World Cup Rugby Rip off Ireland fans

Just heard a piece on radio about how Ireland game world cup tickets cost 12.5% more than what the French games (in the same pool as Ireland) cost.

Why are Ireland fans penalised like this? We have to take out two tv subscriptions to watch European rugby, now we have to pay more for tickets to games in the UK.

And then some claim that Ireland is favoured because World Rugby is based in Ireland.

You should try buying tickets for England matches, considerably more expensive again.

Ticket pricing was based on expected demand.

LondonTiger wrote:You should try buying tickets for England matches, considerably more expensive again.

Ticket pricing was based on expected demand.

I'm comparing like-with-like. France is in the same pool as Ireland and also is a next door neighbour with similar expenses. Ar least you guys in England don't have a sea or channel to cross + accommodation.

I think the World Cup rips off everybody, not just Ireland fans.

And you're not comparing like with like, because French fans do not travel as much as Irish fans and are therefore not seen as such easy marks by the organisers.

Sin é wrote:

LondonTiger wrote:You should try buying tickets for England matches, considerably more expensive again.

Ticket pricing was based on expected demand.

I'm comparing like-with-like. France is in the same pool as Ireland and also is a next door neighbour with similar expenses. Ar least you guys in England don't have a sea or channel to cross + accommodation.

Not sure about that. For instance Ireland - France is in Cardiff. Couldnt make it easier for Irish Fans and more difficult for French ones. Not difficult to predict in which color the stadium will be.

The Irish crossing is the most expensive sea journey euro to mile in the world isn't it?

I think in todays market of algerithms and equations the Irish economy coupled with demand for tickets plus average travel rate per province etc makes the Irish high on the list of targets, but significantly behind corporate tickets for English, and NZ matches...

Take a look at Wales games in the MS, and Scotland games in Newcastle, all prices are designed to optimise profits.

Ireland have been given a favourable group, and run to the semi's, causing some excitement in the fanbase and the RFU is sure as hell going to squeeze every penny out of you all it possibly can!!!

Sin é wrote:

LondonTiger wrote:You should try buying tickets for England matches, considerably more expensive again.

Ticket pricing was based on expected demand.

I'm comparing like-with-like. France is in the same pool as Ireland and also is a next door neighbour with similar expenses. Ar least you guys in England don't have a sea or channel to cross + accommodation.

thing is though the vast majority of tickets for RWC will be sold to people with home addresses in GB - so no need for crossing seas etc.

Largest demand is expected to be for england matches, so they are most expensive. NZ are second most expensive so perhaps they are the ones being ripped off - except most fans will be neutrals.

Notch wrote:I think the World Cup rips off everybody, not just Ireland fans.

And you're not comparing like with like, because French fans do not travel as much as Irish fans and are therefore not seen as such easy marks by the organisers.

That is my point. They are ripping Ireland fans off. They are not ripping off French fans.

LondonTiger wrote:

Sin é wrote:

LondonTiger wrote:You should try buying tickets for England matches, considerably more expensive again.

Ticket pricing was based on expected demand.

I'm comparing like-with-like. France is in the same pool as Ireland and also is a next door neighbour with similar expenses. Ar least you guys in England don't have a sea or channel to cross + accommodation.

thing is though the vast majority of tickets for RWC will be sold to people with home addresses in GB - so no need for crossing seas etc.

Largest demand is expected to be for england matches, so they are most expensive. NZ are second most expensive so perhaps they are the ones being ripped off - except most fans will be neutrals.

You don't know that actually. Scotland, Wales, England are the only ones who don't have to get onto a plane or into a boat and cross some sea.

Scotland v USA (Cat A) = 85. Ireland v Canada (Cat A) = 175.

If you want to think you are being picked on, fine go and think that. you are not being picked on it is simply that demand for Ireland games is expected to be higher than for France or Scotland games.

And why should they consider travel costs when pricing tickets? The comittee were tasked by World rugby with making enough profit to cover the shortfall in 2011 and the expected loss in 2019. They are doing this by having lots of tickets at crazy prices. £25o for England vs Uruguay as an example.

All ticket prices are a rip off no matter what team you are supporting, with all due respect to Uruguay the cheapest available ticket for the Wales game is £85 and the cheapest for Fiji is £125 and they are up in the gods.

