rossie wrote: On wednesdays press release to announce the power hour today it said that they were closing in on 4000 season ticket sales for season. That can mean anything from 3001 upwards if yu are cynical but definately below 4000 wed afternoon. I bought a clan ticket for a tenner during power hour so they were still available. I dont know how many they have to hold back for pro12 though.

I agree swifty about the trust issue re concession tickets. It also indicates that they view their customers/supporters as being entirely Galway based. It is after all asking a lot to expect an OAp, unemployed person or student from Roscommon, Slgo,leitrim or mayo to travel to the sportsground to prove that they are in fact entitled to those tickets. Last season the office was closed on game days.

My thoughts exactly, what's the point of a concession ticket if there are extra expenses involved in collecting it, travel to Galway, food etc?

On wednesdays press release to announce the power hour today it said that they were closing in on 4000 season ticket sales for season. That can mean anything from 3001 upwards if yu are cynical but definately below 4000 wed afternoon. I bought a clan ticket for a tenner during power hour so they were still available. I dont know how many they have to hold back for pro12 though.

I agree swifty about the trust issue re concession tickets. It also indicates that they view their customers/supporters as being entirely Galway based. It is after all asking a lot to expect an OAp, unemployed person or student from Roscommon, Slgo,leitrim or mayo to travel to the sportsground to prove that they are in fact entitled to those tickets. Last season the office was closed on game days.

Connman wrote: Yeah whats the Final Count ...

Drum Roll please....

seen 4200 somewhere!

---

Connacht Rugby

Dear swift4prez,

With only 8 days until the start of the Rabo Pro 12 everyone at Connacht rugby is eagerly anticipating kick off on Saturday September 1st.
Message Headline

We are posting season tickets on Monday August 27th so expect to have them midway through next week.

All concession season ticket holders will need to come to The Sportsground to collect their ticket. You will be notified when your ticket is ready for collection. When coming to collect your ticket you must produce a valid identification which proves that you are entitled to a concession ticket. (E.g. Student Card, Medical Card, Free travel card...etc)
We look forward to seeing you all in The Sportsground as Connacht Rugby embark on another season of Rabo Direct and Heineken Cup Rugby.

Connacht Rugby wishes to thank our season ticket holders for their continued support and we hope you enjoy the season with us.

Sincerely,

Eoin Banahan
Marketing and Commercial Executive
Connacht Rugby
Connacht Rugby
The Sportsground, College Road, Galway
T +353 91 561568
W www.connachtrugby.ie

a little bit of thrust issue there by the branch.
last season they sent them out in the post no problem.
would of been 10times smarter to ask for proof when signing up and then send them all out in the post

Yeah whats the Final Count ...

Drum Roll please....

Does anyone know how many season tickets have been sold?

gutted over Dave Nolan, you couldn't make that sort of bad luck up

I was looking on the london Irish website and they have introduced an 8 game voucher season ticket for the first time this season and it is selling well according to their forum and site. Its aimed at those supporters who cant make commitment to full season ticket due to work, distance etc.
There are restrictions to use such as you must use min of 2 vouchers for Challenge cup/ lv cup fixtures etc.AFaik their home season is 17 games( inc Lv) but im not certain on that.

Imo this would be a good idea for connacht taking into account the geoghraphy of the province and the significant amount of potential support living outside the province not to mention the shiftworkers, lukewarm support etc.

Season Tickets are with the Printers at the moment. Should be receiving them soon.
Cant wait. First two home matches are on Saturdays. I am very happy with that. I can actually make those games.

I'd agree with Rossie, I think the Branch have scored a bit of an own goal here. I know the positive will be that it makes even more sense to purchase a season ticket but look Harlequins and Gloucester both were far from selling out last season and that was with decent travelling support. I'd hope we'd be going a lot better this year than we were at that stage last year but for example Zebre at home in the last game of HC, €30 for any area within the ground is steep as both sides will likely only be playing for pride & ranking points, there will be next to no travelling support. Unless we have overachieved in the group I can't see us getting more than 4000 for that.

They will still probably get good crowds for the interpros but they need to thread very carefully as for most people at present there is a fine line between a good night out and a dear night out. Witness the races and betting figures from Tuesday on if you want to see evidence of that.

rossie wrote: salmson, i couldnt figure out how i got total wrong and it turns out i was right. its gone up for interpro from 40 euro to 60 euro. 25 euro x 2 for adults(up from 20 euro) and 5 euro x 2 for u12s= 60 euro up from 40 euro last season.

:oops:

2 maths degrees and I can't add (or read) for shite. You are indeed most definitely right, I was missing the adults increase.

salmson, i couldnt figure out how i got total wrong and it turns out i was right. its gone up for interpro from 40 euro to 60 euro. 25 euro x 2 for adults(up from 20 euro) and 5 euro x 2 for u12s= 60 euro up from 40 euro last season.

rossie wrote: apologise salmson, it was a genuine maths error. You are right of course its 50 euro.

Hey, it's the end of a long week at work. I for one can hardly remember my name....

apologise salmson, it was a genuine maths error. You are right of course its 50 euro.

I still see this as a bit of a nothing issue.

I tend to take the kids to the lesser matches - the interPros were too busy (as was the Toulouse game) for kids that young. And in Rossie's example, the cost for a couple with 2 under12s going to the Leinster game has gone from 40 to 50 euro, not 60; while the HEC jump is again a tenner from 50 to 60. And that's assuming Dad or Mum aren't season ticket holders.

The cynical might say following sport's an addiction, and all good pushers give you the first hit free. The way I see it, especially considering the upturn in facilities, squad, and competitions, is that they're hardly screwing us as regards ticket prices.

ronanl thats part of my point.

The main one though is that last season it was 5 euro for HEc and free in for all other games for u12s. They have doubled the price of Hec Tickets for kids and brought in 5 euro charge for interpros.
They have done this in spite of the fact that on only one occasion the capacity(7500) of ground was exceeded(toulouse) and on 2 other occasions came close to full capacity( Munster and Leinster). For the ulster, Gloucester and Harlequins games the crowds were between 5000 and 5500. They are attractive fixtures but didnt even come close to selling out.
This season we have Zebre and quins again. I see no reason why we will exceed 5500 for these games. Biarritz are not Toulouse so it will be interesting to see how they sell but i would expect it to be close to 7500 capacity.
There are only three fixtures that can justify these charges for Kids- Munster, Leinster and Biarritz.
There are only two fixtures that can justify the interpro 5 euro increase for adults- Munster and Leinster.
A significant amount of Connachts increased support to ave of 4600 are new customers entering their 2nd season(if they return). Many,including myself, bring their kids along to the game. Imo connacht are erroring in makeing moves of this nature way too soon and it may come back to bite them.
an example is Husband and wife with 2 kids under 12 attending interpro cost has risen from 40 euro to 60 for no justifiable reason. that cant be good for business.

They'll just have to take on extra chimney sweeping jobs. Didn't hurt me when I were a young 'un.

salmson wrote:

rossie wrote: i see that the price of tickets for the interpros has risen by 5 euro for upcoming season. while it makes the season ticket better value(if in a position to attend) it could have a negative effect on overall attendances for these fixtures. Imo it was unneccessary and may yet prove to be unwise.

They are also going to charge under 12s 5 euro for interpros and 10 for hec which is rediculous. These are the fans of the future.

They charged under 12s for the HEC last year. I have U12s I'll be bringing to a few matches and I've no problems with this. 3 hours in the Sportsground still costs less than the same time in a playbarn

I suspect Rossie's point was that it's crazy to charge 5 euro for an interpro when it's only 10 for a HC game. I'd agree...