Are professional sports economically viable in Ireland?

[AZOffaly]

The GAA could go pro but are not willing to go pro. They need more games to make it work. There would have to be a champions league or NFL type system to generate more games. The market is there for it.

Technically, I would say a professional GAA league could work, but only for gaelic football and not for 32 counties. But it wouldnt be the GAA as we know it, and while it may attract a few extra players to stay with gaelic rather than pursue soccer, rugby, aussie rules, etc, its hard to believe it would be a better sport or spectacle, so why would we do it?

In the interests of a Friday hypothesis, I propose this would be the format if gaelic moved professional:



Eastern Conference:
Dublin
Louth-Meath
Laois-Offaly
Wicklow-Kildare

You can f**k off with that hypothesis

[Rossfan]

In the interests of a Friday hypothesis, I propose this would be the format if gaelic moved professional:

Southern Conference:
Kerry
Cork
Clare-Limerick-Tipp
Wexford-Carlow-Waterford-KK

Eastern Conference:
Dublin
Louth-Meath
Laois-Offaly
Wicklow-Kildare

Western Conference:
Galway
Mayo-Sligo
Roscommon-Longford-Westmeath
Donegal-Leitrim

Northern Conference:
Tyrone-Fermanagh
Armagh-Down
Monaghan-Cavan
Derry-Antrim

Galway would be your first casualty as attendances of 1,500 would see them going bankrupt in a few weeks.
Anyway if ...... you'd have 3 teams based in Dublin, 1 in North Leinster, 1 in Midlands, 1 in Kerry, 1 in Cork, 1 in Connacht and maybe 3 in Ulster.

[Donnellys Hollow]

Would betting revenues not be enough to keep horse racing afloat without the subsidies?

No. If we had a proper tote with no bookmakers the game would be entirely self sufficient.

The French have the PMU, fabulous facilities and some of the best racing in the world but the French people have no interest. We have the opposite. A tote which only takes up a small fraction of the market and some crap facilities but a racing mad public.

[Eamonnca1]

... a proper tote with no bookmakers ...

Not sure what you mean by this...

[muppet]

"Anyone who starts choosing European games over their own homegrown teams would want to have a look at themselves. It's our league and it's our country."

By the same token, anyone who wants to watch Bruce Springsteen instead of the second year musical at the local school would want to have a look at themselves. 
It's a free market. If punters aren't interested it's up to the LoI to make them interested.
LoI soccer doesn't have the imagination of the people. That is GAA. And rubby (when they play well) And Man u and Liverpool in selected areas.

The same comment to anyone that goes to the cinema ahead of the local town hall play.

Interesting comment regarding the 3.5 franchises in rugby supported by the national team.

Why do teams like Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland bother entering the Euro champions qualifiers?
Now ask the same question of Ireland and even England?
A local competitive annual or biannual tournament along the lines of the 6N would be far more lucrative surely and the supporters would derive far more from the games rather than the increasingly banal fixtures Platini is offering us. (I would be inclined to keep the World Cup as is.)

Might be time for international soccer to have a look at itself, never mind local soccer supporters.

[Donnellys Hollow]

... a proper tote with no bookmakers ...

Not sure what you mean by this...

The tote run pool betting where a certain percentage (around 16%) of all money bet is reinvested back into racing. Tote betting only makes up a small fraction of the betting market in Ireland. In comparison, the traditional bookmakers only pay a tiny levy on their gross profit which goes back into racing.

Racing could be entirely self sufficient if we had a tote only system like most other countries but the traditional fixed odds bookmakers are too ingrained in the fabric of horse racing in Ireland and Britain for this to ever happen.

[muppet]

"Anyone who starts choosing European games over their own homegrown teams would want to have a look at themselves. It's our league and it's our country."

By the same token, anyone who wants to watch Bruce Springsteen instead of the second year musical at the local school would want to have a look at themselves. 
It's a free market. If punters aren't interested it's up to the LoI to make them interested.
LoI soccer doesn't have the imagination of the people. That is GAA. And rubby (when they play well) And Man u and Liverpool in selected areas.

The same comment to anyone that goes to the cinema ahead of the local town hall play.

Interesting comment regarding the 3.5 franchises in rugby supported by the national team.

Why do teams like Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland bother entering the Euro champions qualifiers?
Now ask the same question of Ireland and even England?
A local competitive annual or biannual tournament along the lines of the 6N would be far more lucrative surely and the supporters would derive far more from the games rather than the increasingly banal fixtures Platini is offering us. (I would be inclined to keep the World Cup as is.)

Might be time for international soccer to have a look at itself, never mind local soccer supporters.

Like the very successful Nations Cup?

Exactly, but pull out of..."the increasingly banal fixtures Platini is offering us"....otherwise it is meaningless.