GAA to seek €50m for ditching Rule 42

DUB

Hang on a minute, people stand in lansdowne during competitve matches, is that being outlawed as well? The English FA are playing at the likes of sunderland 40,000 anfield 45,000 capacity instead of insisting the RFU open up twickenham, 80,000. Threfore bringing the national team round the country and making a lot less then they could if they were to play for the biggest crowd they possibly could.

You are unlikely to play all those sports into your mid twenties. My comment about hurling is that it is so skillful that it requires dedication and daily practice more then most sports, they say the problem with dublin hurling is there are too many players training for football and playing hurling and that to improve the standard they need kids to specalise. obviously there are exceptions, keaney etc.

Trojan

People don't stand in Lansdowne during soccer matches - that's already been disallowed. As far as I know, people were allowed to sit on temporary seating for a couple of years while arrangements for permanent seating were being made, but that time has now lapsed.

Rugby has no such hooligans. Err, I mean "rules".

cournioni

DUB wrote:

Hang on a minute, people stand in lansdowne during competitve matches, is that being outlawed as well? The English FA are playing at the likes of sunderland 40,000 anfield 45,000 capacity instead of insisting the RFU open up twickenham, 80,000. Threfore bringing the national team round the country and making a lot less then they could if they were to play for the biggest crowd they possibly could.

That is a very valid point.

Imposter

The english FA have loads of stadiums of their own (well the clubs do but thery're part of the FA) that they're not in dire straights requiring a pitch. They are also relatively rich so money is not a huge concern for them. Moving the games around the country is good PR with the fans.

Another reason why it might be a good idea is because of security. I'm not sure how Twickenham is set up for [strike]hooligans[/strike] [strike]rules[/strike] no wait I mean hooligans. Premiership grounds have CCTV and constantly have to deal with this threat. I'm not so sure it exists in rugby.

DUB

Trojan wrote:

You saying I don't look smart?

em .... no ......

cHilliSheep

If the govt are willing to cash up, why the hell not? As long as the GAA/GOVT [not Fai] still have control so it wont be over used, and get €€€€€€€ for each time its used tis grand.

AthAnRi

I don't thin the GAA should be forced to open croke park but I do think that they should do it themselves. Hurling as a sport is by far and away my favourite. However I am not the biggest fan of the GAA. I do like some of the things they have done but they are charging fans too much these days for Tickets even though there are now a way more games for them to cash in on. If they did get the 50 million there on about I wonder would it reduce ticket prices.

As far as opening Croke park I would love to see it. It would be absolutely great to see Ireland in a competitive soccer/rugby match in front of a 75,000 crowd. It would also be a great showpiece for Croke Park and would show the rest of europe our magnificant stadium. It truely is amazing for an amature sport to have such a facility

DUB

charging too much? 35 for a cusack all ireland hurling quarter-final ticket is too much? 24 for an earlier round. The interntaional rules was 20 bills, that is great value, An All Ireland ticket will set you back 60 bills, only a tenner more then i paid for a meaningless soccer friendly in the heap that is lansdowne road. If they do open it up you can bet the soccer crowd will charge you through the nose! after the novelty wore off, for a lot of the soccer crowd it would probably be their first time in croke park! would the FAI get 72,000? they're not filling lansdowne for friendlies due to their crazy ticket prices as things stand!

Imposter

AthAnRi wrote:

I do like some of the things they have done but they are charging fans too much these days for Tickets even though there are now a way more games for them to cash in on. If they did get the 50 million there on about I wonder would it reduce ticket prices.

When it comes to the bigger matches it is in the GAA's best interest to charge as much as they will get away with. This money gets filtered into facilities such as Croker and also into the grass roots of the game. This is very important for the continuation of the sports as we know them especially with Rugby and Soccer now both offering professional oppurtunities to their elite players. The GAA also allow younger people into these games (up to the all-ireland series at least) at a reduced rate which is also good and allows families to attend at less of a cost.

AthAnRi

DUB wrote:

charging too much? 35 for a cusack all ireland hurling quarter-final ticket is too much? 24 for an earlier round. The interntaional rules was 20 bills, that is great value, An All Ireland ticket will set you back 60 bills, only a tenner more then i paid for a meaningless soccer friendly in the heap that is lansdowne road. If they do open it up you can bet the soccer crowd will charge you through the nose! after the novelty wore off, for a lot of the soccer crowd it would probably be their first time in croke park! would the FAI get 72,000? they're not filling lansdowne for friendlies due to their crazy ticket prices as things stand!

Yes it is too much, especially for a non profit making organisation like the GAA. Fair enough they do have to pay for croke park, grass routes(Very Debatable) but charging the punters is crazy especially when the people we go to see work for free.

Agruably to charge 60 euro for an All Ireland is justifueable, possibly to charge 35 euro for a All Ireland Quarterfinal is justifable, but I was refering more to the charges that are imposed for the first and second round matches, meaningless league matches and more improtantly qualifiers. Up until a few years ago there was no qualifing rounds. So why are the GAA charging almost the same price for a qualifier when they were clearly making massive money from matches as it was. Surely they should be cheaper. As for the league almost every match I went to in the league this year (Approx 7) the GAA were charging 15 to 20 uro for a ticket. Club matches, semi fina and county finals are also charging the same 15 to 20 pound.

