How many times a year would the Dubs fill Croke Park ?

orangeman · August 05, 2008, 01:29:45 PM

Given the huge demand for tickets to any Dublin championship fixture in Croke Park, how many times do you think in each calendar year, would the Dubs fill the stadium ?.

Can we expect a change in the structure of the championship so that there are more Dublin home matches played for example on a premier league basis ??

Someone in HQ is bound to have considered that it makes good economic sense to have more Dublin championship type games at Croke Park ?

full back · August 05, 2008, 01:32:19 PM

Quote from: orangeman on August 05, 2008, 01:29:45 PM

Can we expect a change in the structure of the championship so that there are more Dublin home matches played for example on a premier league basis ??

Has someone hacked into your account

What a f**king ludicrous suggestion, I know sometimes you are off the mark but WTF?

Zapatista · August 05, 2008, 01:32:52 PM

Quote from: orangeman on August 05, 2008, 01:29:45 PM
Given the huge demand for tickets to any Dublin championship fixture in Croke Park, how many times do you think in each calendar year, would the Dubs fill the stadium ?.

Can we expect a change in the structure of the championship so that there are more Dublin home matches played for example on a premier league basis ??

Someone in HQ is bound to have considered that it makes good economic sense to have more Dublin championship type games at Croke Park ?

Home matches? If they can fill Croke Park it would prob make more sense to play there rather than Parnell park

corn02 · August 05, 2008, 01:34:56 PM

Despite what Tankie says , they could fill Croker four times a year -not the six he will claim. Still an excellent figure.

Hound · August 05, 2008, 02:15:32 PM

Taking "full" as being 60,000 plus, I would say up to 13.

You'd need to abolish the current structures and pick the best 12 teams in the country to go into the Premier Division (with the remainder going into a secondary competition with 2 or 3 promotion places)

All Dublin's games in Croke Park, played say every two or three weeks from March to August. Have a season ticket option so you'd get 11 games for the price of 9 or something. Perhaps put another of the games on with it each time to guarantee 70,000+, but if marketed correctly I think you could get 80,000. Top 4 in the 12 team league contest the semis and the winner takes home Sam.

I'm not for one moment suggesting this replaces the current structure, just answering orangeman's question with a view to maximising gate receipts.

orangeman · August 05, 2008, 02:17:43 PM

Quote from: Hound on August 05, 2008, 02:15:32 PM
Taking "full" as being 60,000 plus, I would say up to 13.

You'd need to abolish the current structures and pick the best 12 teams in the country to go into the Premier Division (with the remainder going into a secondary competition with 2 or 3 promotion places)

All Dublin's games in Croke Park, played say every two or three weeks from March to August. Have a season ticket option so you'd get 11 games for the price of 9 or something. Perhaps put another of the games on with it each time to guarantee 70,000+, but if marketed correctly I think you could get 80,000. Top 4 in the 12 team league contest the semis and the winner takes home Sam.

I'm not for one moment suggesting this replaces the current structure, just answering orangeman's question with a view to maximising gate receipts.

I honestly think that this is what some in HQ are thinking about.

Then will come the "World Series" !!

Tankie · August 05, 2008, 03:07:07 PM

Quote from: corn02 on August 05, 2008, 01:34:56 PM
Despite what Tankie says , they could fill Croker four times a year -not the six he will claim. Still an excellent figure.

You really have to consider what full is, is it 80k Dubs or 60 -70k Dubs? the attendances in the Leinster this year for Dublin have been great when you consider how little fans the opposition would bring for the 1st round of Leinster. If Dublin got to an AI Final this year with no replays you are looking at 6 full houses.