Sin é wrote:

Notch wrote:I think the World Cup rips off everybody, not just Ireland fans.

And you're not comparing like with like, because French fans do not travel as much as Irish fans and are therefore not seen as such easy marks by the organisers.

That is my point. They are ripping Ireland fans off. They are not ripping off French fans.

They are rip offs in general and my policy is to not buy RWC tickets as a result. But I don't think we are being especially victimised because you can bet they'll rip off fans of any nationality if they feel that the market allows them to.

bedfordwelsh wrote:All ticket prices are a rip off no matter what team you are supporting, with all due respect to Uruguay the cheapest available ticket for the Wales game is £85 and the cheapest for Fiji is £125 and they are up in the gods.

Exactly.

Notch wrote:

bedfordwelsh wrote:All ticket prices are a rip off no matter what team you are supporting, with all due respect to Uruguay the cheapest available ticket for the Wales game is £85 and the cheapest for Fiji is £125 and they are up in the gods.

Exactly.

It could be worse these games being played in the England World Cup could have been played in England.

aren't they based on seedings? so with Ireland seeded higher they are subsequently more costly? how does the NZ tickets compare with those of Argentina?

Ticket prices have nothing to do with seedings, but based purely on generating the maximum income to pass on to World Rugby.

bedfordwelsh wrote:All ticket prices are a rip off no matter what team you are supporting, with all due respect to Uruguay the cheapest available ticket for the Wales game is £85 and the cheapest for Fiji is £125 and they are up in the gods.

The absolute cheapest tickets for these games have sold out.

also please note the pricing for Wales v fiji and Uruguay was identical - £175 for CatA, £125 CatB, £85 CatC, £50 (I think) CatD.


The tickets are far too expensive and I have the feeling that all fans are being fleeced to cover shortfalls from the last and the next tournaments.

Still well over 2million tickets have been sold.

Should rename the thread World Cup rugby rip off sports fans.

I don't think Irish fans are the only victims as mentioned by almost every other poster.

Also this is one big reason why England were given the RWC. It's a nice juicy fat cash cow that can be milked,milked and milked more.

RWC 2015 is basically there to subsidise the ones in NZ and Japan.

Got to factor in that a RWC in England is a lot easier for the likes of English,Welsh,Italian,Scottish,French and Irish fans to get to than the RWC in NZ.

Lots of Irish and French in London let's not forget.

Estimated around 400,000 French in London alone. Those with Irish ancestry is very high - don't have the figures of those who are Irish but the World Cup Rugby feel confident that Irish fans will turn up in large numbers.

LondonTiger wrote:If you want to think you are being picked on, fine go and think that. you are not being picked on it is simply that demand for Ireland games is expected to be higher than for France or Scotland games.

And why should they consider travel costs when pricing tickets? The comittee were tasked by World rugby with making enough profit to cover the shortfall in 2011 and the expected loss in 2019. They are doing this by having lots of tickets at crazy prices. £25o for England vs Uruguay as an example.

We are, in comparison to French supporters who are in the same group - i.e., you are extracting 12.5% more from Irish fans than you are from French fans.

The RFU got the gig because they bid for it. World Rugby ask for a minimum fee. Don't try and kid us though that the RFU are doing this because of their concern for funding world rugby. They are already the richest union - how about passing on some of that cash to the less well off unions.

Notch and Londontiger have explained it pretty well.

More demand for Irish tickets than French ones. Not a big surprise is it? Ireland are performing very well, the French have been a bit mediocre. Irish fans travel better and there's a big Irish connection in England.

English fans are being charged the most anyway.

Sin e we've gone over this - as Londontiger has said in previous posts - RFU helped fund the Churchill Cup to help the likes of USA and Canada (less well off unions). Some of that cash was also passed onto less well off countries like Ireland and NZ too....

RFU have also recently stated they are going to help USA rugby by becoming a shareholder - of course it's partly down to self interest but still....

beshocked wrote:Notch and Londontiger have explained it pretty well.

No, they didn't get it. They keep bringing how bad it is for England fans which isn't my point. I'm comparing how in the same group, with similar difficulty, Ireland is being ripped off.

If you want to claim that England fans are being ripped off by their own union, they can start their own thread.

