Mayo V Sligo - Connaught senior final - July 15th

[baoithe]

Jesus I thought this was just a bit of craic when this thread started - surprised it has become such an issue.

Does the monies taken at the gate of a Connacht final not go to the Connacht Council?

the county hosting the final gets a cut of the gate
think its 10%

if this stunt is pulled by the Mayo county board and john prenty, I mean connacht council, it will make a mockery of democratic decisions made in the past.
I think the business people in Roscommon will be furious. Mayo gets enough tourists, Roscommon could do with the extra revenue as the county is on its knees economically

Leaving aside all that if its just a 10% cut of the gate and if Sligo are being induced with a 30%/50% cut of that Mayo are left with 5%/8% of the gate. It doesnt make sense. Unless the rules on the cut of the gate are being amended for this game.

As I understood it, the gate from even ordinary Connacht Championship games held in Markiewicz Park goes to the Connacht Council. I could be wrong as its just an  assumption probably largely based on all the Connacht council heads taking the money! If I'm right though what is different about this final? I'm sure some of ye have a logical answer.

[Lar Naparka]

Have heard a story that, depending on the attendance, Sligo would be in line to receive between 30 and 50% of Mayo GAAs take from hosting the fixture and they wouldn't have to even turn a key in a gate to get it. That must be tempting for the Sligo board against the Hyde/Pearse alternative of not getting a penny and still not getting the game at home. This could go either way.

Why would the Mayo Board want the game in Castlebar if they're going to give away so much of the gate?

If they can get it every team would want a home game.

It s a once off. Mayo s turn to play Sligo at home but an arrangement means finals involving Sligo played at a neutral venue. But the obvious venue - Hyde Park - seems to be considered not up to hosting this for reason/s not clear to me. If the Hyde is out then the only alternative is Pearse stadium in Galway - which is the nightmare scenario even though it might appear fairer than playing it in Castlebar.

For the Connacht Council money raises its ugly head as well. This was properly not fully thought out when the arrangement was made back in 1997. A lot has changed since. Back then Tuam was in the equation as a neutral venue. Whatever about its capacity the pitch itself seems to have issues like astroturf penalty areas. Simply means a match in Pearse Stadium could cost the CC at least 100,000 bucks and maybe a lot more.

At this stage though, I d like the whole thing to be above board and transparent as possible so hopefully the Hyde can be sorted out and play it there. Otherwise we ll never hear the end of it no matter what deal is struck.

I'd agree with all of that. Right now, I think the onus is on the Sligo county board. If they want to go ahead with McHale as the venue, that's alright by me. If they want to use the Hyde, I have no objection either but it's high time a decision was made and that the teams are allowed to get on with their preparations without any unnecessary distractions.
The Mayo county board are not responsible for the mess we find ourselves in but one way or another the bitching and moaning from outside the county will be heard from all sides. The collective béal bocht will be big enough to drain the Shannon.
I'm not in favour of bribing Sligo in any form to come to Castlebar. The mere idea is abhorrent to me. It's akin to saying that they are prepared to lessen their team's chances of success in order to pick up a few handy bob. Judas and the thirty pieces of silver and all that oul' guff.
Either McHale is suitable or it ain't and if that's the case, let's all head for the sheep pen and put up with the consequences.

[baoithe]

Have heard a story that, depending on the attendance, Sligo would be in line to receive between 30 and 50% of Mayo GAAs take from hosting the fixture and they wouldn't have to even turn a key in a gate to get it. That must be tempting for the Sligo board against the Hyde/Pearse alternative of not getting a penny and still not getting the game at home. This could go either way.

Why would the Mayo Board want the game in Castlebar if they're going to give away so much of the gate?

If they can get it every team would want a home game.

It s a once off. Mayo s turn to play Sligo at home but an arrangement means finals involving Sligo played at a neutral venue. But the obvious venue - Hyde Park - seems to be considered not up to hosting this for reason/s not clear to me. If the Hyde is out then the only alternative is Pearse stadium in Galway - which is the nightmare scenario even though it might appear fairer than playing it in Castlebar.

