Mod Note Post #1 - The 2022 All Ireland Senior Football Championship.

It's almost like the games are an inconvenience!

It's not the games every two weeks that are the problem, for instance I'd love to have that problem. (my team is long out)

If people genuinely can't afford it then change the prices, not the schedule. Having games every 3 or 4 weeks apart is nonsense, play the fvckin games and just enjoy it. Don't leave 99% of players at home waiting for the last 4 teams to finish off the championship through August and September.

Agree, I know plenty that haven't gone to a single event, sports, music, theatre, cinema etc.

But I still reckon it will still be close to capacity on Sunday. What are the numbers so far?

Regardless of the calendar, generally I think the GAA do need to tackle poor attendances. They really don't help themselves.

The price of hotels and Dublin plus the high inflation incl. petrol prices of course doesn't help, and the GAA have limited control over this

I went to a hurling semi last weekend (actually only 39,000 at it apparently, so around half capacity). Upper tiers of Davin and Hogan not even opened. An empty Davin End behind the goals doesn't look great optically for what's supposed to be one of the biggest events of the year.

Tickets were EUR 50, no match before it, just one game. Surely they could be cheaper ? People with only a passing interest in the sport will not pay that.

Also the matches are scheduled in the evening, so can finish after the last train home departs leaving supporters high and dry with nowhere to stay. Especially considering games can have extra time and penalties now. Hotels expensive and anyways not available.

You rule out the possibility of families with kids going. I have friends who actually live in Dublin, and couldn't go to Croker as it was too late. Never mind living in the likes of Clare or Kerry.

My plan is

1. Cheaper adult ticket prices
2. Play all games in the afternoon, to open it up more to day trippers
3. Consider free tickets for children, especially for games that won't sell out anyways (which is most games)
4. Consider putting everything on Ticketmaster for everything except the All-Ireland final (appreciate finals will sell out and want to reward club members). Avoids the nonsense of the best seats being returned by clubs and left empty. Fine for maybe a county supporter's club to be involved, to sort out season ticket holders, but not every single club.

Also, would it be too drastic to take the semi finals out of Croke Park ? Play it somewhere between the two competing counties, reducing cost and travel time.

I genuinely think that when their is a great atmosphere at games, that feeds across to the players and leads to a better game. So also more enjoyable for the armchair TV viewer. A lot of the games played in an almost empty Croke Park this year have been poor spectacles.

Bit odd putting that on, if it was a ladies football Dublin v Donegal would make more sense. Before Dublin match.

In saying that though. Men’s Junior football AI win for Dublin was the spark for now many household names.

But in the case of NY and KK it will be the pinnacle for those lads. So it is a different type of vibe.

They did change the rules on it at one stage, can't remember the exact scenario but it was basically to stop senior teams using junior as their B team/feeder team for the main squad

Why do 'them lads' deserve a chance more that the 'women's match' apart from your personal preference?

Why still call it the junior cup ?

For one thing NY are a senior team. Call it the intercontinental or something.

And sort out that joke of a KK situation. I think they are the only non dual county in the country and there is no excuse other than snobbery

Putting the NY v KK junior football final on before KK v Limerick hurling final would make more sense IMO.

But could you call the Junior football final a real competition or real final? There are only four teams in it.

It is really a tokenism exhibition competition now. Couple of teams in it. The GAA diaspora plus KK. No one but friends and relatives would turn out to see it. Let’s be honest. Does it deserve to be played in CP? I am not so sure.

Does it make sense to play it in CP either? I am not so sure either. Better venues for it as a stand alone exhibition.

Think I'm right in saying that London team is their second team, not their normal first team.

Strange having a 4 team competition and calling it an All Ireland. Why not open it up to the likes of the Asian teams and other US cities?

Agreed.

The GAA really need a radical rethink of their ticket pricing structures, all they are doing is pricing people out of attending and lessening their own revenue streams.

Its been cited I don’t know how many times and by how many people that they should look at the German Bundesliga ticketing model of maximising stadium space by offering cheapest tickets possible to break even, sometimes even at a loss but their is a trickle down effect of sales such as merchandise, food and drinks within the stadium which turns it into a profit. Their tickets are just over €10 for an adult and stadiums are packed. If I got a ticket for today for a tenner I’d be there with my two kids. The bringing the kids element obviously has the additional knock on positive of exposure to the games and them being the next generation. Yes it’s a tenner for them, but mine is €50 so feck that. As it stands none of us will go and I imagine we will see plenty of empty seats today which could easily be filled. The GAA have always been hailed as great innovators of promoting the game but when it comes to getting people into croke park for games outside of AI finals this is definitely not the case. Remember those absolutely shite half time music acts they tried? Embarrassing. It’s as simple as reducing ticket prices to fractional profit, break even or even risk a small loss hoping to make it up in various sales within the stadium.