With a sport that only went professional under a decade ago, it is astonishing how as the times progress, income and revenue are the determining factor of an event and not giving fans value for money. Having done some research on pricing of teams in the English game, furthering my research into the ticketing prices of the national team and the world cup in 2015.
Now we all know how the corporate world is, especially in sport and it seems most teams/organisations are being lured by squeezing every last penny out of an event. Referring here to England tickets, for example: The six nations next year, the cheapest deal England Rugby Travel are offering is £139 day return for the Italy game. The most expensive is nigh on £300 for the Ireland game, this in my opinion is disgraceful.
Rugby Tickets, a daylight robbery?
The RFU, the organisation as a whole repeat the notion of “rugby connected”, however where were the fans lost in this? Surely the RFU want to encourage visitors, not shock them. Of course it can be watched on TV, but there is nothing better and more inspiring than watching the event live.
Moving onto the World cup, there was an £80 million guarantee made to the IRB therefore maximum revenue needs to be made. There is a promise of 500,000 seats at £50 or less, and that children can watch any England pool game for £7 but as you move further into the tournament the prices are ludicrous. It is rumoured a final ticket at Twickenham could cost as much as £715, how is that accessible as the ER 2015 have been quoted saying is the aim?
My curiosity rose, therefore I browsed some official club websites with some interesting results. The cheapest premiership ticket I could find was £30, going up to £65. The championship ranged from £15 to £30 (these are all adult ticket price).
My point is that days out to watch rugby are becomingly increasingly expensive, and with it being on TV more, prices may go up, and attendances may go down due to the availability of the TV showing. Rugby should be accessible to everyone, and at these prices I don’t feel it is. Clubs/events and national teams could alienate fans and that would be a nightmare situation as the games popularity is growing at an astronomical rate. Therefore I feel the solution would be to either start offering something back, or simply lower the prices.
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