For the Connacht Council money raises its ugly head as well. This was properly not fully thought out when the arrangement was made back in 1997. A lot has changed since. Back then Tuam was in the equation as a neutral venue. Whatever about its capacity the pitch itself seems to have issues like astroturf penalty areas. Simply means a match in Pearse Stadium could cost the CC at least 100,000 bucks and maybe a lot more.

At this stage though, I d like the whole thing to be above board and transparent as possible so hopefully the Hyde can be sorted out and play it there. Otherwise we ll never hear the end of it no matter what deal is struck.

I'd agree with all of that. Right now, I think the onus is on the Sligo county board. If they want to go ahead with McHale as the venue, that's alright by me. If they want to use the Hyde, I have no objection either but it's high time a decision was made and that the teams are allowed to get on with their preparations without any unnecessary distractions.
The Mayo county board are not responsible for the mess we find ourselves in but one way or another the bitching and moaning from outside the county will be heard from all sides. The collective béal bocht will be big enough to drain the Shannon.
I'm not in favour of bribing Sligo in any form to come to Castlebar. The mere idea is abhorrent to me. It's akin to saying that they are prepared to lessen their team's chances of success in order to pick up a few handy bob. Judas and the thirty pieces of silver and all that oul' guff.
Either McHale is suitable or it ain't and if that's the case, let's all head for the sheep pen and put up with the consequences.

Why is the onus on the Sligo County Board?

[Cosmo Kramer]

You're fairly on the ball with your maths there baoithe. Hosting county gets 10% of the gate I believe. That could be in the region of 60-70k. Even if the deal is struck that Sligo get roughly a third, that still leaves an amount of money that otherwise wouldn't have gone to Mayo GAA. In terms of loan repayments it's significant. There would also be ancillary revenues from shops inside the ground, maybe parking and booze sales in An Sportlann? I'm not sure who gets the benefit of these, it may well be Mayo GAA exclusively.

Its money that would otherwise go to Ros or Galway GAA, so why not take the opportunity to split it between the counties that have reached the final. That is, after all, effectively what happens when any two of Mayo, Ros and Galway meet in the final via the existing home and away agreements.

The other factor here is that a final in Castlebar will draw significantly more punters through the gate for this fixture than one in Hyde or Pearse. There were far more Mayo fans at a nothing game against Leitrim on Sunday than there were at the Connacht Final last year. Knowing this, the Connacht Council will want it in Castlebar as their share of the gate will be a lot more also. So, it all comes down to Sligo, the onus is on them, if they are happy with their cut the deal will surely be done.

[moysider]

Have heard a story that, depending on the attendance, Sligo would be in line to receive between 30 and 50% of Mayo GAAs take from hosting the fixture and they wouldn't have to even turn a key in a gate to get it. That must be tempting for the Sligo board against the Hyde/Pearse alternative of not getting a penny and still not getting the game at home. This could go either way.

Why would the Mayo Board want the game in Castlebar if they're going to give away so much of the gate?

If they can get it every team would want a home game.

It s a once off. Mayo s turn to play Sligo at home but an arrangement means finals involving Sligo played at a neutral venue. But the obvious venue - Hyde Park - seems to be considered not up to hosting this for reason/s not clear to me. If the Hyde is out then the only alternative is Pearse stadium in Galway - which is the nightmare scenario even though it might appear fairer than playing it in Castlebar.

For the Connacht Council money raises its ugly head as well. This was properly not fully thought out when the arrangement was made back in 1997. A lot has changed since. Back then Tuam was in the equation as a neutral venue. Whatever about its capacity the pitch itself seems to have issues like astroturf penalty areas. Simply means a match in Pearse Stadium could cost the CC at least 100,000 bucks and maybe a lot more.

At this stage though, I d like the whole thing to be above board and transparent as possible so hopefully the Hyde can be sorted out and play it there. Otherwise we ll never hear the end of it no matter what deal is struck.

