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National Forum

The GAA - Financial And Marketing

(Oldest Posts First) - Go To The Latest Post

Replying To KillingFields:  "will GAA take a hit as ticket sales for weeknd playing in croker this weekend look to be very poor. loads tickets on resale and people offloading them everywhere"
Highly unlikely. As they're only renting the venue, there would be little to no risk on their side, unless they negotiated a very bad deal for themselves, which I'd very much doubt. If they're due to get a share of the food and drink sales, then they might not make as much as expected, but they should be making a decent profit either way.

WanPintWin (Galway) - Posts: 3050 - 21/08/2026 21:25:02    2690826

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Replying To Kew:  "Croke Park requires an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 spectators in attendance at a standard match to comfortably break even on the operating costs of opening the stadium.

That's why they lose a lot of money hosting games there between ladies and lower profile mens games. Instead of hosting the games in suitable grounds they open up croke park no many the loss"
Long debunked - https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/arid-20450392.html

Square_B (Leitrim) - Posts: 2412 - 25/08/2026 11:08:50    2691212

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Replying To Square_B:  "Long debunked - https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/arid-20450392.html"
Yep.
That was when they charged loan repayments and interest to the running costs, then divided the annual cost by the amount of fixtures and got an average of 30,000 paying spectators.

Seanfan (Roscommon) - Posts: 915 - 25/08/2026 13:42:06    2691236

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Replying To Square_B:  "Long debunked - https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/arid-20450392.html"
Paywall

Kew (Galway) - Posts: 419 - 25/08/2026 22:44:53    2691312

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Replying To Square_B:  "Long debunked - https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/arid-20450392.html"
Great article Square-B, besides and including the breakeven point for opening Croke Park.

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 8760 - 26/08/2026 06:38:01    2691321

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With 50 % of all clubs knocked out of the championship by mid September, increasing to 95% by end of September, we now face a long 4 months before any interesting football or hurling is played (lets face it, the club championship is all good and well, but does anyone have anything other than a passing interest in provincial and all ireland club unless their own club is in it?

Surely it would make sense to move one of the spring competitions into this slot to avoid the congestion that take place in Spring or Summer.

Some suggestions would be

1. Taiteann cup / Joe McDonagh Cup - these counties rarely progress in provincial club competitions anyway - but it would do a lot for promotion of the sport in those counties, being on TV every weekend

2. U20 competitions - yes there will be a clash for a handfull of players - but for the greater good, lads can show their stuff in September/October and get called into county panels in the new year and not be forced to balance both with exams looming

3. Sigerson & Fitzgibbon cups - they are just drowned out now and would regain some prestige being on in October & November

tirawleybaron (Mayo) - Posts: 2045 - 26/08/2026 09:58:16    2691336

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Replying To tirawleybaron:  "With 50 % of all clubs knocked out of the championship by mid September, increasing to 95% by end of September, we now face a long 4 months before any interesting football or hurling is played (lets face it, the club championship is all good and well, but does anyone have anything other than a passing interest in provincial and all ireland club unless their own club is in it?

Surely it would make sense to move one of the spring competitions into this slot to avoid the congestion that take place in Spring or Summer.

Some suggestions would be

1. Taiteann cup / Joe McDonagh Cup - these counties rarely progress in provincial club competitions anyway - but it would do a lot for promotion of the sport in those counties, being on TV every weekend

2. U20 competitions - yes there will be a clash for a handfull of players - but for the greater good, lads can show their stuff in September/October and get called into county panels in the new year and not be forced to balance both with exams looming

3. Sigerson & Fitzgibbon cups - they are just drowned out now and would regain some prestige being on in October & November"
I wouldn't say the Sigerson and Fitzgibbon Cups are drowned out at all. UCC v MTU had one of the biggest crowds I've ever seen at a college hurling game back in January and Jerome Quinn does a great job promoting both competitions and giving them plenty of coverage.
The Sigerson and Fitzgibbon are a huge pathway for quality players who might not be able to access a course because of high costs or points. Their sport can help them get a scholarship with financial or academic support such as a points reduction. It's a strong competition with the best players from all over the country competing at college level
In relation to the county U20 competition my own county has had very little success and at this stage the county board doesn't seem to care about it. It's normally straight knockout in the hurling and in the last ten years we've won very few U20 games. It's nearly embarrassing at this stage.

