Anyone?
Can anybody recommend any good reading on this topic?
Is anything economically viable in Ireland these days?
Okay, assuming a strong economy then.
Not really . The population base is too small.
Rugby works but only because it's a very small pool of paid players and part of an international grouping where other countries effectively provide much of the funding.
A professional soccer "franchise" based in Dublin would work obviously assuming they were in the EPL.
How is professional sport in Norway, for example ?
no sport economically viable in Ireland if solely reliant on the Irish economy and not receiving finance from overseas international boards etc.
the league of Ireland just about keeps its head above water and every so often a club will go under and require financial help - Derry City (numerous times), sham rovers, Bohs, Dudalk, Drogheda etc etc
so I would say - no. No to the extent where all players could call it a full time career.
I don't think so. The GAA only works to attract such a high standard and big boxoffices due to the fact that players play for free (more or less) therefore reducing costs to the organisation. The lack of international competition for home developed players. The unique community/cultural aspects of the GAA. The volunteering nature of the GAA cuts back hugely on development, training, logistics costs etc.
Rugby Union only works in Ireland to an element of community involement (on a much less comprehensive level to the GAA). It also works by pooling our league resources with Scotland, Wales and Italy. Australia and NZ do similar in Rubgy Union. Canada and the United States pool Ice-hockey. Canada gains from huge American resources, America benefits from top level teams from Canada rasing standards.
In Soccer countries Such as Monaco has a team in France, Wales has one and probably soon to be two teams in the English Premier League.
Quote from: Eamonnca1 on March 06, 2013, 11:43:28 PM
Anyone?
Can anybody recommend any good reading on this topic?
On an Ireland only basis then no imo. Gate receipts and target market for merchandise/TV rights would be too small to sustain the many costs of running a professional field based sport (mortgages and interest repayments, wages for players and support staff, transport, public liability and other insurances, upkeep of grounds and buildings etc.
Quote from: Eamonnca1 on March 06, 2013, 11:43:28 PM
Anyone?
Can anybody recommend any good reading on this topic?
I can give you something to read on countries hosting world wide sporting events. I might have something on professional sports
Quote from: seafoid on March 07, 2013, 09:26:18 AM
How is professional sport in Norway, for example ?
They've got oil.....and lots of it.
Quote from: ballinaman on March 07, 2013, 01:14:59 PM
Quote from: seafoid on March 07, 2013, 09:26:18 AM
How is professional sport in Norway, for example ?
They've got oil.....and lots of it.
We have gas/oil but we gave it away.
So the GAA made a million a week this year profit, is it possible to be economical to have professional GAA players now?
Quote from: Milltown Row2 on March 07, 2013, 01:40:03 PM
So the GAA made a million a week this year profit, is it possible to be economical to have professional GAA players now?
Revenue (http://www.irishexaminer.com/archives/2013/0307/ireland/gaa-coffers-boosted-by-hurling-gate-receipts-224733.html) was one million euro a week. I see RTÉ have a headline calling it profit (the link is dead) but it's wrong. The operating profit was €8.99m which would buy you maybe half a Messi (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/dec/18/lionel-messi-new-contract-barcelona-2018), although I bet he wouldn't be much cop on wet Sunday afternoon in Blaney.
Amateur sport is hardly viable never mind professional sports.
As has been proven in recent years, Ireland itself isn't economically viable.
Can we not say yes based on the relative success and stability of 3 Irish rugby provinces. It struggles to accommodate a 4th but can Ireland not be said to be supporting 3 teams, venues, administration staff and academies in Ireland?
No!
The answer is obviously yes. There are 4 professional rugby teams on the island. Numerous professional athletes. Granted many of them are hardly making fortunes but they are professionals in their sports.
You have to have an element of international competition though to fund it. The domestic market in itself isn't large enough.
Horse racing seems to be economically viable
Quote from: Dougal Maguire on March 07, 2013, 10:52:10 PM
Horse racing seems to be economically viable
It could be but it's not at the moment. The game is propped up by government subsidies.
Would betting revenues not be enough to keep horse racing afloat without the subsidies?