More demand for Irish tickets than French ones. Not a big surprise is it? Ireland are performing very well, the French have been a bit mediocre. Irish fans travel better and there's a big Irish connection in England.

English fans are being charged the most anyway.

So now, hopefully we will never again have to listen to how England and France are propping up the poor Celtic nations. Looks to me like the Irish at least are propping up everyone else by actually buying and going to matches. It also puts to bed any claims that England fans make that England's bigger population may not be entirely responsible for the higher income from media rights. It seems there are a lot of Ireland fans living and paying for Sky subscriptions in the UK

Sin e we've gone over this - as Londontiger has said in previous posts - RFU helped fund the Churchill Cup to help the likes of USA and Canada (less well off unions). Some of that cash was also passed onto less well off countries like Ireland and NZ too....

RFU have also recently stated they are going to help USA rugby by becoming a shareholder - of course it's partly down to self interest but still....

The last Churchill Cup was about 5 or 6 years ago. Ireland (& Wales) have regularly toured Canada and the US and actually hosted these countries for autumn internationals. When is the last time England played Canada or the US?

beshocked wrote:Should rename the thread World Cup rugby rip off sports fans.

I don't think Irish fans are the only victims as mentioned by almost every other poster.

Also this is one big reason why England were given the RWC. It's a nice juicy fat cash cow that can be milked,milked and milked more.

RWC 2015 is basically there to subsidise the ones in NZ and Japan.

Got to factor in that a RWC in England is a lot easier for the likes of English,Welsh,Italian,Scottish,French and Irish fans to get to than the RWC in NZ.

Lots of Irish and French in London let's not forget.

Estimated around 400,000 French in London alone. Those with Irish ancestry is very high - don't have the figures of those who are Irish but the World Cup Rugby feel confident that Irish fans will turn up in large numbers.

Yep, so they are ripping them off.

They are setting tickets at the maximum they can get away with for all games. The more popular the match, the higher the tickets. There is no deliberate plan to rip off a specific group, just to fleece every fan for the maximum they can.

Now I believe that people travelling from Ireland to watch an Ireland game will be in a minority. "Neutrals" will be the majority and they are being "ripped off" too.

In fact blame people like me who want to see a live game, and would like to see a decent side and could not get tickets for England. I will be watching Ireland at Olympic Stadium because it was the cheapest option (also watching some no hoper matches). If neutrals like me were not inflating demand - then the price would be lower.

Sin e it's you who doesn't get it. There is higher demand for Irish tickets than French ones which of course means that more can be charged.

You are being charged more because more people want to see Ireland than France. You should be proud that Ireland have more drawing power than France when it comes to internationals

So what if France are in the same group? If France were performing better there might be more of a buzz but there isn't.

England are hosting the RWC which will generate a significant amount of money - who do you think is propping up the rest of the rugby world? The English/Welsh stadia means there are more tickets available meaning more people get to watch the games.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_national_rugby_union_team

Sorry I don't see Wales or Ireland on the list of USA recent opponents....

beshocked wrote:Sin e it's you who doesn't get it. There is higher demand for Irish tickets than French ones which of course means that more can be charged.

You are saying the same thing. More can be charged = they are taking the opportunity to get as much money as possible out of Irish fans. The point is not that Irish fans are not being ripped off. The point is they are ripping everyone off, they just feel like they can get away with charging some fans more than others.

Either you feel it's okay as they need to subsidise future tournaments or you feel its a rip-off but it doesn't seem like anyone on this thread disagrees with the basic point. Only that some want to make it about one set of fans and others don't see the point of that.

Yeah pretty much a rip off for any fan wanting to go. Sign of the times for growing the game.

Notch that's what I am saying too - everyone is being ripped off.

English tickets have the highest demand so they believe they can charge more.

I don't like that anyone is getting ripped off but it's not just the Irish fans, we all are.

This is the cost of giving NZ and Japan the previous and next world cup.

Also you could argue that by being ripped off there should be more money to pump into rugby union in general which in turn should should grow the game.

Thing is, if they increased French tickets to match Irish, then the numbers going wuld decrease. This could mean more revenue lost, so tickets for Irish games would need to go up by more.


