Organisers have got Asian Cup ticket prices right

The swathes of empty seats at Australia’s sporting venues tell a story. Discretionary spending is down, so it’s refreshing to see some innovative ticket pricing announced ahead of next year’s Asian Cup.

The residents of Brisbane know the pain of cost-of-living increases as well as anyone. For several months, Brisbane Transport – a business unit of Brisbane City Council operating bus services under the TransLink integrated public transport scheme – has been attempting to slash costs wherever possible.

It’s saved $16 million in six months by axing services across the city, while raising fares to unprecedented levels, prompting widespread community anger.

Yet, when asked at a council meeting this week when he last caught a bus, Brisbane’s embattled Lord Mayor Graham Quirk admitted he couldn’t remember.

It’s a bit like that with ticket prices, isn’t it? The administrators who preach to fans about the affordability of tickets are essentially the last group of people who would ever need to buy them in the first place.

Watching the NRL and AFL bigwigs try to explain poor early-round attendance figures has been laughable.

Yes, there are some extenuating circumstances – unavailability of certain venues and increased use of handheld devices among them – but the uncomfortable truth is the majority of tickets are simply getting too expensive for ordinary fans to afford.

So expensive, in fact, that when faced with the opportunity of forking out their hard-earned to attend a match or watch it on TV, many now opt for the latter.

It was with some trepidation then, that I read several emails throughout the week informing me that Asian Cup ticket prices were about to be released.

I had nightmarish visions of organisers comparing the Asian battle to the UEFA European Championship – itself about to undergo what will be an utterly disastrous transformation – as one of the must-see events on the international calendar, and charging accordingly.

Fortunately, tickets are sensibly priced across the board, with individual adult tickets starting at just $15 for fixtures not involving the Socceroos.

The best seat in the house for the Suncorp Stadium showdown between 2007 champions Iraq and 2011 winners Japan will cost just $30 – less than the same ticket costs for a Brisbane Roar fixture.

It’s a sensible move from the local organising committee (LOC) and a safeguard against the unedifying spectre of thousands of empty seats going unsold for a tournament the greater Australian public remains largely unaware of.

More sensible yet is the decision to sell tickets as part of ‘Venue Packs’, which allow fans to attend multiple fixtures in the same city. It circumvents the issue of fans having to pick and choose between teams and lets locals see more football for less money.

But does it do enough to cater to travelling fans, who not only have to outlay the massive expense of getting to the country, but who will then be stung by the relative strength of the Australian dollar?

Australia is already one of the world’s most expensive countries, even allowing for high domestic wages, so dropping a small fortune on attending the tournament may not be on the wish list for some of our Asian visitors.

And one of the most pressing issues for the LOC going forward will be to convince the Australian public that the Asian Cup is about more than just Australia.

We’ve seen it already with the outcry over Alessandro Del Piero being appointed an ambassador for the tournament – a decision ostensibly made by the Asian Football Confederation, not Football Federation Australia, and one which reflects the fact he’s the only A-League player recognisable throughout Asia.

Too often our complaints about the way Asian football is run fail to acknowledge entirely the other 46 member states.

But the LOC appears to have got it right by announcing a sensible mix of affordable ticket packages.

Now all the Asian Cup needs is thousands of passionate football fans to buy them.