You cant buy over the phone unless you call to the office monday to friday 9-5 to collect them. They will not provide a collection point on matchday. Of course this isnt entirely correct as anyone who has purchased a ticket at the gate will tell you. There are plenty of envelopes for collection there for those who have contacts within branch or sportsground.

I would have no problem with surcharge if there was a collection point. There is one at every other ground ive been to and theres one at sportsground too but only for certain people.

I'm not sure what the problem is. It should be cheaper to buy online - or buy in advance, or in person or on the phone, than rocking up at the gate with cash.

OK, I know it unfair to people who don't have a computer, or if they do have one they can't get online, or they don't have a printer to print the ticket, or they don't live in Galway, or if they do they can't get get to the Sportsground during office hours, or if they can then they can't get in to the car park without having to pay, or they don't have a phone, or if they do they can't get a signal, or they don't have a laser card and they don't want to be charged 2% for using a credit card etc. etc. Life ain't fair!

Proper order.

Looks like this season it will be 22 online or 20 at gate (or in office).

It was 22 euro to book online and 23 euro at gate. Only 20 if u were in position to buy at office.

pinky wrote: Matchday prices for the coming season were listed in the notice about the Pro12 fixtures:
www.connachtrugby.ie/connachts-pro12-fix...firmed/#ConnachtNews
Looks like the Challenge Cup games are priced at the interpro level (Cat 1). I think the enclosed stand is the same price as it was for H Cup last season so that means a fiver increase for that for interpros (correct me if I'm wrong). It mentions a 10% surcharge for buying online but no mention of a matchday surcharge even in the small print, so I assume that is gone.

<strong>SECTION CATEGORY 1 CATEGORY 2</strong>
ENCLOSED STAND €40 €30
ADULT TERRACE €25 €20
CONCESSION TERRACE €20 €15
17 and under €10 €5

€40 is some amount to pay to watch a Connacht match against say La Rochelle even with the extra little bit of comfort, if we are out of the Challenge Cup heading into the final home game you'll only see season ticket holders up there at that price. Think they may be slightly out of kilter on that one but generally they fill the spots up there so maybe not.

Hopefully they have got rid of the surcharge, it doesn't help sell Connacht. However, I think it'll be the same as last season only its lost in the finer detail here so €20 book in advance €22 get tickets at the gate?

Matchday prices for the coming season were listed in the notice about the Pro12 fixtures:
www.connachtrugby.ie/connachts-pro12-fix...firmed/#ConnachtNews
Looks like the Challenge Cup games are priced at the interpro level (Cat 1). I think the enclosed stand is the same price as it was for H Cup last season so that means a fiver increase for that for interpros (correct me if I'm wrong). It mentions a 10% surcharge for buying online but no mention of a matchday surcharge even in the small print, so I assume that is gone.

SECTION CATEGORY 1 CATEGORY 2
ENCLOSED STAND €40 €30
ADULT TERRACE €25 €20
CONCESSION TERRACE €20 €15
17 and under €10 €5

Diom wrote: Just in case it wasn't clear, I am just passing along the message as we heard it at the meeting yesterday. Regarding the lower costs, we were told it was so that they could reduce the number of stewards, and other staff around the grounds, if necessary. But to be honest I thought that all of the stewards were volunteers?

I've put the info up on the FB page and it seems that there are quite a few people there who are similarly unimpressed.

oh sorry wasnt having a go at you, i knew it came from the branch.

ya i also believed the stewards were volunteers too!?
clan bar- if there is spare kegs, keep them till next game, no problem there. bar staff, easily 5 would of taken care of the zebre game, apart from a few you stayed after full time, place was dead. 5pm kickoffs are killing the clan bar as a business. for most its to early to drink so they go home, spend few hours and head out at 9ish.
if game kicked of at 7pm, it would be over at 9 and people would hang around for a pint of two and then go into town and not bother detourng home!

what else could come to a cost to them? they must know how many buy the match programme week n week out.
bigger games, HCUP and INTER-PROS 6000-8000,these games are usually pre bought tickets as people want to be either in the clan or main terrace!
Italian, welsh and scotish teams pull around 4000-5000!

Just in case it wasn't clear, I am just passing along the message as we heard it at the meeting yesterday. Regarding the lower costs, we were told it was so that they could reduce the number of stewards, and other staff around the grounds, if necessary. But to be honest I thought that all of the stewards were volunteers?

I've put the info up on the FB page and it seems that there are quite a few people there who are similarly unimpressed.

Diom wrote: Hi All,

So we talked to Eoin from Connacht Rugby last night as part of our meeting and this a paraphrased version of what he was saying.

<li>The charge was outlined in the original ticket pricing press release for the year. This is true ( www.connachtrugby.ie/ticket-prices-for-201314 ) but it was done using the ** method. In other words it was in the small print.

There are costs associated with not being able to predict sales before matches. By having the cost of going to the gate higher than other options (albeit by 1-3 euro), they are hoping that more people will start to use the alternative pre-purchase facilities. This would lower costs for Connacht Rugby.

Bullshit! connacht rugby could take a very good guess how many people will come to games, last 2 season, its nearly the same. what cost them money not knowing? nothing!

There apparently were not many complaints by people at the gate, and no ticket seller remembers seeing a walk-away.

if you make the effort of getting ready, walk/travel to the ground, most people will bite there tongue this time but wont be back!
<li>They will monitor this carefully to see if there are a reduction in the total number of sales by the end of the year.</li>

Eoin also drew attention to the fact that 66% of their sales were online last year.