World Rugby viewed British and Irish fans as a giant cash cow - and we are subsidising lower prices and smaller grounds at other tournaments and covering compensation to Aus/NZ/SA for reduced 4Ns.

We are all being fleeced, just some more than others. Once you have been buggered it is then just semantics over who has been buggered the most.

LondonTiger wrote:They are setting tickets at the maximum they can get away with for all games. The more popular the match, the higher the tickets. There is no deliberate plan to rip off a specific group, just to fleece every fan for the maximum they can.

That is what is called ripping people off. Charging Ireland fans more for the same thing than French fans.

England playing Wales is not the same thing as both Ireland & France playing Canada. Ireland tickets to games are 12.5% more costly to Ireland fans than they are to French fans. Ireland fans are getting ripped off in comparison to French fans.

Now I believe that people travelling from Ireland to watch an Ireland game will be in a minority. "Neutrals" will be the majority and they are being "ripped off" too.

In fact blame people like me who want to see a live game, and would like to see a decent side and could not get tickets for England. I will be watching Ireland at Olympic Stadium because it was the cheapest option (also watching some no hoper matches). If neutrals like me were not inflating demand - then the price would be lower.

That is absolute nonsence about neutrals being the majority.   Remind me again how the Champions Cup went when there were two decent teams playing in the final this year in Twickers?

beshocked wrote:


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_national_rugby_union_team

Sorry I don't see Wales or Ireland on the list of USA recent opponents....

To be fair, that list does not even cover the last 2 years. Ireland last played the USA in June 2013.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_rugby_union_matches_between_Ireland_and_United_States

beshocked wrote:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_national_rugby_union_team

Sorry I don't see Wales or Ireland on the list of USA recent opponents....

Toured there in 2013. Ireland have played USA 8 times in total, 3 times in Ireland, 4 times in US. One neutral.
Munster have also travelled to the US recently and played against the Eagles in preseason (well, 2 seasons running).

The last time England played the USA from what I can see was in 1991 in Twickenham (world cup).

Sin e haven't done your homework.

England played USA in 2007 RWC.

Played USA 7 times. 4 if you include the saxons.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_national_rugby_union_team

It is not the same thing, it is two different matches. Now if Irish Fans were being charged more than French for the Ireland/France game you would have a point. But I will leave this now as nothing anyone says will stop you choosing to be victimised.


As to the champions cup final - there were probably about 10k French and almost 50k neutrals. Admittedly not sold out - but the major difference is that was being marketed to purely rugby fans, while RWC is following the selling model set by th eOlympics in 2012. Target everyone and release tickets in small tranches to make supply scarece and cause everyone to pay more than they should.

The ticket prices for this WC are a joke. Rugby is becoming way too commercial for my liking.

beshocked wrote:Sin e haven't done your homework.

England played USA in 2007 RWC.

Played USA 7 times. 4 if you include the saxons.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_national_rugby_union_team

USA used be good back in the day. In the professional era England have never toured in the US or invited US to play in England, unlike both Ireland, Wales & Scotland. I think the last time England played the USA was in the 70s (other than a world cup on neutral territory).

And no, I don't count the Saxons who are not going to be as an attractive fixture as the England team.

LondonTiger wrote:It is not the same thing, it is two different matches. Now if Irish Fans were being charged more than French for the Ireland/France game you would have a point. But I will leave this now as nothing anyone says will stop you choosing to be victimised.


As to the champions cup final - there were probably about 10k French and almost 50k neutrals. Admittedly not sold out - but the major difference is that was being marketed to purely rugby fans, while RWC is following the selling model set by th eOlympics in 2012. Target everyone and release tickets in small tranches to make supply scarece and cause everyone to pay more than they should.

THe tickets were given away to the Champs Cup Final. Now, there would have been no chance of that happening if one of the Irish Provinces were involved.

As I say, Ireland fans are being penalised for being good supporters.

GunsGerms wrote:The ticket prices for this WC are a joke. Rugby is becoming way too commercial for my liking.

I don't recall the FFR in 2007 being as greedy as the RFU.

Sin é wrote:

GunsGerms wrote:The ticket prices for this WC are a joke. Rugby is becoming way too commercial for my liking.

I don't recall the FFR in 2007 being as greedy as the RFU.