QuoteIt could be but it's not at the moment. The game is propped up by government subsidies.
That's a topic that nearly deserves its own thread as well
Obviously professional rugby is viable due to the provincial system and centralised contracts. Soccer is a different animal as there are so many other factors the main one being that 99% of Irish soccer fans support British teams. No club in Ireland pulls in 5% of the local population to watch them. To pay a team of full timers you'd need an average attendance of 5,000 and no club gets that.
Quote from: OakleafCounty on March 08, 2013, 08:46:31 AM
Obviously professional rugby is viable due to the provincial system and centralised contracts. Soccer is a different animal as there are so many other factors the main one being that 99% of Irish soccer fans support British teams. No club in Ireland pulls in 5% of the local population to watch them. To pay a team of full timers you'd need an average attendance of 5,000 and no club gets that.
You got that right. I wonder how much money is spent by people travelling across the water for Old Firm games, and compare that to the money lifted at the gate in Irish soccer. That's before we even get started on the ones that support Man U and Liverpool and what have you.
An example of the poor attendances in the Airtricity League after the Euro's last Season.
The new Season starts tonight and I think it will be decent, Limerick are playing in Thomand Park this season after promotion last season.
Airtricity League: Will we ever learn the lessons of Gdansk and Gortakeegan?
"If we ever want to win more than the party, we have to truly value what's on our doorstep," writes Niall Kelly in this week's Airtricity League column.
22/06/12883 Views 3 Comments
Share13 Tweet10 Email1
Local heroes: Drogheda fans roar on their side from the United Park terraces.
Image: ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy
AS IRELAND'S EURO 2012 adventure limped to an end against Italy on Monday night, the 30,000-strong green legion — "the best fans in the world" — knocked back the last of the Poznan beer and readied themselves for the journey home.
Where to now, lads?
For most, the answer is unlikely to be one of the country's Airtricity League grounds. When the 2012 season kicked off back in March, the combined attendance for all Premier Division and First Division games stood at just over 12,500. Something doesn't quite add up.
Domestic football's many trials and tribulations are no secret but the bleak reality was hammered home again on Monday when, as Europe fawned over Trap's Army, Monaghan United announced their decision to withdraw from the league for financial reasons.
The timing was not lost on those who love the League of Ireland and once more unto the breach, they dusted off and took up their cross to begin another stirring, passionate defense.
On Tuesday, an open letter written by Catherine O'Mahony landed in TheScore's inbox. After thanking the Irish fans "for doing the country proud off the pitch in Poland in the absence of pride on it," it continued:
Sadly, Ireland are out and I'm sure you'll all be returning home tired and hungover. But you'll still have that buzz, that feeling of belonging. That sense of collective identity and excitement that only live football can bring. There is live football happening every week in your national league and it desperately needs your support.
Shelbourne winger Paddy Kavanagh didn't mince his words when asked if crowd numbers at last night's Dublin derby might suffer because of a clash with Portugal and the Czech Republic's Euro 2012 quarter-final.
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.
The quality of games in the league is always improving and this year it's better again. Why not come out and watch and support them and have a great night instead of sitting in front of a TV listening to some clown talking crap about foreign players?
It should be possible, though, to have a constructive discussion about the League of Ireland without it descending into some pseudo-nationalist debate between Irish patriots and West Brit barstoolers. Trying to ram the league down reluctant throats will never work. It's human nature to rebel against a sense of obligation, not least when that obligation is going to lead you to a wet and windy terrace for a game that you're not that interested in.
For fans, the frustration mounts when the domestic game is dismissed as "shite" out of hand, often by people who would close the curtains if there was Airtricity League match on in their front garden: "Why would I watch that muck when I can sit in on a Saturday night and watch Xavi and Iniesta?"
For all of the league's faults — and God knows that's no short list — nothing will ever get better without support. Not the standard, not the grounds, not the facilities, nothing. And in this day and age, the most basic and direct means of support is with bums on seats.