I'd agree with all of that. Right now, I think the onus is on the Sligo county board. If they want to go ahead with McHale as the venue, that's alright by me. If they want to use the Hyde, I have no objection either but it's high time a decision was made and that the teams are allowed to get on with their preparations without any unnecessary distractions.
The Mayo county board are not responsible for the mess we find ourselves in but one way or another the bitching and moaning from outside the county will be heard from all sides. The collective béal bocht will be big enough to drain the Shannon.
I'm not in favour of bribing Sligo in any form to come to Castlebar. The mere idea is abhorrent to me. It's akin to saying that they are prepared to lessen their team's chances of success in order to pick up a few handy bob. Judas and the thirty pieces of silver and all that oul' guff.
Either McHale is suitable or it ain't and if that's the case, let's all head for the sheep pen and put up with the consequences.

Why is the onus on the Sligo County Board?

They can hold out for their neutral venue no matter how sugarcoated McHale Park becomes.

Speculation but I would say that the CC would be in a position to make a bigger cut in gate receipts than usual because they ll be factoring in a much bigger attendance for Castlebar. I have some sympathy for them. It s their big pay day and they want to make the most of it. Sligo board will just have to tell them f**k off and hold out for a neutral venue.

[Captain Obvious]

Wouldn't McHale park final mean a bigger attendance of Mayo fans than a bigger overall attendance?

[macdanger2]

I think the business people in Roscommon will be furious. Mayo gets enough tourists, Roscommon could do with the extra revenue as the county is on its knees economically

Yes, I'd say that would be top of the priority list for the wealthy neighbours in Mayo and Sligo - no sign of recession around here 

I'd prefer not to have it in McHale Park as it will potentially cast a shadow on the game. Mayo CB should hang tough if they can, see who we'll be playing in the minors and make it an away game for them - it'll give us a slight advantage and I'd say we might need it!!

What is the capacity of Markievicz park anyway?

[moysider]

Wouldn't McHale park final mean a bigger attendance of Mayo fans than a bigger overall attendance?

It would mean both.

Castlebar probably handier for many in Sligo as well.

A few locals would attend if game in Hyde Park. But overall the attendance would be well down.

No locals for Pearse Stadium. The locals would be wonderin what was goin on? Attendance would be a disaster for CC.

[baoithe]

You're fairly on the ball with your maths there baoithe. Hosting county gets 10% of the gate I believe. That could be in the region of 60-70k. Even if the deal is struck that Sligo get roughly a third, that still leaves an amount of money that otherwise wouldn't have gone to Mayo GAA. In terms of loan repayments it's significant. There would also be ancillary revenues from shops inside the ground, maybe parking and booze sales in An Sportlann? I'm not sure who gets the benefit of these, it may well be Mayo GAA exclusively.

Its money that would otherwise go to Ros or Galway GAA, so why not take the opportunity to split it between the counties that have reached the final. That is, after all, effectively what happens when any two of Mayo, Ros and Galway meet in the final via the existing home and away agreements.

The other factor here is that a final in Castlebar will draw a significantly more punters through the gate for this fixture than one in Hyde or Pearse. There were far more Mayo fans at a nothing game against Leitrim on Sunday than there were at the Connacht Final last year. Knowing this, the Connacht Council will want it in Castlebar as their share of the gate will be a lot more also. So, it all comes down to Sligo, if they are happy with their cut the deal will surely be done.

Even if this match took in 600k (I;d have my doubts) and if Sligo are being offered one third or half of of Mayo's 10% cut amount it doesnt leave much for Mayo County Board from the 60k to 70k and frankly it is odd if that is the only reason that the match is switched to McHale Park. The ancillary revenue youre referring to really is irrelevant in terms of splitting between the competing counties (would never be taken into account re repayments of loans and difficult to ascertain in order to split). 30k is not worth getting out of bed for in the context of the redevelopment of McHale Park. It must cost that to stage the game although that probably comes out of the Connacht Council's cut.

Whether the 1997 agreement is just or otherwise, it was agreed by all counties presumably. Are we at the stage where agreements re fixtures are being set aside in order to enable Mayo to hold the game on their home turf or to contribute towards the repayment of development of McHale Park? I hope not. I think Cosmo is right in saying that there is more, financially, for the Connacht Council in holding it in McHale Park and that might be what is driving this issue. But as Seanie said, I dont expect any more than 8k from Sligo so I dont see why the Hyde doesn't suffice.

