三级aa视频在线观看-三级国产-三级国产精品一区二区-三级国产三级在线-三级国产在线

Global EditionASIA 中文雙語(yǔ)Fran?ais
HongKong Comment(1)

Seat in stands for must-see event a pricey proposition

By Richard Harris | HK Edition | Updated: 2017-04-07 07:04
Share
Share - WeChat

More than a few of you reading this will know that Hong Kong Sevens tickets are extremely hard to get. The demand for Sevens tickets is global, driven by a professional marketing machine sponsored by a global bank and a full-service airline. The Sevens is a "bucket list" event for rugby enthusiasts all over the world, creating huge demand for tickets.

The economics of Sevens tickets has a supply-demand imbalance. It is like "Whack a Mole"; hit one with a mallet and another one pops up - providing headaches for everybody. The supply problem occurs as our largest stadium seats just 40,000 people - about the size of a block in Mong Kok.

It was not always like this. At the first Sevens, 40-plus years ago, loyal rugby supporters like my parents sat in the rain in the old Hong Kong Football Club eating their sandwiches surrounded by empty seats.

Only 3,000 tickets are sold directly to the public at face value. The rest go to sponsors, hospitality packages and rugby clubs. After all the sticky fingers have taken their share, the Hong Kong Rugby Union (HKRU) also needs to make some money to put back into local rugby.

If the supply of tickets is fixed and demand is high, prices must rise. Ticket prices are not sky-high at source because the HKRU rightly wants to avoid rugby-minded people being priced out of the event. So ticket prices have gone up a relatively moderate 80 percent in the past few years but these real price increases have not diminished demand.

The best way to source a ticket is to play for a local club. So club players and social members have mushroomed - pushing up the costs of membership and limiting available tickets.

Readers should be aware that this means of ticket acquisition involves a moment of euphoria (while pulling on that rugby shirt), a period of pain while playing, pleasure afterwards over a small beer, followed by difficulty in doing anything physical for the next five days. Nevertheless, this method has motivated me to extend my playing career again this year to 54 continuous seasons - in order to get my Sevens ticket.

Rugby is genuinely popular at the Hong Kong grassroots as thousands of kids from 5 and up fight out their own competitions. It is character-building for the little players and lets parents get tickets; though the supply has shrunk as demand has exploded.

A safer way of getting the best seats in the house is to be close to a sponsor. These tickets normally come free and without the plebeian burden of overflowing toilets, disgusting food, watery beer and inflated prices. A business box gets you better toilets, a nosebag from a prominent supplier, and the corporate rugby shirt - if the boss' children haven't taken them!

The only other strategy is to hit the free market in which tickets (naturally) sell at premium - well above face value. All but public ballot tickets come with some extra cost - be it sponsorship, club membership, or the sellers' profit that reflects the scarcity value.

There is massive unofficial two-way trade during Sevens week as buyers are matched with sellers by phone, text and email. The HKRU endorses a commercial website, where tickets can trade three times above face value, on which you pay a commission of 13 percent.

In the meantime grassroots economics provides a solution in the form of professional ticket touts who match supply and demand rather like stockbrokers. I have come to regard these gentlemen - many with South London, South Australian or South African accents - kindly. They are necessary economic agents who should be welcomed and encouraged to heighten competition and lower the premium.

Excessive supply and demand imbalances throw up a darker side in the form of fake tickets. This rigs the fair and free market against honest spectators and their protagonists should be tied up and placed into the middle of the pitch during the Samoa versus Tonga game.

The city urgently needs a world-class stadium to attract more of these world-class events - the planned 50,000-seat stadium at Kai Tak will help briefly until we need a bigger one. At least it would be used more often than the Kai Tak cruise terminal - and cost about the same.

However you got your ticket - have a great weekend. And if you get bored - just turn round and watch the rugby!

(HK Edition 04/07/2017 page1)

Today's Top News

Editor's picks

Most Viewed

Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 国产福利在线免费观看 | 国产美女一区精品福利视频 | 黄色在线观看视频网站 | 欧美成人一区二区三区不卡视频 | 亚欧在线精品免费观看一区 | 搡女人视频免费 | 欧美日韩无线码免费播放 | 黄色录像在线免费观看 | 黄页网址大全免费观看不用 | 欧美日韩无 | 一级毛片日韩a欧美视频 | 婷婷国产成人久久精品激情 | 日韩国产欧美视频 | 欧美一级大尺度毛片 | 亚洲国产精品影院 | 国产在热线精品视频国产一二 | 免费观看日本人成影片 | 在线精品日韩一区二区三区 | 国产黄色三级三级三级 | 色屁屁www欧美激情在线观看 | 全免费a级毛片免费看不卡 全免费a级毛片免费看视频免 | 日韩欧美毛片免费看播放 | 欧美黄色性生活 | 国产亚洲一欧美一区二区三区 | 国产伦精品一区二区三区女 | 香蕉视频免费网站 | 国产色啪午夜免费视频 | 黑人巨大进入美女深处的视频 | 故意坐公交忘穿内裤被挺进小说 | 亚洲色图综合网站 | 看片日韩| 伊人影院久久 | 中国成熟xxx视频 | 欧州一级毛片 | 欧美性一区 | 国产chinese中国hdxxxx | 精品久久成人免费第三区 | 国产1024在线永久免费观看 | 原创国产视频 | 欧美天天射 | 免费一级毛片正在播放 |