A survey of over 700 fans during the Bank of Ireland Nations Series matches at the Aviva Stadium has revealed that only one in four fans feels their enjoyment is ‘greatly diminished’ by people coming in and out of their seats during a game with beer.
That’s a high enough bar and if the question was phrased to be annoyed or frustrated the number might have been bigger.
Nonetheless, 68 percent said they would not support a ban on alcohol being brought to seats and as a result, the IRFU has decided that “a restriction on supporters’ ability to enjoy drinks at their seat is not considered an appropriate measure to take.”
The IRFU has committed to continue engagement with supporters in its efforts to enhance the match day experience for supporters attending international fixtures at the Aviva Stadium.
It is also trialing a number of measures, commencing at the upcoming Guinness Six Nations Tests against France and England, as part of its ongoing efforts to enhance the match day experience for all patrons at the Aviva Stadium.
These will include piloting new protocols for access and egress to the bowl during the game in certain locations; running a multi-channel communications campaign for all attending the matches to be mindful of fellow supporters on leaving and returning to seats during the game, and engaging with the stadium bar and catering operators to improve pre-match and half-time service times.
The latter will certainly go down well with fans and may alone reduce the amount of in and out activity.
Fans ae not permitted to bring alcohol into the stadium seating areas for football matches and Gaelic Games matches.
