As a busy autumn sports season kicks off, rights-holders and agents have had to scale prices on corporate entertainment packages right back to match the lack of money around these days.

European rugby cup winners Leinster became the corporate hospitality darlings this year, as winners want to associate with winners and all that.

Their corporate sales figures are close to matching last year's already and there's much more rugby revenue, and probably a good bit more corporate hospitality revenue, to capitalise on this season.

"Leinster is the hottest ticket around and the corporate market likes to follow that," said the MD of one of the large corporate hospitality agents, CSL's Shane Clyne.

CSL worked with Leinster on designing a package to strike a tricky balance between quality and value for this season. Corporate membership works out at €2,000 a head for access to all home games and some decent frills in wining, dining and meeting players. Even for Leinster, though, prices are on hold.

"Inputs would usually be on the up, but now they are being maintained or even slightly down," Clyne said. "Some of last year's rugby outings were priced at €900 a head, compared to a hugely discounted €275 this season," he said. "It's €450 for the Ireland v South Africa game in November."

Affordability is second only to public perception as a concern in companies' minds when they are booking client entertainment. It has become "almost an obsession", Clyne said, for many companies when they entertain clients or each other in public.

"You have clients that are adamant that you don't have any signage around [with identifying company logos]; even though it's legitimate marketing activity there's a sense that it's something they shouldn't be doing."

Travel and hospitality companies are having a pretty awful time, by most accounts.

"Our return is down like everybody else," Clyne ack­nowledges. "We have been working with rights-holders on prices. They have to expect margins to be down, as everybody else has to expect that. It's very much market-led."

Lower-cost opportunities abound for upcoming events such as the World Cup qualifiers, the Premiership, the Six Nations, the Heineken Cup and the Ryder Cup. Companies are being selective, not just about corporate entertainment spending but about whom they entertain.

"Who's still up and running, who will still be around; it's quite interesting out there," said Clyne.

Marathon Sports Travel got into the corporate hospitality end of things three years ago, and before the economy soured, things were very good. During the first season of Roy Keane's tenure at Sunderland, Francis Roche of Marathon organised two chartered aircraft every weekend at a cost of €33,000 solely for corporate clients.

"Building companies, Irish investors and shareholders, 200 people a match going over and back," he recalled.

"It doesn't exist any more," Roche said of his firm's corporate business. "It has declined over the last year or 18 months. About 20% or 30% of our business was premiership or rugby corporate hospitality with big volume and very big spend. With one stockbroking firm, price didn't even come into it, but that business is gone."

Marathon's bread and butter now is parent and child package trips to English Premier League games. The Premier League has excelled in the corporate entertainment field, but this year 38% of football clubs reported reductions of over 5% on corporate hospitality income compared to last year, accountancy firm PKF's survey of the clubs revealed last week.

For the year ahead, three quarters of the EPL clubs are anticipating a reduction in income of between 5% and 20% for corporate hospitality, but expect match and season ticket sales to hold up.

"Price is driving demand at the moment. Now it's about having to give a lot more for the same price," Roche said.

Marathon's survival strategy is to keep prices as keen as possible for the next year or two, though it means margins are squeezed to the minimum.

"We would be very close to cost on some packages. We're taking a big share of somebody else's market."

About three sports travel specialists have gone out of business recently, Roche said.

Meanwhile Barry's Coach Tours in Cork is focussing on an upmarket version of the "old-school" option. It does premiership packages that include ferry, bus, match and hotel deals, but it is about luxury at a keen price rather than the 'vomit comet' of years ago.

"While prices have to be kept super-keen right now, on some packages I could sell them twice over if I could get the tickets," Barry's manager Colin McCowl said. "It's been fantastic."

Prices for luxury coach, ferry, three-star hotel plus match tickets to games start at €199.

Junket Prices

* Ireland World Cup qualifiers
What you get: Reserved seating, silver service meal with wine, post-match finger food, complimentary bar, preferential box location.
What it costs: €395 per person or a slimmer package for €275.

* Leinster rugby fixtures
What you get: Premier match tickets for ten for all home internationals, priority for away-matches. Lunch with wine and chance to meet players.
What it costs: €19,995 for table of 10.

* Six Nations
What you get: Silver service or corporate box packages for tables of ten.
What it costs: €649 to €699 per person .

* France v Ireland
What you get: Flights, transfers, two nights' accommodation, buffet lunch, complimentary bar.
What it costs: €1,225 per person. Slimmer package costs €995pp.

* England v Ireland
Similar package to above from €825 to €899.

* Ryder Cup
What you get: Chalet suites, champagne reception, three-course lunch, celebrity speaker, complimentary bar.
What it costs: Anything from £260,000 for 50 guests for four days to £3,800 for ten for one day.

* Cheltenham
What you get: Platinum option includes guest marquee, champagne, complimentary bar, lunch.
What it costs: €500 per person per day.

* Premiership
What you get: Return flights, four-star hotel, private transfers, corporate hospitality at the event, 'top level' match tickets.
What it costs: €995 per person

Add VAT at 21% to all prices