Fighting-Cocks69 (Westmeath) - Posts: 237 - 26/08/2026 11:09:50    2691357

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Replying To Kew:  "Paywall"
Here it is:

Croke Park crowd

Many had been led to believe that the GAA required a crowd of 30,000 in Croke Park to financially break even on the day but this school of thought was rubbished by the association's stadium and commercial director Peter McKenna in Michael Moynihan's GAAconomics.

"That's an urban myth. It costs between €40,000 and €120,000 to open the stadium and we often open it at a loss. The break-even figure? For the smallest crowd, it would be €30,000 so 10,000 people paying €3 each, or €5,000 paying €6 each would do it."

WanPintWin (Galway) - Posts: 3050 - 26/08/2026 11:12:33    2691358

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Replying To tirawleybaron:  "With 50 % of all clubs knocked out of the championship by mid September, increasing to 95% by end of September, we now face a long 4 months before any interesting football or hurling is played (lets face it, the club championship is all good and well, but does anyone have anything other than a passing interest in provincial and all ireland club unless their own club is in it?

Surely it would make sense to move one of the spring competitions into this slot to avoid the congestion that take place in Spring or Summer.

Some suggestions would be

1. Taiteann cup / Joe McDonagh Cup - these counties rarely progress in provincial club competitions anyway - but it would do a lot for promotion of the sport in those counties, being on TV every weekend

2. U20 competitions - yes there will be a clash for a handfull of players - but for the greater good, lads can show their stuff in September/October and get called into county panels in the new year and not be forced to balance both with exams looming

3. Sigerson & Fitzgibbon cups - they are just drowned out now and would regain some prestige being on in October & November"
I wouldn't say the Sigerson and Fitzgibbon Cups are drowned out at all. UCC v MTU had one of the biggest crowds I've ever seen at a college hurling game back in January and Jerome Quinn does a great job promoting both competitions and giving them plenty of coverage.
The Sigerson and Fitzgibbon are a huge pathway for quality players who might not be able to access a course because of high costs or points. Their sport can help them get a scholarship with financial or academic support such as a points reduction. It's a strong competition with the best players from all over the country competing at college level
In relation to the county U20 competition my own county has had very little success and at this stage the county board doesn't seem to care about it. It's normally straight knockout in the hurling and in the last ten years we've won very few U20 games. It's nearly embarrassing at this stage.

Fighting-Cocks69 (Westmeath) - Posts: 237 - 26/08/2026 12:04:23    2691377

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Tom Parsons no doubt delighted with this recent fixture in Croke Park, distracts from club football and generates revenue for the GPA. A

WunderBar (Galway) - Posts: 293 - 26/08/2026 12:15:05    2691381

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Replying To Kew:  "Paywall"
That's odd... funny enough I was able to access it without a subscription but look we'll pass on that... anyhow someone has kindly posted the text.... digest that one in your own time.

Square_B (Leitrim) - Posts: 2412 - 26/08/2026 13:44:37    2691400

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Replying To WanPintWin:  "Here it is:

Croke Park crowd

Many had been led to believe that the GAA required a crowd of 30,000 in Croke Park to financially break even on the day but this school of thought was rubbished by the association's stadium and commercial director Peter McKenna in Michael Moynihan's GAAconomics.

"That's an urban myth. It costs between €40,000 and €120,000 to open the stadium and we often open it at a loss. The break-even figure? For the smallest crowd, it would be €30,000 so 10,000 people paying €3 each, or €5,000 paying €6 each would do it.""
The problem is that book is 15 years old and Ireland was a different place back then insurance wise etc it's a different story now a days would be interesting to see current figures as the soccer game didn't need glass Infront of the hill 16 so insurance costs may be more because of that. Thanks for the link though it probably is less than I had posted even with the time

Kew (Galway) - Posts: 419 - 27/08/2026 11:10:13    2691491

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Replying To Square_B:  "That's odd... funny enough I was able to access it without a subscription but look we'll pass on that... anyhow someone has kindly posted the text.... digest that one in your own time."
Yes it is odd if you are getting free access my subscription ran out and I didn't renew it.
The numbers quoted are from a book 15 years ago so neither of us can be 100 percent sure hopefully someone finds some recent numbers

Kew (Galway) - Posts: 419 - 27/08/2026 11:13:52    2691492

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Wouldn't insurance cover GAA events in Croke Park annually, regardless of how many events are there. Why would there be separate individual insurance costs for one additional GAA match with a small crowd?
The GAA are paying their insurance annually regardless, so I don't see how that would chance the break even requirement for Croke Park. Surely it would be the one-off costs associated with a match.

WanPintWin (Galway) - Posts: 3050 - 27/08/2026 12:08:25    2691514

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