Ultimately the rumoured reasoning for not adhering to the 1997 agreement is:
(a) contributions towards the redevelopment of McHale Park;
(b) the geographical location of McHale Park; and
(c) the increased attendance that McHale Park can hold will be more favourable to Connacht Council revenues.

If Sligo County board is prepared to depart from the 1997 agreement I hope it is for (b) above  rather than the other reasons. I have no problem switching it to castlebar, my problem will depend on the rationale for doing so. And if things transpire as rumoured on this thread it further underlines the problem we have with commitology in our province. 

As an aside, it is abolutely not the case that everyone in our county "expects" as Moysider put it I think, that we will beat Mayo. There may be some bravado talk in a border town by west Sligo people in Ballina but we all know that Sligo would not put 4-20 past Leitrim in the Championship nor get to a Division 1 league final nor contest the semi-final of the All-Ireland. Béal bocht that may be but it's the reality.

[moysider]

I think the business people in Roscommon will be furious. Mayo gets enough tourists, Roscommon could do with the extra revenue as the county is on its knees economically

Yes, I'd say that would be top of the priority list for the wealthy neighbours in Mayo and Sligo - no sign of recession around here 

I'd prefer not to have it in McHale Park as it will potentially cast a shadow on the game. Mayo CB should hang tough if they can, see who we'll be playing in the minors and make it an away game for them - it'll give us a slight advantage and I'd say we might need it!!

What is the capacity of Markievicz park anyway?

I ve seen 17,000 mentioned and 20,000 somewhere else. ?? Probably big enough but again the CC would want to sell as many tickets as possible so....

But it is not a runner this time anyway because it is a 'home' tie for Mayo.

[baoithe]

Have heard a story that, depending on the attendance, Sligo would be in line to receive between 30 and 50% of Mayo GAAs take from hosting the fixture and they wouldn't have to even turn a key in a gate to get it. That must be tempting for the Sligo board against the Hyde/Pearse alternative of not getting a penny and still not getting the game at home. This could go either way.

Why would the Mayo Board want the game in Castlebar if they're going to give away so much of the gate?

If they can get it every team would want a home game.

It s a once off. Mayo s turn to play Sligo at home but an arrangement means finals involving Sligo played at a neutral venue. But the obvious venue - Hyde Park - seems to be considered not up to hosting this for reason/s not clear to me. If the Hyde is out then the only alternative is Pearse stadium in Galway - which is the nightmare scenario even though it might appear fairer than playing it in Castlebar.

For the Connacht Council money raises its ugly head as well. This was properly not fully thought out when the arrangement was made back in 1997. A lot has changed since. Back then Tuam was in the equation as a neutral venue. Whatever about its capacity the pitch itself seems to have issues like astroturf penalty areas. Simply means a match in Pearse Stadium could cost the CC at least 100,000 bucks and maybe a lot more.

At this stage though, I d like the whole thing to be above board and transparent as possible so hopefully the Hyde can be sorted out and play it there. Otherwise we ll never hear the end of it no matter what deal is struck.

I'd agree with all of that. Right now, I think the onus is on the Sligo county board. If they want to go ahead with McHale as the venue, that's alright by me. If they want to use the Hyde, I have no objection either but it's high time a decision was made and that the teams are allowed to get on with their preparations without any unnecessary distractions.
The Mayo county board are not responsible for the mess we find ourselves in but one way or another the bitching and moaning from outside the county will be heard from all sides. The collective béal bocht will be big enough to drain the Shannon.
I'm not in favour of bribing Sligo in any form to come to Castlebar. The mere idea is abhorrent to me. It's akin to saying that they are prepared to lessen their team's chances of success in order to pick up a few handy bob. Judas and the thirty pieces of silver and all that oul' guff.
Either McHale is suitable or it ain't and if that's the case, let's all head for the sheep pen and put up with the consequences.

