Match Balls

[Jimmy14]

I know O'Neills are the favoured match ball supplier for the GAA,
Are there any other preffered suppliers?

I know for the Go Games a lot of companies have made their own brands etc. but for senior championship?

[orchard 8195]

I think mckeever balls have been approved by croke park, v popular in Armagh where the company is based!!

[DuffleKing]

No they're not - popular among club treasurers for training because they're cheap

[irunthev]

McKeever balls do a job for training and as pointed out from a club fnance point of view they make a lot of sense. Still impossible to beat O'Neills for match ball quality imo.

[fitzroyalty]

McKeever balls to me resemble a slightly flat O'Neill's ball.

[Stevie g 8]

In soccer numerous  companys can sell match balls which make the market competitive but in gaa it seems to be a closed shop which means Oneills can call their price

[Jimmy14]

So, only O'Neills then by the look of it??

[laceer]

McKeever balls may be cheaper but the quality is worse than brutal
We got a few at the start of the year for training and they're not worth a shite now

[Jimmy14]

Thanks for the replies people!

[irunthev]

In soccer numerous  companys can sell match balls which make the market competitive but in gaa it seems to be a closed shop which means Oneills can call their price

Not totally true. Many companies have tried to break the market and their failure has been nothing to do with price as they have always been cheaper than O'Neills, it has a lot to do with the end product. When a company can produce a match ball that is as good as O'Neills then their market dominance will be threatened.

[aontroim]

It won't be that long until one of these Pakistani companies finally comes up with a competitor to the O'Neills football (prob also made in Pakistan) and starts flogging it to companies over here.  The explosion in growth of training sliotars in the last couple of years is testament to this - and the quality is getting gradually better.