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A steep ascent in ticket prices has the NRL prepared for potentially more empty seats than Maroon or Blue fans in the State of Origin series this year.
Game 1, at ANZ stadium on May 27, has sold just over 10,000 tickets, with the new pricing obviously hindering fans from attending the game.
Tickets sold through Ticketek range from $56 for essentially the nosebleed section, up to $280 for the better seats.
In clubland, Mitchell Taylor from Dubbo says that the distance for him, combined with ticket sales, makes it difficult as an avid St Illawarra Dragons fan.
“We’re from the country, so by the time we travel and get accommodation it gets very expensive just to go to a home game,” Taylor says.
“Food is probably the biggest thing all of our friends complain about. Its all expensive for your most basic things…a pie, sausage roll and drinks”
The plummet in ticket sales and fan-base has also been seen throughout sports merchandise retailers, such as Mick Simmons Sport on Pitt St in Sydney’s CBD.
Manager Hiva Hosseini said that the hike in ticket prices is “The main reason we’re losing people at the stadium and the whole stadium fever is dropping. One side of the story is that the kids of the family are moving to follow A-League and other sports instead of NRL”.
Mr Hosseini also expressed concerns about the cost of attending a game as a family outing, rather than just as an individual ticket.
“Families are looking at about $100 or $200 more for the whole family to go to a game. It is a significant amount more when you add the cost of transport, parking, food and apparel. Sometimes it could easily cost $1000 to go to an Origin game for the family, and this does not make sense with incomes not on the rise either.”
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