Time for the GAA, Croke Park in particular, to get innovative !

[Jinxy]

Give home advantage to the team with the highest scoring average.
This means that invariably the stronger teams will get home advantage, but the stronger teams bring less of a crowd so whatever you lose out in terms of travelling support you will gain from the home crowd.
Say if that Monaghan v Cork game was played in Pairc Uí Rinn (although they'd insist on P Uí C) or Clones, you'd get a bigger crowd and a better atmosphere.
I dunno where you could play Kerry and Derry and get a decent crowd to go and watch them.
At this stage, nobody gives a fcuk about winning the leagues so what difference does it make?
The GAA can't be arsed marketing them and managers can't be arsed trying to win them.
And the next manager who demands that his team be let play in Croke Park "because it was built for gaelic games" should be buried up to his neck on the halfway line and left there for a few days.
It devalues Croke Park and it devalues the association to have these glorified training games there.
Croke Park should be used only if the demand is there or for club finals in the various grades and codes.
It's depressing to see the place 3/4 empty for a game.

[Maguire01]

And the next manager who demands that his team be let play in Croke Park "because it was built for gaelic games" should be buried up to his neck on the halfway line and left there for a few days.
It devalues Croke Park and it devalues the association to have these glorified training games there.
Croke Park should be used only if the demand is there or for club finals in the various grades and codes.
It's depressing to see the place 3/4 empty for a game.

You were going ok, up until you tried to justify keeping the club finals in Croker. Surely if you an open HQ for the club finals, you do it for the league final?
If your argument is based on attendance, you have to be consistent.

Anyway, on another note, if they had a proper league set-up, there wouldn't even need to be a final. I've said it before - 3 leagues of 10/11 teams. The team on top at the end of all their games wins the league. No final required.

[Jinxy]

Clun finals are different in that in terms of relative demand, it will be quite high.
As in, everyone associated with that club will want to go to the game and seeing as the clubs are the backbone of the association then I think it is great to give people a day out.
Aside from the senior club finals, they won't be televised anyway.
I deliberately say relative demand as it is quite clear that demand for tickets amongst the participating counties today was quite low in terms of the numbers that COULD have attended it.
I have no problem with club games, cumman na mbunscoil etc. being played in Croke Park.
These have a huge PR and participation level pay-off.
A 3/4 empty stadium for the league finals does nothing to promote our games.
You could have the best game ever on the field and with no fans there it'll still seem funereal.