It shouldn't be a chore. Why would it be? After all, 30,000 spared no expense to trek to Poland and cheer on a rather average group of players who were prepared to live and die by the honesty and intensity of their effort.
The dual blows of Gdansk and Gortakeegan are more closely linked than many care to admit. It's only one small part of a big picture but if we ever want to make something of ourselves on the international stage — if we ever want to win more than the party — we have to truly value what's on our doorstep.
Quote from: rodney trotter on March 08, 2013, 10:10:33 AM
An example of the poor attendances in the Airtricity League after the Euro's last Season.
The new Season starts tonight and I think it will be decent, Limerick are playing in Thomand Park this season after promotion last season.
Airtricity League: Will we ever learn the lessons of Gdansk and Gortakeegan?
"If we ever want to win more than the party, we have to truly value what's on our doorstep," writes Niall Kelly in this week's Airtricity League column.
22/06/12883 Views 3 Comments
Share13 Tweet10 Email1
Local heroes: Drogheda fans roar on their side from the United Park terraces.
Image: ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy
AS IRELAND'S EURO 2012 adventure limped to an end against Italy on Monday night, the 30,000-strong green legion — "the best fans in the world" — knocked back the last of the Poznan beer and readied themselves for the journey home.
Where to now, lads?
For most, the answer is unlikely to be one of the country's Airtricity League grounds. When the 2012 season kicked off back in March, the combined attendance for all Premier Division and First Division games stood at just over 12,500. Something doesn't quite add up.
Domestic football's many trials and tribulations are no secret but the bleak reality was hammered home again on Monday when, as Europe fawned over Trap's Army, Monaghan United announced their decision to withdraw from the league for financial reasons.
The timing was not lost on those who love the League of Ireland and once more unto the breach, they dusted off and took up their cross to begin another stirring, passionate defense.
On Tuesday, an open letter written by Catherine O'Mahony landed in TheScore's inbox. After thanking the Irish fans "for doing the country proud off the pitch in Poland in the absence of pride on it," it continued:
Sadly, Ireland are out and I'm sure you'll all be returning home tired and hungover. But you'll still have that buzz, that feeling of belonging. That sense of collective identity and excitement that only live football can bring. There is live football happening every week in your national league and it desperately needs your support.
Shelbourne winger Paddy Kavanagh didn't mince his words when asked if crowd numbers at last night's Dublin derby might suffer because of a clash with Portugal and the Czech Republic's Euro 2012 quarter-final.
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.
The quality of games in the league is always improving and this year it's better again. Why not come out and watch and support them and have a great night instead of sitting in front of a TV listening to some clown talking crap about foreign players?
It should be possible, though, to have a constructive discussion about the League of Ireland without it descending into some pseudo-nationalist debate between Irish patriots and West Brit barstoolers. Trying to ram the league down reluctant throats will never work. It's human nature to rebel against a sense of obligation, not least when that obligation is going to lead you to a wet and windy terrace for a game that you're not that interested in.
For fans, the frustration mounts when the domestic game is dismissed as "shite" out of hand, often by people who would close the curtains if there was Airtricity League match on in their front garden: "Why would I watch that muck when I can sit in on a Saturday night and watch Xavi and Iniesta?"
For all of the league's faults — and God knows that's no short list — nothing will ever get better without support. Not the standard, not the grounds, not the facilities, nothing. And in this day and age, the most basic and direct means of support is with bums on seats.
It shouldn't be a chore. Why would it be? After all, 30,000 spared no expense to trek to Poland and cheer on a rather average group of players who were prepared to live and die by the honesty and intensity of their effort.
The dual blows of Gdansk and Gortakeegan are more closely linked than many care to admit. It's only one small part of a big picture but if we ever want to make something of ourselves on the international stage — if we ever want to win more than the party — we have to truly value what's on our doorstep.
Great article. "Best fans in the world".
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.
Quote from: Dougal Maguire on March 07, 2013, 10:52:10 PM
Horse racing seems to be economically viable
Not for me!! ???
"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.
Quote from: Capt Pat on March 08, 2013, 01:05:34 PM
The GAA could go pro but are not willing to go pro. . The market is there for it.
