Stand tickets for this year’s All-Ireland senior football and hurling finals will cost punters €90 while tickets in the terraces have been priced at €45.
It is the first time since 2011 that the prices for the GAA’s flagship events have increased with stand tickets increasing from €80 to €90 while terrace tickets have increased by €5 from €40 to €45.
Prior to the price hikes in 2011, All-Ireland final tickets were priced at €70 for a stand ticket and €30 for a ticket in the terraces.
Before those hikes, for instance, a stand ticket for the 2004 All-Ireland final cost €60 which equates to just under €70 when inflation has been accounted for in the rise.
The decision to increase ticket prices for this year’s finals also coincides with an 18% decrease in average attendances across last year’s Championship series.
The drop in attendances also translated to a decrease in gate receipts which fell by 14% to €29.6m from €34.4m in 2017.
The GAA’s Financial Report partly attributes two major replays in 2017 to the downturn but figures still show that receipts for the football championship fell by 21% from 2017 to 2018.
Attendances in the football fell from from 628,618 in 2017 to 515,763 in 2018, despite the number of games increasing from 33 to 39 in the All-Ireland senior championship.
A number of players have spoken out about the increase in All-Ireland final ticket prices including former Kilkenny hurler and Laois manager Eddie Brennan as well as Carlow hurler Paul Coady.
€90 for all stand tickets for all Ireland is shocking
3/4 categories priced accordingly is needed ASAP https://t.co/I1rWvIlmC4— Eddie Brennan (@NedzerB13) August 11, 2019
How can the GAA justify an All Ireland final ticket costs €90 and it’s an amateur game? Family of 4 will spend €360 to see Sunday’s match 🥴.
72k seats x €90 =6.48m
10k hill 16 x €50 = 500k
€7 million for 1 game 🙈🙈🙈.
Call the cops lads 🙄
Players & Fans being robbed!— Paul Coady (@Paul_Coady10) August 12, 2019
