IRFU tries with ticket prices but converts size of family to two

DEFINING “FAMILY” nowadays is not easy. Maybe, just maybe, it’s a social unit consisting of one or more adults together with the children they care for.

The IRFU put the modern family in an even tighter bind yesterday. According to Irish rugby’s governing body, come next year’s Six Nations Championship a family is a one-parent-one-child combination. No more and, well, no less.

The union has endeavoured to learn from the public backlash last November when disgust with the 21 per cent hike in ticket prices on its return to the Aviva Stadium on Lansdowne Road from Croke Park was vented by plummeting attendance figures for the autumn series matches against South Africa, Argentina, New Zealand and Tonga.

Prices have dropped and, more importantly, been categorised depending on where one is sitting in the new stadium.

And with this comes the new, eh, family deal.

“After last November we brought in Deloitte Sport UK consultants to look at our ticket prices and distribution with a view to making sure what happened in November never happened again,” says Pádraig Power, the IRFU commercial and marketing director.

“The recommendations they came back to us with were that introducing family tickets, the one and one, works.

“They are saying it is best practice elsewhere, particularly from a health and safety point of view in terms of one to one supervision.”

The “family package” for the Welsh match on Sunday, February 5th, is on sale for €82.50 or €60, depending on how high up the parent and child are prepared to climb.

The hopes of a nation may be tuned to Ireland’s expected bar-room brawl with the Italians in Dunedin this Sunday morning in their World Cup clash, but they remain the least enticing draw come spring time.

The “one and one” deal to go see the Italians on February 25th drops to between €45 and €60.

“We think they are going to be very popular and will deliver huge value,” Mr Power continued.

The GAA has no restrictions on its family packages except for the All-Ireland finals. For last month’s football semi-final between Dublin and Donegal at Croke Park it cost €45 for the “one and one” option with this increasing by €5 per child. So, one adult and three children cost €55 to sit in the Cusack Stand.

“Parent and child ticket package might be a better way of putting it,” Mr Power admitted.

It just doesn’t have the same ring to it.