A-League needs coordinated approach to enticing fans through reasonable ticket prices

Last year it was “kids go free”, this year it is family tickets for $49. Christmas A-League ticket deals are at hand, but the league must go much further than that to tempt would-be spectators.

It will cost a family $85.70 to watch Western Sydney Wanderers take on Central Mariners on February 9 at Spotless Stadium. Picture: Getty Images

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Last year it was “kids go free”, this year it is family tickets for $49 — the arrival of Christmas is fast becoming the point at which we can expect an attempt to get fans to view a trip to the A-League as a natural part of the summer holidays.

But the reality is that the A-League appears in urgent need of a co-ordinated, proactive and whole-of-league strategy to tempt would-be spectators with ticket deals and attractive pricing.

It’s particularly relevant ahead of the introduction of two new teams, one in Sydney and one in Melbourne, who were partly chosen for the ability to have more games where away fans might travel.

“It’s a clustering effect if you like, of having an ability for away fans to have reasonable travel times to these games,” said the head of the A-League, Greg O’Rourke at the time of announcing the new teams.

“One of the things that has been obvious is we can attract a lot of home fans but getting away fans is difficult because outside of the derbies they need to catch a plane.”

It will cost a family $85.70 to watch Western Sydney Wanderers take on Central Mariners on February 9 at Spotless Stadium. Picture: Getty Images

But getting fans to travel to away games, even within NSW, has got harder and harder — and undoubtedly some of it has stemmed from insane pricing.

Clubs do specific and well-priced offers for individual games, but the standard price brought through clubs’ websites is often startling.

When the Wanderers host the Mariners on February 9 at Spotless Stadium — a few days after the $49 family ticket offer for summer across the league has expired — a family pass in the away end is $85, plus a $4.50 booking fee.

Similarly Wanderers fans who have travelled to Gosford for the reverse fixture in the recent past have paid $40 for adults, and $70 for family tickets.

For Sydney FC home games, the whole away section is deemed to be an “active area”, so children’s tickets aren’t offered, to avoid families buying tickets without realising the boisterous nature of where they would be sitting.

But it means away tickets at Leichhardt Oval for the game against the Mariners in February will be priced at $27 for adults and $21 for concessions — hardly pricing to lure fans down the freeway.

Children’s tickets aren’t offered for the away section at Sydney FC home games. Picture: AAP

There are some instances of sanity — some clubs do specific deals with others, redeemed by codes sent to members.

The Mariners on Sunday will offer up to 4000 Newcastle members free entry to Central Coast Stadium for the F3 derby, and a reduced rate for any more beyond that number, as part of a reciprocal deal between the clubs. The Mariners have just cut prices for all games, for home and away fans, to $20 for adults and $40 for families.

The Wanderers and Sydney FC have marketed to individual games, but report the take-up is low. For the derby Western Sydney had $49 family tickets for neutrals.

The point is also made that $80 for a family is comparable to the movies at a big cinema — but the A-League is surely rather more in loss-leading territory than the country’s cinema chains.

The Mariners on Sunday will offer up to 4000 Newcastle members free entry to Central Coast Stadium for the F3 derby. Picture: AAP

Clearly the whole question of ticket prices is one of the A-League issues that has been sidelined by the civil war over the last two years.

Even laudable initiatives get hidden for lack of promotion and co-ordination. Every Telstra subscriber can access $20 individual tickets for A-League games but it’s a horribly well-kept secret.

Last year’s “Kids go Free” campaign for the summer of football, and this year’s $49-family — ticket successor, were announced via press release. The best initiatives will fail if no one knows about them.

At the A-League’s CEOs meeting this week, the question of attracting away fans was discussed briefly, but it’s an issue that requires agreement, foresight and strategy, part of a wider debate over how to lure fans back to games.

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