Shockingly poor attendance. Pricing and fixture build up have to be looked at. Not many can afford to pay those prices week after week, especially if trying to bring your family. Travel cost on top of it all too.
To be honest, I think the week after week thing is a bit of a red herring. Most people who went to the Super 8 games also went to the Semi FInal, these are relatively hardcore fans. Increased attendance at semi-finals comes from people who don't go to every county game, which brings in family members of regulars, people who attend club games, those who watch on TV and a lot of neutrals and people tenuously connected with the county. I think the poor visual quality of many games and the lack of competition is the real killer.
Costs of travel etc are no more than ever they were. As the hurling shows, if the product is good and the results unpredictable then people will turn out for the games.
Bingo. Hardcore GAA support is modest enough. It's the neutrals and the bandwagon that fill grounds.
The shite looking football has turned off the neutrals.
And the inevitability of Dublin has killed the bandwagon in almost all counties (except Mayo it seems - they're weird).
This year's final has the novelty of the 'drive for five' and will sell out. People should worry about what happens next, though. There's the very real likelihood of Dublin winning 7 and 8 in a half full stadium. That'll be the death of intercounty football, if it's allowed to happen as if everything is grand.
