THE prices of tickets sold at the Fiji Primary Schools Tuckers Ice Cream Games garnered public concern as it came to an end yesterday.
Opinions on the matter were expressed on social media, lamenting what they regarded as high ticket prices.
It is understood that there were pre-sale ticket packages available and tickets sold on game days, starting from Thursday.
On game days, adults and children were paying $25 per day for grandstand seats, and for the embankment areas, $10 for adults while children aged 14 years and under paid seven dollars.
Pre-sale tickets were sold at a $40 flat rate for both days while the embankment and ground pre-sale tickets were selling at $15 for adults and $10 for children aged 14 and under.
These prices, shown on the official page of the Fiji Sports Council, on the social media platform Meta (formerly Facebook) on Tuesday, were higher than those sold last year.
In 2024, grandstand tickets per day were $15 flat, with embankment tickets costing $10 for adults and five dollars for children, according to a post by Athletics Fiji on the social media platform Meta (formerly Facebook) dated November 27, 2024.
Times Sports spoke to three patrons who purchased tickets to witness their young relatives take part and expressed their thoughts on the matter, on the condition of anonymity.
“The cost is too much,” an anonymous ticket holder residing in Lami expressed.
“It does not take into account those who have travelled to Suva from afar.”
Another patron, also seeking anonymity, remarked the tickets were “very expensive for others.”
A third patron said there was no choice but to purchase them and suggested for a reduction in its prices.
Meanwhile, Fiji Primary Schools Athletics Association president Patrick Bower clarified how the ticket prices were set.
“We work on a sponsorship and we’ve got to work within the costing of the venue and so forth, in regards to the sponsorship we have so that we can get across the board evenly, so that the cost of the tickets would be determined, determining whether we’ll be able to make our ends meet and cover all our costs,” Bower explained.
“So, at the end of the day, everything breaks even, so we’ve tried as best as possible to keep the costs down.”
He said the cost of various aspects of the games such as transport, venue costs, and accommodation among others meant that “we’ve had to leave the cost as it was, which was also affecting the entry fees as well.”