The price of online tickets has decreased. Also the availability of "online" tickets has expanded throughout the province via Centra and Spar.
66% of tickets, only way ill believe that is if there counting people who renewed there season tickets and X 14
last year 78,210 people attended our home games, 66% of that is 52,140
we had 3300 season tickets (or so) guess 3000 were renewed onlne, (3000X14=42,000)
that leaves 10,140 tickets sold online, for game by game or excluding ST

it just shows how easy it is for connacht rugby to put a spin on things

Hi All,

So we talked to Eoin from Connacht Rugby last night as part of our meeting and this a paraphrased version of what he was saying.

1. The charge was outlined in the original ticket pricing press release for the year. This is true ( www.connachtrugby.ie/ticket-prices-for-201314 ) but it was done using the ** method. In other words it was in the small print.
2. There are costs associated with not being able to predict sales before matches. By having the cost of going to the gate higher than other options (albeit by 1-3 euro), they are hoping that more people will start to use the alternative pre-purchase facilities. This would lower costs for Connacht Rugby.
3. There apparently were not many complaints by people at the gate, and no ticket seller remembers seeing a walk-away.
4. They will monitor this carefully to see if there are a reduction in the total number of sales by the end of the year.

Eoin also drew attention to the fact that 66% of their sales were online last year. The price of online tickets has decreased. Also the availability of "online" tickets has expanded throughout the province via Centra and Spar.

I disagree with the point 1. I do not think that it was sufficiently highlighted in the publications that I have seen. It really did deserve to have more attention drawn to it.

Regarding point 2, I would be very happy if this did reduce costs to Connacht Rugby, but I feel that this is wrong way to go about it.

Regardless of those points there really is not yet a satisfactory reply to the charge that people from outside of the area of Galway are not able to purchase the €20 version of the ticket. That said the €22 versions are essentially the same to the Connacht Branch.

Overall I think that they worked hard to get the cost of the tickets down (via Tickets.ie) and they have done a brilliant job at getting the tickets available via the Centra and Spar stores. Basically it is easier for people to pre-purchase their tickets and it is cheaper to pre-purchase tickets as well! That work is to be applauded, but then they have gone and shot themselves in the foot with this other charge.

If you previously bought your ticket at the branch office then you are three euro out per game and there is really no clear statement from the Branch explaining why. I think that the first thing they should do is to highlight the new charge in their next email and explain the rational. At least people will be able to make an informed decision about whether the reasoning is worth the three euro.

Anyway I will add a Facebook post to direct anyone else on that to this thread. If they are unhappy with this charge then they should also know to let Connacht Rugby know about it.

ConnachtCows wrote:

RonanL wrote: Update - my email to alex at cbirfu.ie bounced. DNS error apparently. Anyone else getting that this morning?

Try alex at cbirfu.com

That seemed to do the trick. Cheers.

Well I am one of the those people who works really wierd hours and do not really know what days I get off until a week before at most. Due to this, I did not buy a season ticket this year as I was only able to make about half the games last year.

So this is really annoying me, as I feel it is punishing me for not being a season ticket holder again.

RonanL wrote: Update - my email to alex at cbirfu.ie bounced. DNS error apparently. Anyone else getting that this morning?

Try alex at cbirfu.com

Its very disappointing that this charge has been added especially if as it seems from above it is as a result of selling tickets from super valu and centra shops. Increased convenience in buying tickets should not come at a premium for fans who just want to pay on the night. There's a plethora of reasons why a person would have to wait to pay at the gate such as when they're paid etc, so it seems very mean.

RonanL wrote: Just emailed Alex to register my disappointment.

I think a lot of good points have been made here. The main ones I made in my email were that the fact the charge was introduced so covertly would suggest to me that the branch knew it was a poor decision.

More importantly (and cows alluded to it already), I feel the €20 figure is also a psychological limit for a lot of people. To make an analogy, I go for lunch with a group of colleagues most days. There's no canteen where I work so we go to pubs etc near the office. We are all in agreement that for lunch, €10 is the limit. Something could be €10.50, and people would be reluctant to spend it. Similarly, when it comes to connacht games I think a lot of people don't even give the €20 a second thought. But that extra €3 might make them give it some thought, and once that happens we're in trouble. Because logic will kick in, and people will start adding up parking fees etc (which I know haven't changed), and all of a sudden they'll realise the real cost is probably closer to €30 and they'll decide to watch the game on telly instead (or if it's not on, watch the Munster/Leinster/Ulster game which definitely is on).

Like I said, I'm disappointed. I feel a lot of good work had been done to improve PR over the Summer in particular, and a move like this is likely to undo a lot of it.

Finally, with a surcharge of €3 on a €20 ticket, it'll take 7+ people who actually do pay it, to make up for 1 who decides not to attend the game. So, while I suspect this won't deter the hard core fans (which let’s face it, if you're on here you probably are), I really do believe this will have a big effect on the fair weather fans. And it's the fair weather fans that we should be trying our best to keep happy in the hope they'll become brainwashed like the rest of us!

Finally finally, based on past performance, I suspect the branch will stick stubbornly with this charge, and if numbers do dwindle, they'll just lie about the attendance figures like they always do.

Update - my email to alex at cbirfu.ie bounced. DNS error apparently. Anyone else getting that this morning?