Is the price right? Azkals tickets most expensive among Challenge Cup Qualification groups

(Updated April 4, 8:46am) Tickets to watch the Azkals during the Challenge Cup Qualifiers were more than seven times the price to see the other nations involved.

In the first of two parts comparing Philippine ticket prices with the rest of Asia, a comparison of the ticket prices for the five groups in the Challenge Cup Qualifiers saw that the Philippines' cheapest ticket, P100 for the end bleachers, was even more expensive than Laos and Myanmar’s priciest tickets combined. The P500 white bleachers tickets were also more expensive than what every other country had to offer.

A wider look at ticket prices also found that one would be charged ten times the price of tickets to watch the same games as the rest of Southeast Asia. A comparison between the Suzuki Cup semifinals, friendly matches, and the LA Galaxy tour in the upcoming second part also shows that the Philippines is by far the most expensive country in Southeast Asia to watch a football match, and among the most expensive in Asia.

The most expensive challenge cup qualifiers

Ranging from P100-P2,500, the Philippines had by far the most expensive tickets. In fact the P500 for white bleachers seats were roughly the same price as the most expensive tickets of the other four groups added together, P513.

The next most expensive country during the qualifiers was Nepal, where fans had complained of ticket price increases, with a hike from Rs.200 to Rs. 300 for normal tickets and Rs.500 to Rs.700 for VIP tickets. Converted to P329 for their VIP tickets, this was still more than seven times cheaper than a Philippine VIP ticket and three times cheaper than a normal Grandstand ticket.

Below is a table showing how much each country charged for their Challenge Cup Qualifiers.

Group hosts	Myanmar	Kyrgyzstan	Laos	Nepal	Philippines
Ticket prices	K500 (P23)  K1000 (P47)	80 Som (P68) 100 Som (P85)	10,000 LAK (P52)	Rs. 300 (P141) Rs. 700 (P329)	P100 P500 P1,000 P2,500
Average attendance for host's games	4,000 (12.5%)	11,200 (49%)	1,700 (6.8%)	16,000 (64%)	7,250 (58%)
Stadium capacity	32,000	23,000	25,000	25,000	12,500

As a comparison with the other two Southeast Asian hosts, Myanmar and Laos, the best view in Rizal Memorial Stadium cost fifty times the amount you would have to pay in the other two countries. The worst view in Rizal, the end bleachers, cost more than the best tickets in Myanmar and Laos combined. The Philippines, therefore, not only had the most expensive tickets of the Challenge Cup Qualifiers, by some margin, but will likely have the most expensive ticket of the entire tournament.

With the main stage of the Challenge Cup set for the Maldives in March 2014, the Philippine tickets may well be the most expensive of the competition by far. The Maldives recently increased their ticket prices for international games from MVR5 (P13) to MVR10 (P26) for the cheapest tickets and MVR20 (P53) to MVR30 (P80). Fans can expect an increase for the Challenge Cup Finals, but tickets will still likely fall far short of the P500 cost for seats in the white bleachers of the Rizal Memorial Stadium, let alone Grandstand tickets.

Infrastructure

However great the progress on the pitch, there is no doubt that off the pitch the Philippines are playing catch-up in a major way when comparing the 12,500-seater Rizal Memorial Stadium with Myanmar’s Thuwanna Youth Training Center or the New Laos National Stadium. Both are double the capacity of Rizal and in much better condition, yet the disparity in ticket prices is shocking.

Part of the reason for this is the fact that the Philippine Sports Commission owns the Rizal Memorial Stadium, and rents out the venue for events, such as Azkals matches. The pitch, bitterly complained about after the qualifiers, is therefore subject to not just football games, but a whole host of different sports and events. The other stadiums in the Challenge Cup Qualifiers are primarily, if not solely, used for football and as the PSC reportedly charged P1 Million for the use of the venue during the LA Galaxy tour, there are some other considerations for Philippine football other countries simply don’t have to deal with.

With players coming from the English, German, Dutch, and Danish top flights, as well as several Spanish divisions, to play for the Philippine National Team, Azkals coach Michael Weiss said that he was “embarrassed to play in these conditions.” With floodlights losing power and over an hour’s delay due to the pitch’s inability to cope with heavy rains in the same match, Weiss said that if these conditions continued, many of the country’s stars would reconsider playing for the National team for fear of injury.

Manager Dan Palami, replying via social media, said that when hosting a competition, such as the Peace Cup, Challenge Cup Qualifiers, and even international friendly matches, the Philippines “lose on average P3 Million… [though] the hosts are supposed to recover the costs from gate receipts.”

Palami has been instrumental in reviving football on the pitch, and as Azkals manager he has overseen the transformation of the team from regional whipping boys to regional contenders. However, this transformation has come with little financial support, if any, as Palami initially paid for all of the team’s expenses. Leading the team’s revival, the amazing progress of the Philippines on the pitch will be held back by problems off the pitch, without adequate support.

Part of this support, and Weiss’ embarrassment, was also the relatively small crowd. With 6,000 people turning up for the first game and 8,500 listed in attendance for the second, the full capacity games in the Suzuki Cup semifinal and the Peace Cup show that there is a demand for Philippine football. However if it wasn’t for a lot of free tickets given to deserving causes due to very slow sales, the Philippine attendance would have been much lower during the Qualifiers.

A football elite?

Aside from those free tickets for some deserving grassroots football teams, the poor have basically been priced out of Philippine football. Football tends to be the sport of the masses, the sport that the majority of people enjoy and that the working class, more than anyone else, follows.

However in the Philippines, there is a clear difference in the crowds as a wealthier clientele fills, or rather half-fills, the stands. Their presence is of course good for football, however in no other stadium of the Challenge Cup Qualifiers, and far beyond, is there such a clear segregation. That segregation is due to the ticket prices, with the most expensive tickets to the Philippine National team 25 times the price of the cheapest, a range found nowhere else in Asia.

In the Philippines then, football is often viewed as an elite sport and the ticket prices for international matches result in the country’s poor being unable to afford to watch, let alone play, the world’s most popular game.

Is there a financial future for Philippine football?

More on the solution will be discussed in part two of this article, however the future of the beautiful game in this beautiful country remains unclear. The Philippine Arena in Bulacan, set to be a 50,000 capacity stadium, could well solve many of these problems and allow cheaper ticket prices due to a massively increased supply. Without the additional costs of high rental fees from the Philippine Sports Commission too, organizers could and certainly should follow suit with the rest of Southeast Asia in charging fair prices for games.

However if some of the management cannot deal with a small stadium properly, questions should be asked of their capabilities of managing a bigger project. Until then, ticket prices continue to choke Philippine football and the game will continue to suffocate, attendances will dwindle, and when a brand new stadium is opened, there may not be any more interest in watching the Azkals.

On the pitch, the Philippines won their matches to head into the Challenge Cup as favorites to win the whole competition. With victories over Cambodia and Turkmenistan they are set to move back to their all-time high of 143 in the FIFA Rankings, released next on April 11. However if ticket prices continue to be so out of touch with the rest of Asia, let alone Southeast Asia, despite all the good that has been achieved on the pitch, the resurrection of football in the Philippines will have been killed off by bureaucracy and politics.

An email was sent to the Philippine Football Federation for official comment however as of the time of writing no reply has been given.


- AMD, GMA News