Leinster’s allocation of 2,800 tickets for the Heineken Champions Cup final against La Rochelle at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, May 20th left a large tranche of disappointed and frustrated supporters who were unsuccessful in their quest to purchase tickets for the much-anticipated repeat of last season’s European decider. The number of tickets allocated to the finalists every year is roughly 5 per cent of the stadium capacity.
Leinster conducted a lottery among their season-ticket holders, of whom there are about 12,200, with those successful entitled to two.
There were several conditions attached for successful applicants. Supporters had first to commit formally to the lottery process – about 6,000 applied – and those that did were entered based on the number of season tickets held per account; so for example two season tickets, two chances in the lottery.
The tickets were in all price categories from €35 to €110, allocated randomly to the successful applicants with no chance to exchange for a more coveted seat in the stadium. Supporters were informed that some of the seats would be high in the upper stands.
There was also a warning that “sanctions will apply to anyone attempting to resell their tickets at a higher price either personally or by means of an internet sale”.
The allocation provided by the tournament hosts EPCR to the finalists every year is about five per cent of the stadium capacity, which in Aviva terms is 51,700, some 16,000 less than the capacity in Marseille where last season’s final was staged.
It’s germane to point out that tickets for the final have been on public sale for over a year and there were still some available on Ticketmaster in the week of the semi-final matches. EPCR’s mechanism for distributing final tickets begins with what they call the ‘golden tickets’ which are offered to people on their mailing list for a short time before going on general sale to the public.
Defending champions La Rochelle received an identical allocation of 2,800 and while there was an expectation that they might not take up their full allocation, they are selling well and there may not be many returns, after the weekend cut-off point. If La Rochelle do return tickets, they will be split between Leinster priority and public sale.
