Season ticket, good deal?
Eyes wide open: Brackaville's Cahir McGuinness reaches above Conal McCullagh, Glenelly INTT3111-160JS
In these hard times of the increasingly harsh economic reality which is the damning legacy of greedy developers who were facilitated by gung-ho bankers with similar appetites, any little help which makes folk able to try to afford the lifestyle to which they had always been able to afford is appreciated. And the Tyrone county board believe their latest intitiative will fall into this category, even if some may feel they could have done even better!
I’m told that an announcement is imminent with regard to a new season ticket option for the forthcoming county champions at all levels, the plan being to keep it as simple as possible.
“They will issue a block of tickets for a one-off price of £50 and this will allow access to ten fixtures, single matches or double-headers - and whether they are junior, intermediate or senior championship ties or any kind of combination of games in different grades. But it does not include finals” stated my source.
“The normal price for a double-header is £7, rising to £8 in the latter stages so, since ten fixtures obviously works out at £70 up to £80 when paying at the gate, that’s a saving of somewhere between twenty and thirty quid for the man who wants to see every match.
“There are a lot of men who would not miss a game but, with the other overheads such as fuel costs and a bite to eat included, it has become an expensive hobby in recent times. So this will help a little bit” he added.
I queried whether the ticket is exclsuive to the buyer and I’m told that it is not. It seems that ten different people could actually use the facility - or even up to ten people could use the block of tickets to watch the same game.
That’s important, of course, given that the buyer may find himself unable, for all sorts of possible reasons, to use the lot.
My source is confident that the scheme will not only be welcomed but will have a massive uptake, something that will please the county board who have seemingly been worried about possible cash-flow problems because the late start for the championship means that there has not been much money coming into the coffers - compared to what would have been the case in the old days when some championship games were played as early as the month of May.
Conversely, a man who is a regular attender of club games tells me there are nowadays a lot of people picking and choosing their matches because it is just too costly and he believes it will not be a major attraction, not least because the saving is not enough to warrant splashing out fifty pounds all at once.
So is it good value or not? Well, the savings through this domestic intitiative would certainly appear to pale into insignificance compared to what it might have been had the Tyrone county board followed the lead of their counterparts in Armagh, for example.
I have to admit I was sceptical when I heard about this - but it’s apparently a fact that Orchard county club supporters who availed of a Croke Park scheme linked to the inter-county season ticket plan can now gain admittance to every Armagh senior club championship tie - for a mere 20 euros!
But don’t take my word for it; here’s how it works as explained by Brendan Connolly in the Croke Park press office:
“It’s called the Club Plus Feature and it’s the first year we have tried it. All counties were informed of it but Tyrone were not one of those who took it up. Armagh did and it meant that those who bought the main season ticket paid an extra 20 euros for a ticket which enables them to see every senior club championship match in Armagh this year. It’s good value. Meath charged 30 euros but theirs includes league matches as well as championship ties.”
So, is the Tyrone scheme good value or not? Make up your own mind!
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Weather for Dungannon
Monday 20 May 2013
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