GAA increases children's stand tickets for Mayo championship clash from €5 to €35

CEO defends decision 'taken for logistical and economic reasons'

The chief executive officer of Connacht GAA Council has defended the decision of the authority to increase children’s stand ticket prices for next Sunday's Connacht SFC semi-fiinal between Mayo and Roscommon in Castlebar from €5 to €35.

John Prenty said the decision was made for 'logistical and economic' reasons after the organisation suffered a loss of €250,000 in the past two years.

Stand tickets for the clash at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park are €35. Terrace tickets for adults are €30 each, €25 for students and OAPs, while children’s terrace tickets stay at €5 each.

Mr. Prenty explained: “We came to the decision that we can’t afford to keep losing money.

"And the only way we have of making money is through the three games in the Connacht championship."

Connacht GAA earns in the region of €1 million from gate receipts from the provincial championship series.

Not a euro of this revenue comes from the Connacht championship fixtures in New York or London, where all gate receipts go to the local county boards.

However, Connacht GAA pays for officials travelling to these fixtures and provides a grant to the visiting counties to help cover their costs.

Mr. Prenty explained there was a very limited number of stand tickets available for Mayo versus Roscommon clash as over 3,000 season ticket holders must to be accommodated.

These tickets are allocated by Croke Park, not Connacht GAA - as well as players’ tickets, club tickets and county board officials.

The stand at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park holds 10,000 supporters.

“If somebody wants to bring a child that’s already a season ticket holder, we don’t know whether they are going to bring that child until they arrive at the ground," he added.