The interest is there for top class football but the league at the moment is not near top class is is more of a pre season training event for most teams and that is why there is so little interest in most counties!

feetofflames · August 05, 2008, 03:31:01 PM

I think the dubns should be playing in Croke Park on Wednesday and Friday nights and Sundays. I wiould be hugely in favour of a brand new format in the GAA with small pools of games ensuring championship progress and knock out elements at the latter stages but say a 3 game league for seeding to a quarter final stage and championship knock out from then on with the bottmo 2 clubbs in the group stages being seede for a lucrative version of the Tommy Murphy. I would personally abandon Saturday games and play more night games even on Wednedays Thursdays and Fridays as it might free up more time for the Clubs at the weekends. What is the point in floodlights if they are only going to play league games under them yet during championship time when there is so much congestion they stay switched off.

his holiness nb · August 05, 2008, 03:34:19 PM

If there were the same amount of games as the premier league theres no way the Dubs would fill croke park that often. No county would draw championship level numbers that often. Between club commitments, family commitments and financial constraints, it just couldnt and wouldnt happen.

Its hard enough balancing day to day life family with club life and squeezing in the championship games during the summer. We all need a rest after september!!

feetofflames · August 05, 2008, 03:40:20 PM

Sure yes normaly start resting in early august.

his holiness nb · August 05, 2008, 03:51:55 PM

Quote from: feetofflames on August 05, 2008, 03:40:20 PM
Sure yes normaly start resting in early august.

Bastard!

Tankie · August 05, 2008, 04:07:31 PM

we have to remember that ou players are not paid so mid week games or 18 + games in a year would probably also be out of the question.

I think the champship should be around 12 games for a winner. when you think that most season Kerry would play 6 games to win an AI and in Leinster maybe 6games it is a short enough season for our premium competition. There are more games in the league and that is not taken one bit serious by most teams.

The GAA really needs to decide what they expect from the chamionship, is it high profile games for a few months a year on a league and then knock out basis or to stick with the old provincial championships which are quite stale at this stage!

his holiness nb · August 05, 2008, 04:23:53 PM

Quote from: Tankie on August 05, 2008, 04:07:31 PM
the old provincial championships which are quite stale at this stage!

Tankie, thats your opinion, not fact.
Theres been great games and shocks in every provincial championship this year. The only province with a clear favourite who won handy enough was Leinster, all others were quite competitive.
And even Leinster provided some great shocks and good entertainment (Wicklow v Kildare, Wexford v Meath etc).

Even in Munster which people say is a farce, Kerry didnt win it, and Cork who did had to stage a dramatic comeback in Limerick to even make the final. Galway and Mayo was close in connaught and there were several tight games in Ulster.

Leave it alone. Its a beautiful championship as it is.

orangeman · August 05, 2008, 04:27:23 PM

Quote from: Tankie on August 05, 2008, 04:07:31 PM
we have to remember that ou players are not paid so mid week games or 18 + games in a year would probably also be out of the question.

I think the champship should be around 12 games for a winner. when you think that most season Kerry would play 6 games to win an AI and in Leinster maybe 6games it is a short enough season for our premium competition. There are more games in the league and that is not taken one bit serious by most teams.

The GAA really needs to decide what they expect from the chamionship, is it high profile games for a few months a year on a league and then knock out basis or to stick with the old provincial championships which are quite stale at this stage!

I think that this is being very closely lookad at presently. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the championship as we know it disappears in the next 5 years, replaced by a premier league type competition.

Hound · August 05, 2008, 04:46:44 PM

Quote from: his holiness nb on August 05, 2008, 03:34:19 PM
If there were the same amount of games as the premier league theres no way the Dubs would fill croke park that often. No county would draw championship level numbers that often. Between club commitments, family commitments and financial constraints, it just couldnt and wouldnt happen.

Okay not 80,000 - but I think 50,000 a week (if you had say 15 home games) wouldnt be outrageuos. It would have to be marketed properly of course. But if you compare to England, the likes of Sunderland and Newcastle people would certainly have no more disposable income than Dubs, yet they sell out every home game, with little or no success to show for it. Liverpool and Manchester both have two ciity teams who almost always sell out, and two of those teams win diddly. There is the one difference that in the north of England, soccer is first and no other sport really competes - rugby league being a very distant second, but the Dublin intercounty football team is by far and away (and more) the most popular team of any sport in Dublin.

It is a resource that could be tapped more. On the corollary if the county was split or started to be really shíte, GAA attendances in total could dramatically reduce. Imagine the lost revenue if the footballers only got the same support as the hurlers. Of course, the opposite is also true if the hurlers could get a bit of success...