NRL defends Origin price hike

Origin series undervalued for years: NRL

THE NRL has defended its decision to increase ticket prices for next year's State of Origin match in Sydney and warned that the cost could go up even higher depending on demand closer to the event.

The schedule for next year's Origin series was released yesterday. Queensland will host games one and three at Suncorp Stadium on May 28 and July 9 and Sydney will host game two at ANZ Stadium on June 18.

The escalating cost of ticket prices became a hot topic for the NRL this year. Some critics believed the game was losing touch with its blue-collar roots by pricing fans out of the market.

The cheapest ticket for this year's games at ANZ Stadium were for a bronze category adult, at $55 and a family at $165. Next year, the same tickets will cost $65 for an adult and $195 for a family - an increase for both of just over 18 per cent.

Gold ticket prices have gone from $150 to $155 for an adult and $450 to $465 for a family - rising only 3 per cent.

NRL commercial and marketing director Paul Kind yesterday defended the price hike, saying the Origin series had been undervalued for a number of years and still represented better value than other sports.

Kind also urged fans to get in quick because the NRL reserved the right to increase prices again under its dynamic pricing policy if demand grew closer to the event.

Queensland has won the past eight series but NSW has closed the gap, the past two years being decided by only a few points.

"Origin is one of the greatest sporting events in the nation and the price charged in 2014 is reflective of the value of attending an Origin game in the best seats," Kind said.

"The price remains below other major Australian sporting events, including the grand final.

"Over recent seasons, we've achieved sellout crowds in both single and double-game years for Origin, which has never been achieved before, and pricing in our seasons has been reflective of obtaining capacity crowds.

"We've now reached a point where demand is so strong that we can influence price accordingly."

The NRL also revealed yesterday it had canvassed a number of players from both states, including Queensland captain Cameron Smith and NSW halfback Mitchell Pearce, and players union boss David Garnsey, before baulking at reducing the time between each game.

This year's series was spread over six weeks, with three weeks between each game. The NRL's elite players believe this gives them the best hope of coping with an arduous season.

"They were happy with the way that it was structured currently rather than making a change," NRL football operations general manager Nathan McGuirk said yesterday.

"They were concerned it would actually make the period more difficult for them rather than alleviating some of the concerns, so we took that on board and decided to keep the status quo.

"Both the players association and the NRL came to an understanding that during this year we would have ongoing discussions with them about what possible outcomes we could look at for future seasons."

The representative season will kick off with the World Cup final rematch between Australia and New Zealand on May 2 (venue to be confirmed), followed by the AAMI Country v City clash at Dubbo in central western NSW on May 4.

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