'Bittersweet time' for fans amid scramble for All-Ireland final tickets

RTÉ News​

16-07-2025

Hurling fans are set to be disappointed as the demand for All-Ireland hurling final tickets once again is set to outweigh supply.
Tipperary face Cork for the first time in an All-Ireland hurling final at Croke Park on Sunday.
Cork GAA have issued a statement acknowledging the huge demand for tickets and thanking their local clubs for playing a crucial part in distributing their allocation.
Cork GAA Chief Executive Kevin O'Donovan described it as a "bittersweet time" for hurling fans.
Speaking to RTÉ's News At One, he said: "It's a bittersweet time for us here, all looking forward to Sunday, but understanding there's a lot of heartbreak along the way for our supporters too."
"In terms of the numbers, we would have 60,000 at the All-Ireland semi-final. Our allocation for the final is closer to 20,000, so you can imagine it's a case of the loaves and fishes then."
Mr O'Donovan said Cork would have liked to have received a higher allocation of tickets, but acknowledged that the All-Ireland final is a national occasion.
"I suppose if you look at the 80,000 ballpark figure at an All-Ireland final, let's say Cork get 20,000, Tipperary get 20,000, another 20,000 are for central distribution by Croke Park and roughly 20,000 go to the other counties.
"I think it's important to recognise that All-Ireland final day is a national occasion. It's for every boy and girl in the country, it's not confined to Cork and Tipperary.
"I do understand there's the national element that An Cumann Lúthchleas Gael have to adhere to as well. It's not a simple matter of just distributing every ticket to the two participating counties," he added.
Mr O'Donovan said he had never seen such demand for All-Ireland tickets.
"This is a new era for us, Tipperary have a very short famine. We have a 20-year famine. You have a massive backlog of people trying to get to that elusive All-Ireland final and be there, if we were lucky enough to cross the finishing line.
"What we've seen this year and it's really come about over the last 12 months, is a youth movement, a whole generation of people who have never seen Cork win, and they're absolutely drawing on tickets now.
"For our previous games, we've had eight consecutive sellout fixtures. That generation are just cleaning up tickets. Anything goes on public sale, they gobble them up.
"Unfortunately, there's no public sale this time, so they're left a little bit shortchanged and we regret that," he said.
Mr O'Donovan said that plans are in place for fans who are not lucky enough to get their hands on a ticket for Sunday's final, but reiterated that all tickets from Cork had been distributed.
"We're delighted with the support. We'll have a fanzone with 20,000 more spectators on the field in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoímh on Sunday. We're doing our best to be informative and honest, and help as many people as possible get there.
"With e-ticketing now and with the processes before, it would take four weeks to distribute All-Ireland final tickets. Now all that's done within a week, and our clubs have distributed theirs, and we've distributed ours. So I think it's fair on our voluntary officials now to let it lie.
"Maybe a ticket will return from another county and somebody might be lucky with a cousin living elsewhere. But in terms of the official distribution channels of ours, they're all simply closed at this point," he added.