The GAA and Founding Principle

[LooseCannon]

Just wondering has anyone seen or, more to the point read this?

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/sport/columnists/the-founding-principle-of-the-gaa-has-been-increasingly-neglected-899984.html

I know we see on Twitter the talk of Croke Park 'suits' and those same suits tend to be heavily involved locally, or have given years of volunteer service to the GAA as they will often point out...BUT then how can they stand over some of the moves like the ticket increase.
Saying it is for the benefit of the grounds and so on, when clubs face levies anyway for projects. Let the extra few quid stay in the membership's pockets and they will be the ones looking after the clubs a lot of the time anyway.
In every club the same few are tapped up all the time, so I don't see the need to raise any prices, in fact there should have been a freeze. The accounts are in rude health centrally after all.

The prices had not gone up since 2011, so there was a freeze which in my opinion had lasted long enough.

I don't know where the big sense of entitlement comes from. People seem to expect GAA ticket prices to be frozen in time and exempt from inflation. That's assuming they're willing to get off their couches and go to the match rather than whinging about not being able to watch every single game on TV free of charge.

'Do people want the GAA to give them money at the gate?' - Dick Clerkin defends hike in ticket prices

If you listen to Rouse talking on Off The Ball, he was said that there wasn't a price review since 2011. The price of tickets had changed in that time.

https://youtu.be/C2u9acGfl7c

[marty34]

Ticket prices are a factor no doubt but the product is also a problem. Who in Leinster wants to watch Laois getting stuffed by Dublin.
Tier the championship. Have teams competing at their own level.
The crowds will come back.

Keep doing what they're doing, increasing prices and putting poorly matched teams against each other and people will vote with their feet.

The "Croke Park suits" are too blame but most of the responsibility lies with the weaker counties who refuse to allow a tiering of the championship.

So tiering the championship, to dump every county from Roscommon downwards into 2 or 3 tiers of the Tommy Murphy Cup, will solve the problem? Wow.

If you take that to its logical conclusion - counties have senior, intermediate and junior championship at club level.

I'd say at the end of 2021, wherever you finish in league, that'll be your championship.  Run them off quickly and give more times to the clubs.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Just wondering has anyone seen or, more to the point read this?

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/sport/columnists/the-founding-principle-of-the-gaa-has-been-increasingly-neglected-899984.html

I know we see on Twitter the talk of Croke Park 'suits' and those same suits tend to be heavily involved locally, or have given years of volunteer service to the GAA as they will often point out...BUT then how can they stand over some of the moves like the ticket increase.
Saying it is for the benefit of the grounds and so on, when clubs face levies anyway for projects. Let the extra few quid stay in the membership's pockets and they will be the ones looking after the clubs a lot of the time anyway.
In every club the same few are tapped up all the time, so I don't see the need to raise any prices, in fact there should have been a freeze. The accounts are in rude health centrally after all.

The prices had not gone up since 2011, so there was a freeze which in my opinion had lasted long enough.

This is not true apparently. John Fogerty had an article about it during the week. There were a number of various price hikes as well as some reductions.

No price review since 2011 so Horan was being a bit economical with the truth there.

[JoG2]

And they wonder why attendances have fallen
People just don't have the extra money to justify going to games

Are league attendances falling? There was 11k at a McKenna Cup game last week. Dublin games at CP are falling surely but its nought do do with ticket prices

attendances at championship games are way down
as are league games in the lower divisions

You'd needy put up some figures for both those statements. Prov championship games attendances have been down since the introduction of the backdoor, I doubt it's anything to do with ticket prices. Factor in the qualifier games and I'd say attendances in total may be up, no?? We seem to get hysterical re any and everything to do with the football in the off season and hark back to the utopian GAA days when a kicking game between Kerry and Dublin finished 0-10   0-08, and a punt would get you through the turnstiles. Article after article of full on negativity.

Money lost on falling attendances was one of the reasons why the group stages for the last eight of the AI championship was brought in.

In Leinster matches involving Dublin at CP as they are turkey shoots. Nothing to do with ticket prices going up. Its €15 for a Div 1 and 2 game, €10 for div3 and 4, kids go free, that's a bargain!

[thewobbler]

Just wondering has anyone seen or, more to the point read this?

