NOT WORKING: Padraig Power, IRFU Chief Commercial Officer. Picutre: ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy
IRFU chief commercial officer Padraig Power has refused to rule out raising ticket prices for Ireland’s 2025 Six Nations home games as the national governing body looks to maximise revenues in the wake of an €18.4 million deficit for the accounting year to the end of July 2024.
IRFU chief executive Kevin Potts on Thursday attributed the deficit to the World Cup’s staging at the expense of the annual Autumn Nations Series as income fell to €79m and he said the forecast was a return to a break-even cash position for the current financial year.
Potts said the current World Cup model is “not working” but World Rugby was aware of the northern hemisphere unions’ concerns as November international hosts. A four-game home stand in this month’s Test window will undoubtedly contribute to achieving that position with Ireland set to stage the IRFU 150th Anniversary match against Australia in Dublin on Saturday after Tests against New Zealand, Argentina and Fiji.
Speaking at Aviva Stadium ahead of the IRFU Continuation AGM, where the annual accounts were presented, the COO said the Aviva matchday experience was under constant review but his organisation was looking to give supporters “a nudge” to engage them more ahead of kick-off, the Dublin crowds traditionally being very slow to take their seats.
“We constantly look at it,” Power said. “We’re delighted to have sold out four weekends in a row. First time we’ve had four November internationals since 2010. There is a sense of achievement around that.
“In the main, what happens on the pitch, the match itself is the main generator. Off the pitch, before the match what we are trying to do is give the crowd a bit of a nudge to get behind the team, and after that the match itself creates that excitement.
“But we audit and survey back of house facilities, what people want and customer satisfaction. We will listen to our customers and tweak accordingly. It’s one of our underpinning revenue streams which funds everything.”
Power did not rule out hiking ticket prices for the upcoming championship games against England on February 1 and France on March 8, when asked.
“We benchmark our ticket prices domestically and internationally. Domestically we look at soccer, GAA, concerts, some of which are one-offs, Taylor Swift for example.
“Particularly amongst our Six Nations colleagues we benchmark and we make sure we are not as expensive as England and France, we are a bit more expensive than the others.
We have the smallest stadium, and we all have about five or six games to maximise revenue.
“We put a lot of work into it, we have a ticket working party, which we consult. The proof of the pudding is that we have four full house so we are there or thereabouts.”
Pressed on the issue of higher prices in 2025, Power said: “Can’t say at this stage but we’ll review after Saturday. We’ve got England and France this year and there’s always lots of demand.
“It’s about finding the balance between the revenue we need and making sure people are happy to pay.”
Meanwhile, both Potts and chief financial officer Thelma O’Driscoll warned of significant challenges ahead, her concern centred around the upcoming round of TV rights negotiations which the IRFU has only an indirect say in as a shareholder in the various tournaments in which its teams participate: the Six Nations, Champions Cup and URC; while the CEO say highlight a significant fall in income from the non-Test competitions.
“Our income from Europe and URC has declined over the last five years by almost 30 per cent,” Potts said, “so at a time when our costs are going up, the revenues coming out of our tournaments have been declining. That’s a challenge.”
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