Tickets for Sunday’s All Ireland Hurling final will be as rare as hen’s teeth but there are always ways of finding them.
The GAA’s ticketing system has been upgraded significantly over the past four years with a strong commercial partnership formed between the Association and Irish company Tickets.ie. It has delivered revenue and a robust system that is the envy of larger sporting organisations around the world.
It has allowed greater flexibility and control over online sales, wider distribution through over 300 Supervalu and Centra outlets, and a seamless checking operation on turnstiles using state of the art scanning equipment.
Traditional
When it comes to the two biggest occasions of the year though, the All Ireland Finals, the public sale element of the deal is put on hold and the 82,300 capacity of Croke Park is filled through more traditional channels of club and county.
At this time of year there is always a cry that tickets cannot be got by genuine fans. Unless there is another level built to the stadium and it becomes a 200,000 seater then some will miss out but the distribution system that has been in place forever is one that many sports around the world would envy.
The bulk of tickets are distributed through the clubs of Tipperary and Kilkenny competing in the Senior game, Kilkenny and Limerick in the Minor match before it. Every club in the county will get an allocation based on its size and this week there will be draws held among fully paid up members, volunteers and players.
Heartbeat
These are the heartbeat of the sport, the ones who turn out week in, week out in rain or shine because the club is the centre of their social order. They play. They line the pitch. They wash the shirts. They drive teams of young lads and girls from one end of the county to the other on a Tuesday night to play a Division 6 mid table league match that seems a million miles from a Sunday in September but is the foundation on which that is built.
They get the majority of the tickets, followed up by the County board who need to look after those that help the game to flourish at a level away from the pitch. Skoda with Tipperary and Glanbia through the Avonmore brand provide the finance that makes the county team viable for the late night training sessions under lights, the physic’s, doctors and hurleys that are essential.
Fans who are not directly involved in the club have an option each year to buy a season ticket to county matches that guarantees an option to buy for the biggest occasions.
‘Money can’t Buy’
Finally there are the central tickets that go to the wider volunteer and commercial network that makes the GAA financially viable. The ‘money can’t buy’ ticket that makes people feel as though what they do for a body during the year is recognised.
Liberty Insurance will hold a major business breakfast at Croke Park this morning and some of those attending as guest will leave with a golden ticket. Etihad Airways will have ways of ensuring their most valuable customers do not go unnoticed and Centra will reward those staff and managers that make their business what it is.
And there will always be the last minute gathering. Among the go to places this weekend will be the Tipperary Supporters Club night at Shelbourne Park Greyhound Stadium. Tipp is a big centre for the dogs and there will be thousands of supporters in Dublin, many looking for the ticket that has eluded them up until then. The sales staff of the Irish Greyhound Board are picture above wearing their colours as they deal with their own ticket rush.
Leopardstown
There will also be a big crowd at Leopardstown for the star studded Quipco Champions Stakes where Fethard based Coolmore will be hoping to collect the big prize and their neighbours around South Tipp will be hoping for a nod that a ticket for the following day has somehow been secured.
It’s never a perfect system trying to fit two into one and some will have to watch on RTE, Sky Sports or at 35,000 feet with Etihad but for the majority of those who make it to Jones Road on Sunday afternoon, they will be there because of their love for the sport and their involvement in its continued wellbeing. That’s not a bad claim on the sports biggest day.
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