Why is the onus on the Sligo County Board?

They can hold out for their neutral venue no matter how sugarcoated McHale Park becomes.
Speculation but I would say that the CC would be in a position to make a bigger cut in gate receipts than usual because they ll be factoring in a much bigger attendance for Castlebar. I have some sympathy for them. It s their big pay day and they want to make the most of it. Sligo board will just have to tell them f**k off and hold out for a neutral venue.

You're surmising Sligo County Board actually have a choice. Ultimately this entire thread has been conjecture but if events transpire as rumoured, Connacht GAA have alot to answer for.

[Cosmo Kramer]

I would say there are also reasons:

d) The two grounds that would have been considered suitable back in 1997 as neutral venues have fallen into various states of disrepair - Tuam completely sub-standard and Roscommon heading that way and potentially no longer having the required capacity and;

e) It is more financially advantageous to Sligo to play this particular game in Castlebar.

Pearse stadium is not a suitable neutral venue in Connacht for anything so, with Tuam in bits, the issue of the state of Hyde Park now needs to be looked at. If there is no sign of Hyde going back to a 30k capacity then the 97 agreement is finished. If the Hyde issue is short term, any alteration this year is more likely to be a one off.

[Syferus]

Ah Cosmo, the source of all unbiased Roscommon information.

The Hyde is no piece of engineering magic but the work that had to be done on it was minimal and you can be sure the Hyde will host many a Connacht final in the future.

[Cosmo Kramer]

Has that been confirmed anywhere Syferus? Given that the official reason for postponing the decision was to get exact capacity details for the different grounds, maybe we'll get an answer tomorrow. From my personal experience though (and I accept that I haven't set foot in the place since last years Connacht Final) the stadium really needs some investment if it is to continue to host 30k crowds longer term.

[Lar Naparka]

Have heard a story that, depending on the attendance, Sligo would be in line to receive between 30 and 50% of Mayo GAAs take from hosting the fixture and they wouldn't have to even turn a key in a gate to get it. That must be tempting for the Sligo board against the Hyde/Pearse alternative of not getting a penny and still not getting the game at home. This could go either way.

Why would the Mayo Board want the game in Castlebar if they're going to give away so much of the gate?

If they can get it every team would want a home game.

It s a once off. Mayo s turn to play Sligo at home but an arrangement means finals involving Sligo played at a neutral venue. But the obvious venue - Hyde Park - seems to be considered not up to hosting this for reason/s not clear to me. If the Hyde is out then the only alternative is Pearse stadium in Galway - which is the nightmare scenario even though it might appear fairer than playing it in Castlebar.

For the Connacht Council money raises its ugly head as well. This was properly not fully thought out when the arrangement was made back in 1997. A lot has changed since. Back then Tuam was in the equation as a neutral venue. Whatever about its capacity the pitch itself seems to have issues like astroturf penalty areas. Simply means a match in Pearse Stadium could cost the CC at least 100,000 bucks and maybe a lot more.

At this stage though, I d like the whole thing to be above board and transparent as possible so hopefully the Hyde can be sorted out and play it there. Otherwise we ll never hear the end of it no matter what deal is struck.

I'd agree with all of that. Right now, I think the onus is on the Sligo county board. If they want to go ahead with McHale as the venue, that's alright by me. If they want to use the Hyde, I have no objection either but it's high time a decision was made and that the teams are allowed to get on with their preparations without any unnecessary distractions.
The Mayo county board are not responsible for the mess we find ourselves in but one way or another the bitching and moaning from outside the county will be heard from all sides. The collective béal bocht will be big enough to drain the Shannon.
I'm not in favour of bribing Sligo in any form to come to Castlebar. The mere idea is abhorrent to me. It's akin to saying that they are prepared to lessen their team's chances of success in order to pick up a few handy bob. Judas and the thirty pieces of silver and all that oul' guff.
Either McHale is suitable or it ain't and if that's the case, let's all head for the sheep pen and put up with the consequences.

Why is the onus on the Sligo County Board?

Because they appear to be seriously considering playing the game in Castlebar in return for an increased share of the takings.