Championships start...did anyone tell the GAA?

Mal-Adjusted

The senior inter-county championships have kicked off this weekend, but if you weren't looking out for it, you wouldn't have noticed. Is there any particular reason the GAA have no real launch of the summer games? If it was the PRO12 or Heineken cup you'd bet they'd make a big event out of it. Even the FAI have a league launch with the two trophies and various club captains around it.

Have the GAA missed an opportunity to promote themselves with a bit of fanfare here? It certainly doesn't help that a league final was scheduled for the same weekend that the championship begins (a league that everyone outside of Waterford/Galway will have forgotten about in three months time).

Dirty Dingus McGee

The championship doesn't really start in football until July.No point hyping up the beginning of it when it is largely going to consist of one sided games for the next 2 months.

The championship structure itself is terrible but there isn't a hope of it being changed unfortunately which is the thing that needs to happen not the hyping up of the beginning of the current format.

Realt Dearg Sec

Mal-Adjusted wrote: »

The senior inter-county championships have kicked off this weekend, but if you weren't looking out for it, you wouldn't have noticed. Is there any particular reason the GAA have no real launch of the summer games? If it was the PRO12 or Heineken cup you'd bet they'd make a big event out of it. Even the FAI have a league launch with the two trophies and various club captains around it.

Have the GAA missed an opportunity to promote themselves with a bit of fanfare here? It certainly doesn't help that a league final was scheduled for the same weekend that the championship begins (a league that everyone outside of Waterford/Galway will have forgotten about in three months time).

One thing is for sure, they've made a balls of promoting the league final if you're under the impression Galway were paying it much attention.

Its a difficult one, you'd like to see some excitement for the start of the championship but no matter how you dress it up under the current provincial structure there are very few matches that will generate any non-manufactured excitement. However, you'd think that Tyrone v Donegal could have been used to kick off the championship with a bit of hype and expectation. There is a couple of mildly interesting quarter final games in Ulster, in the other provinces there is nothing of much interest. Those games are season defining games for a lot of teams but to most neutrals they are of little interest in the overall scheme of things.

The football will amble along to August with the usual faces. A couple of games will throw up a bit of interest but its hard to get excited about it.

The hurling setup is awkward with the round robin but think the GAA could push that a bit more, sounded like a cracker between Antrim and Laois. I think the hurling championship will naturally generate its own excitement given the fact that 8 or 9 teams have genuine hopes of making a significant dent on the championship this year.

keeponhurling

Maybe they didn't want to take from the league final.

If you mean Galway v New York in the football, this is even referred to as a preliminary round rather than first round of the championship.
Similarly the Carlow Westmeath hurling game, dont think that was a Leinster championship proper round either.

Not sure it would be wise to have hyped up his weekends games as the big start to the championship

munchkin_utd

The provincials have yet to be officially launched, for example Connacht is having theirs on Thursday next, the other provinces will do similar.

The all Ireland (centrally organised and ticketed competitions) then begins with the low profile qualifiers, but there will be a launch in July if last year is anything to go by

ProudDUB

Kinda hard for the radio and telly networks to really hype up interest in the first round of games, if none of the games themselves are being broadcast live. Still, it would have been nice if RTE had some live coverage of the game in New York. It's so hard to lose a loved one to emigration. Listening to/watching their sons participate in a live championship game, even if it is 3000 miles away, would be a lovely thing for the families that they left behind.

Fr Tod Umptious

ProudDUB wrote: »

Kinda hard for the radio and telly networks to really hype up interest in the first round of games, if none of the games themselves are being broadcast live. Still, it would have been nice if RTE had some live coverage of the game in New York. It's so hard to lose a loved one to emigration. Listening to/watching their sons participate in a live championship game, even if it is 3000 miles away, would be a lovely thing for the families that they left behind.

The NY game is nothing more than an exhibition game.
It has less value than a challenge match to open a rural pitch, and God help the GAA if NY ever won it.
There is zero value to be had broadcasting it nationally.
Local radio in Connacht covers it sufficiently.


As for the launch of the season itself the fact that the structure of the championship is no equal means that a grand hyped launch is not possible.

The day when we get 4 "regions" of 8 will mean that there can be an official launch at the "regional" quarter final stage

Fireball07

Apparently, they can't have an official launch of the Championship until the League is over because of sponsorship reasons.

threeball

Fireball07 wrote: »

Apparently, they can't have an official launch of the Championship until the League is over because of sponsorship reasons.

Well hopefully its ending will mean the end of that "Go all the way" advert cos it absolutely wrecks my head. its embarrassing that the GAA actually paid a firm to come up with that scutter.

rebel girl 15

Isn't each provincial championship launched within its province. I remember seeing stuff from Munster launches that were in Mallow GAA complex.

Anyway, the New York game is only a preliminary round, not down as championship proper. Same with the hurling fixtures, as they were prelims as well