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/sport/columnists/the-founding-principle-of-the-gaa-has-been-increasingly-neglected-899984.html

I know we see on Twitter the talk of Croke Park 'suits' and those same suits tend to be heavily involved locally, or have given years of volunteer service to the GAA as they will often point out...BUT then how can they stand over some of the moves like the ticket increase.
Saying it is for the benefit of the grounds and so on, when clubs face levies anyway for projects. Let the extra few quid stay in the membership's pockets and they will be the ones looking after the clubs a lot of the time anyway.
In every club the same few are tapped up all the time, so I don't see the need to raise any prices, in fact there should have been a freeze. The accounts are in rude health centrally after all.

The prices had not gone up since 2011, so there was a freeze which in my opinion had lasted long enough.

This is not true apparently. John Fogerty had an article about it during the week. There were a number of various price hikes as well as some reductions.

No price review since 2011 so Horan was being a bit economical with the truth there.

The sense of entitlement comes from a few simple things Eamon. Players don't get paid, and the majority of match day staff don't get paid; so there is simply not the need for ticket increases as there is in other sports. Twin that with the fact that maybe one national league in 80 is more than half full, and you won't be long arriving at an opinion that top brass are giving up on widening the appeal of the game, in favour of fleecing the diehards.

[mrdeeds]

Just wondering has anyone seen or, more to the point read this?

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/sport/columnists/the-founding-principle-of-the-gaa-has-been-increasingly-neglected-899984.html

I know we see on Twitter the talk of Croke Park 'suits' and those same suits tend to be heavily involved locally, or have given years of volunteer service to the GAA as they will often point out...BUT then how can they stand over some of the moves like the ticket increase.
Saying it is for the benefit of the grounds and so on, when clubs face levies anyway for projects. Let the extra few quid stay in the membership's pockets and they will be the ones looking after the clubs a lot of the time anyway.
In every club the same few are tapped up all the time, so I don't see the need to raise any prices, in fact there should have been a freeze. The accounts are in rude health centrally after all.

The prices had not gone up since 2011, so there was a freeze which in my opinion had lasted long enough.

I don't know where the big sense of entitlement comes from. People seem to expect GAA ticket prices to be frozen in time and exempt from inflation. That's assuming they're willing to get off their couches and go to the match rather than whinging about not being able to watch every single game on TV free of charge.

'Do people want the GAA to give them money at the gate?' - Dick Clerkin defends hike in ticket prices

Inflation was not 25 percent.

[JoG2]

Just wondering has anyone seen or, more to the point read this?

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/sport/columnists/the-founding-principle-of-the-gaa-has-been-increasingly-neglected-899984.html

I know we see on Twitter the talk of Croke Park 'suits' and those same suits tend to be heavily involved locally, or have given years of volunteer service to the GAA as they will often point out...BUT then how can they stand over some of the moves like the ticket increase.
Saying it is for the benefit of the grounds and so on, when clubs face levies anyway for projects. Let the extra few quid stay in the membership's pockets and they will be the ones looking after the clubs a lot of the time anyway.
In every club the same few are tapped up all the time, so I don't see the need to raise any prices, in fact there should have been a freeze. The accounts are in rude health centrally after all.

The prices had not gone up since 2011, so there was a freeze which in my opinion had lasted long enough.

I don't know where the big sense of entitlement comes from. People seem to expect GAA ticket prices to be frozen in time and exempt from inflation. That's assuming they're willing to get off their couches and go to the match rather than whinging about not being able to watch every single game on TV free of charge.

'Do people want the GAA to give them money at the gate?' - Dick Clerkin defends hike in ticket prices

Inflation was not 25 percent.

How much was it in to a Div 1 game last year?

[mrdeeds]

15 euro. 20 this year. 25 percent increase.

[JoG2]

15 euro. 20 this year. 25 percent increase.

€15 again this year in advance. You can literally take yourself and a clatter of wains to Croke Pk / Healey / Clones / Fitzgerald / Castlebar to watch the best players in the country do battle for €15 feckin euros... I honestly don't understand the knicker twisting going on atm

[Eamonnca1]

The sense of entitlement comes from a few simple things Eamon. Players don't get paid, and the majority of match day staff don't get paid; so there is simply not the need for ticket increases as there is in other sports. Twin that with the fact that maybe one national league in 80 is more than half full, and you won't be long arriving at an opinion that top brass are giving up on widening the appeal of the game, in favour of fleecing the diehards.

