SIX NATIONS TICKET COSTS HIT NEW HIGH
TOP-PRICED tickets for this season’s Wales Six Nations games at the Principality Stadium will cost fans a massive £110.
The prices for matches against England and Ireland are the highest-priced tickets in Welsh rugby history and represent a £15 increase on the home matches against Scotland and France in last season’s competition.
It is also a £10 increase on the most expensive England ticket for the equivalent fixture in 2017, and a £15 rise on what supporters were charged for the best seats in the house against Ireland the same season.
Tickets for both matches are already on sale through Welsh Rugby Union member clubs and are expected to sell out without going on public sale.
Any that are left will be made available to the public on December 13.
The cheapest available ticket for both matches has been frozen at £40 as part of the WRU’s pricing strategy that is in place until 2020, although it’s understood those seats account for a small percentage of the overall tickets available.
The WRU was unable to confirm exactly how many tickets are available in each pricing category, but it is believed around 50% of tickets are in Category B, which is priced at £100.
The WRU introduced its first ever £100 ticket for the England fixture in the 2017 Six Nations, with chief executive Martyn Phillips defending the move by saying at the time: “It’s a good headline at the moment and it is something we are very aware of, the £100 ticket has captured the headlines.
“But if you take the next season, 4% of tickets are £100.
“It’s like any business... those £100 tickets are the first to sell.
“That does not make it right, it’s just saying there are different levels in the market.”
The tickets are split into five different pricing categories.
They are: Category A: £110; Category B: £100; Category C: £95; Category D: £70; and Category E: £40.
The WRU would argue the pricing policy reflects market forces, and point to the fact they’ve sold out all home Six Nations matches for the last three seasons. There’s also the old argument the money goes back into the game.
However, many would suggest such steep costs risk pricing certain people and families out of watching games.
With England and Ireland such big draws, particularly with all three sides looking pretty evenly matched heading into February, that explains why the Union has opted to charge £15 more in each of the top three categories than it did for the Scotland and France Six Nations matches earlier this year.
The most expensive ticket you could buy for the autumn internationals was £75 for the Scotland, Australia and South Africa matches. There were also tickets available for those three matches priced at £25 and concessions of £15 for under 16s.
There are no concessions for children in the Six Nations pricing structure, making it a very expensive family day out.
But despite the price rise they’re still quite favourable or on a par with most other nations – England’s top-priced Twickenham ticket for the recent clash with the All Blacks was an astonishing £195.
France’s most expensive ticket for the forthcoming Six Nations match against Wales in Paris is £120. That said, the next most expensive ticket at the Stade de France is “just” £80.