A majority of Irish people believe it is too expensive to go to sports events as a family, according to a new Newstalk poll.
The poll carried out by Amárach Research finds that 77% of people believe sports events are now financially out of reach for families.
People aged 35 to 44 were most likely to view sports events as too expensive, followed by those aged 45 to 54.
Dermot in Dublin told Lunchtime Live he believes prices are far too high.
He said prices are going “through the roof”, especially for international fixtures.
Fans of the Republic of Ireland football team have to buy tickets for three games if they want to attend September’s crunch match against England at the Aviva Stadium.
It will cost fans €150 for a ticket to the three games against England, Greece and Finland.
"That's not even including children's tickets,” he said. “You'd get a weekend away nearly for the prices, they're astronomical.”
Dermot said the costs would "110%" deter him and his family from attending sports events.
"It's moved away from grass roots, it's gone really D4," he said.
'The love of profit'
Lucy told the show she believes profit has overtaken the love of the game.
"I was looking up there how much it would cost to go to the Armagh-Galway final and the tickets for adults start at €100," she said.
"If you're talking about a family - and if you're within the GAA world you're all in - you could be looking at it costing people €600 or €800.
"When they're pricing tickets for sports events, they seem to have moved away from the supporters love of the sport to the people selling the tickets love of profit.
"That's where the issue is, profit has now overtaken."
Lucy said she believes ticket prices are rising faster than necessary.
"The tickets are going up exponentially and it may not necessarily be in relation to costs," she said.
"We all know costs are going up so of course they have to go up a little bit but if you actually tracked it to see how it has risen in line with prices, I'd nearly guarantee the prices have risen a lot more".
'Other things out there'
Sharon told the show she thinks people need to broaden their horizons.
"I just think there's too much emphasis on football," she said. “We're multicultural now".
"I've just joined the tango community which is just amazing value.
"For €15 last night I went to two classes, I did a social milonga afterwards and that was until 11pm.
"There are other things out there and people are just not being introduced to them".
Sharon added that many places allow people to see what like before they pay for classes.
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