These things were true in my day, and in my day there was no expectation that you could watch every match live for free on TV, nor did people expect ticket prices to remain unchanged from one year to the next.

The whinging about ticket prices reminds me of yanks griping about having to pay about $3 for a gallon of petrol then they'd be paying two or three times as much if they lived in Europe. People don't know how good they have it.

[Eamonnca1]

Just wondering has anyone seen or, more to the point read this?

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/sport/columnists/the-founding-principle-of-the-gaa-has-been-increasingly-neglected-899984.html

I know we see on Twitter the talk of Croke Park 'suits' and those same suits tend to be heavily involved locally, or have given years of volunteer service to the GAA as they will often point out...BUT then how can they stand over some of the moves like the ticket increase.
Saying it is for the benefit of the grounds and so on, when clubs face levies anyway for projects. Let the extra few quid stay in the membership's pockets and they will be the ones looking after the clubs a lot of the time anyway.
In every club the same few are tapped up all the time, so I don't see the need to raise any prices, in fact there should have been a freeze. The accounts are in rude health centrally after all.

The prices had not gone up since 2011, so there was a freeze which in my opinion had lasted long enough.

I don't know where the big sense of entitlement comes from. People seem to expect GAA ticket prices to be frozen in time and exempt from inflation. That's assuming they're willing to get off their couches and go to the match rather than whinging about not being able to watch every single game on TV free of charge.

'Do people want the GAA to give them money at the gate?' - Dick Clerkin defends hike in ticket prices

Inflation was not 25 percent.

I'm open to correction here but if it went up by 25% over 7 years then that's about 3.5% per year. Still higher than the rate of inflation in the Free State, but hardly breaking the bank.

[mrdeeds]

Sorry my maths wrong. 33 percent increase.

[thewobbler]

The sense of entitlement comes from a few simple things Eamon. Players don't get paid, and the majority of match day staff don't get paid; so there is simply not the need for ticket increases as there is in other sports. Twin that with the fact that maybe one national league in 80 is more than half full, and you won't be long arriving at an opinion that top brass are giving up on widening the appeal of the game, in favour of fleecing the diehards.

These things were true in my day, and in my day there was no expectation that you could watch every match live for free on TV, nor did people expect ticket prices to remain unchanged from one year to the next.

The whinging about ticket prices reminds me of yanks griping about having to pay about $3 for a gallon of petrol then they'd be paying two or three times as much if they lived in Europe. People don't know how good they have it.

Eamon, but why?

The GAA does not need to generate more income at a central level. We are not a capitalist business which has to show improved profits each year, or else sack the board.

But I'm going to guess there is a bonus system in place for our (unnecessary) layer of administration staff should revenues increase, which means that we have become a capitalist institution. That, in my opinion, would signal the start of the end for the GAA.

[seafoid]

Ticket prices are a factor no doubt but the product is also a problem. Who in Leinster wants to watch Laois getting stuffed by Dublin.
Tier the championship. Have teams competing at their own level.
The crowds will come back.

Keep doing what they're doing, increasing prices and putting poorly matched teams against each other and people will vote with their feet.

The "Croke Park suits" are too blame but most of the responsibility lies with the weaker counties who refuse to allow a tiering of the championship.

The economic system is also a factor.
In rural areas especially where the GAA is strong, payrises are not happening for many people.
Other costs are rising so there is a squeeze on spending power.
This is happening all over Europe

[seafoid]

Croke Park is very impressive but it needs to be kept going with serious money. That meant changing the way the GAA does things.
I am not sure that Croke Park is good for the games.

Something similar happened in Galway with Pairc na Gaoithe in Salthill. It was built at enormous expense as a vanity project, is not really suitable for high level sport and has bad parking. Tuam and Ballinasloe are better venues but PnG has to be financed .

The GAA leadership are too distant at this stage as well . They have made a number of stupid calls in recent years and they are out of their depth
when it comes to the crisis in football

The games are very compelling  but the administration is not.