Like everything in our country the GAA have also cashed in to the expense of the consumer. In 1998 I paid £12 to stand in the canal end for the All Ireland Final that was super value for money especially since there were no qualifiers to earn extra cash for the GAA

In 2000 I paid £25 to sit in the canal end(Still reasonable but nearly twice the price). Now a further 4 years on the price is almost 60 euro.Almost 4 times the price of an all ireland ticket that it was 6 years ago. T

then you add in the extra revenue for all the qualifiers. Your talking 5-6 major matches at least extra a year. An average of at least 15-20 thousand people per match at approx 15-20 euro per head. That's a lot of money. Where is that going to? Next year there will be even more qualifiers due to the restructuring of the Hurling championship. Will ticket prices fall? I wonder if it will be still 60 uro for an all ireland final then.

This is inflation at it's most potent my friend. My wages unfortunately have not enjoyed the same kind of success.

Waylander

When you were in Croke Park last you may have noticed that it is an entirely new stadium. They also have fair sized stadiums in almost every county in the country. The FAI do not have any stadium of note, while the IRFU has a few rundown stadiums that badly need developing. Also the clubs get money back from the GAA to buy pitches, and kit out their teams etc. Just about everything in this country has had a substantial increase in price in the last eight years, I do not really begrudge the GAA what they charge for their matches. I do have issues witht he GAA and the beurocracy attached to it, but I do not mind what I pay for tickets.

Trojan

Fair play to Sean Kelly for heading to the Argentina game - respect.

Al.

DUB

Yep, fair play to him indeed! I have an awful lot of time for Seán Kelly! He has made no secret of his desire for Croke Park to be opened. I wonder what he'd make of some of the abuse aimed at the GAA from certain rugby people on here!

The players may not get paid but the cost of preparing a county team has gone through the roof. That shiney new stadium your watching the games in now cost the GAA 125 million, of which the GAA is still [with the recent grant] 50 million in debt for! Of course the price is gone up, but compared to other sporting events of equal or lesser importance i think it is still good value for money.

AthAnRi

So when the 50 million is paid off, can I be expecting the ticket prices to drop? I presume they knew what the price of croke park was going to cost in 1998 when they had Phase 1 finished. How come ticket prices were four times cheaper with about half as many games?

What price would we be paying for tickets if there was no qualifers?

Why is there no reward scheme for loyal supporters? People who go to every match but still run the risk of losing out of a seat in croker to a sunshine supporter on All Ireland final day ?

One or two half price/discounted dare i say free ticket a year to a loyal supporter wouldn't cause the collapse of Croke Park I'm sure. This pisses me off the most. I wouldn't mind paying the money if the GAA acknowledged it with some smll token of appreciation. Instead they use the same excuses they always use, Croke Park, New Grounds blah blah blah.

AS for the price related to the running of a club, that is not payed for by the GAA. It is paid through sponsership and fundraising. The GAA provide grants and the amount provided to each club is dependednt on the amnount of members a club has not how far they go in a championship. In fact my local club runs a lotto to pay off their new club house. It is the first time they have ever owned one. Even though they are regarded as on of the 'richer' gaa clubs in the county. What did the GAA contribute for the club house SFA.

But I do agree it is marginally better value compared to other sports. But The GAA has an income and a fan base that far outways the FAI and the IRFU. These games cannot compete on a consistant level with the GAA in this country. I cant help feeling that the GAA are hitting the sport where it hurts. The Supporter.

DUB

In a world where sky digital costs you 60 euro a month i think 60 quid for an All Ireland ticket is smashing value. Fair enough it is more then it was but the association has to hold its own these days, otherwise it wouldnt be in a position to be able to launch things like the much needed 7 million euro games development stratgey for Dublin, new clubs in parts of the city where there are none or are poorly served by one, did you know at u10 we have 6 times the hurlers kilkenny has? and three times the footballers Kerry has .... well soon there will hopefully be full time coaches avaliable to these kids.

The reason you are now paying more is because the GAA has coped on to itself, it cant just survive any more, the association needs to get out there and earn money to invest in itself. Its not like anyone is getting rich out of your money, your not being fleeced, there is even talk of reducing the price of tickets for replays, regardless, it all goes back into the sport at some level so i dont have a problem. The GAA may have a bigger support but they also have 32 teams in two codes [with a few exceptions] to pay for, the cost of running a county team has gone through the roof the last few years with sports science and the players getting treated as if they were professional [rightfully so]

Are you a fan of the qualifiers then no? I think they are a great excuse for more games, I think the GAA needs more high profile games too keep itself in the public eye as long as possible during the year, a lot of people arent interested in the club championship and the coverage of it was nonexistant till TG4 came along. But i suppse this is a whole different discussion! [come on portlaoise!]

DUB

Success comes at a high price
Ian O'Riordan

GAELIC GAMES/County boards' expenditure: This year has seen another significant increase in the price of success in intercounty football and hurling. With most county boards now releasing their accounts for the year, the overall expenditure on teams is shown to vary substantially, although there is clearly a major investment involved in bringing teams to the top.

All-Ireland hurling champions Cork were among the highest spenders. Their overall bill on intercounty teams' expenses for the year ending October 31st was €1,018,794, an increase of €213,418 on the previous year's figure.

Cork's position as one of the few counties which field competitive teams in both codes across all grades is one of the main factors behind the high expenditure. But Cork are also known to lead the way in how team members are looked after, a situation partly brought about by the senior players' strike of two years ago.

In the breakdown of the teams' expenses, various travel and catering costs alone totalled 444,324. Other costs, including gear, equipment and medical, set the county board back 200,227. Despite these massive expenses, the county board's operations for the past year showed a surplus of 105,360.