You do realise that the profits go to World Rugby? tickets are overpriced for all, reasons have been given for anyone who wants to actually read.

Sin é wrote:

GunsGerms wrote:The ticket prices for this WC are a joke. Rugby is becoming way too commercial for my liking.

I don't recall the FFR in 2007 being as greedy as the RFU.

They definitely weren't. Tickets were considerably cheaper even with a booming Euro economy.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/8170488.stm

LondonTiger wrote:

Sin é wrote:

GunsGerms wrote:The ticket prices for this WC are a joke. Rugby is becoming way too commercial for my liking.

I don't recall the FFR in 2007 being as greedy as the RFU.

You do realise that the profits go to World Rugby? tickets are overpriced for all, reasons have been given for anyone who wants to actually read.

How much did England guarantee World Rugby to get the gig? Your economy is benefitting from the staging of the event, ours isn't.

edit: Found it.

The RFU says England will lay on the biggest World Cup to date, generating a surplus at least £60m larger than that of the other bids.

LondonTiger wrote:

Sin é wrote:

GunsGerms wrote:The ticket prices for this WC are a joke. Rugby is becoming way too commercial for my liking.

I don't recall the FFR in 2007 being as greedy as the RFU.

You do realise that the profits go to World Rugby? tickets are overpriced for all, reasons have been given for anyone who wants to actually read.

No they don't. The home union keeps gate receipts and WR makes their cut from sponsorship and TV deals.

World Rugby also charge a fee for hosting the competition.

I should have said the bulk of the profits from ticket sales - as World Rugby demanded a huge cut of the ticket revenue in the form of the fee levied on World Cup Rugby 2015.

As the link suggests England was chosen to help out World Rugbys finances.

LondonTiger wrote:I should have said the bulk of the profits from ticket sales - as World Rugby demanded a huge cut of the ticket revenue in the form of the fee levied on World Cup Rugby 2015.

The World Rugby fee for hosting the tournament is €101 for 2015 and €122 for 2019 in Japan.

Italy lost the bid to host this competition by 4 votes.

No 7&1/2 wrote:As the link suggests England was chosen to help out World Rugbys finances.

Any NH country would be able to do that (as well as SA). The French World Cup was financially very successful (without ripping off anyone). That article was written prior to the NZ world cup when they thought they were going to lose money which they didn't.

Sin é wrote:

No 7&1/2 wrote:As the link suggests England was chosen to help out World Rugbys finances.

Any NH country would be able to do that (as well as SA). The French World Cup was financially very successful (without ripping off anyone). That article was written prior to the NZ world cup when they thought they were going to lose money which they didn't.

Wasn't the view at the time. I wholly dislike the amount being charged, it's a kick in the teeth to everyone but it's pretty much what World Rugby wanted to ensure they have money.

No 7&1/2 wrote:

Sin é wrote:

No 7&1/2 wrote:As the link suggests England was chosen to help out World Rugbys finances.

Any NH country would be able to do that (as well as SA). The French World Cup was financially very successful (without ripping off anyone). That article was written prior to the NZ world cup when they thought they were going to lose money which they didn't.

Wasn't the view at the time. I wholly dislike the amount being charged, it's a kick in the teeth to everyone but it's pretty much what World Rugby wanted to ensure they have money.

World Rugby asked for bids to host it. They set their fee at €101m. The RFU (by ripping people off) say they will generate 60m more than any other bid.

The RFU wanted to host the world cup and the way they are doing it is by ripping everyone off, but especially Ireland fans.

edit: its actually really annoying. At least NZ used rugby stadia, but England rugby are sending an awful lot of money down soccer's way.

"Charging Ireland fans more for the same thing than French fans"

This is not true - they are charging more for Irish MATCHES, than French MATCHES. They are not checking the passports of Irish people going in the gates and adding 12.5%, they are charging more for the matches with the larger draw. In our group we are, thankfully, the highest ranked, best team. And so the appeal of our matches is higher, including, as some above have said, for the neutral. As notch says, the RWC is a rip-opp for all rugby fans, but so is the football WC etc. its the age we live in. Be bloody proud of our strong team being one of the biggest draws in the tournament and stop whining - would you prefer to be a french fan at the RWC and pay 12.5% less? I wouldn't, all respect to whocares etc.