right now.

surely this could be compared to paying your county membership fee and then being assured of first choice on any tickets..... thus the 'higer proflie' countys would have higher membership fees....

the point reagrding no. 1 that sure offaly hasnt a large population and we'd all get tickets anyway is taking the issue up wrong in my opinion.... the basic question is whether a lifelong supporter (and we are not talking bandwagon jumpers here) deserves the chance of obtaining a ticket for an all ireland final ahead of a county treasurer from a different county.... i think they should, if they dont want it fine, let it off to the treasurer.... it has happened all to often that ive had to go to clubs in kildare or laois in order to obtain a ticket for a high profile offaly game... this i swrong in my opinion...

[OffalyManAway]

LS, Your Question 2 is something i've though about before.
I for one would be happy to pay for an option to be guaranteed a ticket at face value on All-Ireland Day. Mind you this would want to be a prime ticket - Centre of the Cusack or the like.

Interestingly this is all the go in the US with sites like http://www.theticketreserve.com selling these options which can then be traded (if you team does well in the Championship then your Option will rise in value and can be sold at a profit anytime before expiry).