The IRFU came in for praise in the Sunday Business Post for an initiative on ticket sales.  The Union has taken back the sale of more international tickets from clubs and therefore increased both central control of their marketing and sales for the forthcoming Autumn series of internationals.
It is likely that the game against South Africa will sell out while the Argentina came is also likely to come close.
There has been greater experimentation with pricing of youth and family tickets, an initiative which the GAA as one example has always given priority to.  Parent and Child tickets at €45 to the Aviva Stadium represents reasonable value for money and encourages the next generation of fans to see sport as a live spectator experience rather than merely through television.
A careful balancing act needs to be struck between the traditional outlet of rugby club members having first call on tickets and broadening the reach to a wider audience.
The benefit of the former is that it encourages involvement and membership at grass roots level while the latter has greater scope for a larger if potentially less committed audience.
The sale of tickets has been backed up by a large advertising campaign featuring TV for the first time, print, outdoor and online as well as social media channels.
Tickets bought ‘directly’ from the IRFU were though channeled through Ticketmaster where service charges may have created an element of ill feeling.
To buy two adult and two youth tickets last night for the South Africa game would have cost €182 for the best available seats.  €17 of this was charges over and above the ticket price.
The preferred partner of the GAA is Tickets.ie which does not apply service charges on any of the tickets it sells to Croke Park and other venues.  Clearly there is a different commercial model in place and perhaps that is the next stage for the IRFU after this experiment.
Price sensitivity is something which the main sporting events have only recently become subject to.  It was always previously the case that tickets were of a much higher perceived value than the actual cost.  That is no longer necessarily the case and a greater than 10% service charge on tickets bought direct may well be deemed high by many that would otherwise be tempted.
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