The market is not there for a long series of games between say 12 fully pro teams made up of players from all over the place and no real International competition or tournaments to take part in.
You'd be lucky to average 6,000 per game until the inevitable string of end of season play offs.
You'd need at leaast 25 players plus 5 or 6 management/coaching plus hired expertise not to mention grounds rental, travel, insurance etc etc. - about €5m to run a team for a year.
Quote from: Capt Pat on March 08, 2013, 01:05:34 PM
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:
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
A regular season of 18 matches. You play every team once, but teams in your own conference twice. Top team in each conference gets into the quarter-finals along with the 4 other teams with the best records (some conferences may have more than two in the QFs).
As its a professional sport now, there has to be some element of a transfer system, but strictly regulated to stop everyone wanting to play for the Wicklow-Kildare Moneybags! Teams who haven't qualfied for the quarter-finals are entitled to take up to a total of 3 players each year from other counties, subject to 3 conditions - the player must agree, the player must be over 23 and the player must have played less than 8 times the previous season for his home county/region.
Sold?
I doubt it!
Even anyone thinking the GAA could go pro is very sadly deluded. It can't work on any level.
Australian Rules is the obvious model for any professional football setup. Does anyone how their catchment areas work? There seem to be a half-dozen clubs in Melbourne. Do they all draw from the same fan base?
Victoria was historically their strong hold.
I presume there's a huge population in Melbourne and Victoria is as far as I know the most populous State.
Quote from: Rossfan on March 08, 2013, 02:12:54 PM
Victoria was historically their strong hold.
I presume there's a huge population in Melbourne and Victoria is as far as I know the most populous State.
I mean, what distinguishes an Essendon fan from a Hawthorn fan.
Quote from: deiseach on March 08, 2013, 02:19:42 PM
Quote from: Rossfan on March 08, 2013, 02:12:54 PM
Victoria was historically their strong hold.
I presume there's a huge population in Melbourne and Victoria is as far as I know the most populous State.
I mean, what distinguishes an Essendon fan from a Hawthorn fan.
Geography by and large is what I gathered when I asked the same question when I was in Melbourne a few years ago.
Quote from: Bingo on March 08, 2013, 02:02:19 PM
Even anyone thinking the GAA could go pro is very sadly deluded. It can't work on any level.
Professional GAA would be a pain in the arse. You'd never EVER have the likes of Tyrone winning.
Cavan would be guaranteed to NEVER win anything. Same with Ros and all the other counties with bad land.
And that would be shite.
I think the champions league shows how rotten professional sports are in terms of variety . There hasn't been a team from Eastern Europe in a CL final for over 2 decades. It is all about money, more or less.
Quote from: Hound on March 08, 2013, 01:55:15 PM
Quote from: Capt Pat on March 08, 2013, 01:05:34 PM
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:
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
A regular season of 18 matches. You play every team once, but teams in your own conference twice. Top team in each conference gets into the quarter-finals along with the 4 other teams with the best records (some conferences may have more than two in the QFs).
As its a professional sport now, there has to be some element of a transfer system, but strictly regulated to stop everyone wanting to play for the Wicklow-Kildare Moneybags! Teams who haven't qualfied for the quarter-finals are entitled to take up to a total of 3 players each year from other counties, subject to 3 conditions - the player must agree, the player must be over 23 and the player must have played less than 8 times the previous season for his home county/region.
Sold?
I doubt it!
It will never happen but if there was to one County for Georgraphical reasons moved from Ulster it wouldn't be Donegal. Obviously its on the West Coast, but its nowhere near the likes of Longford or Westmeath ,which Cavan is.
Quote from: Hound on March 08, 2013, 01:55:15 PM
Southern Conference:
Kerry
Cork
Clare-Limerick-Tipp
Wexford-Carlow-Waterford-KK
Why should Kilkenny get to piggyback on the blood sweat and tears we shed for football?
Rugby supports 3.5 professional franchises, though much of this is funded by the international game.
In theory, given their strength, soccer and the GAA could each support 10-12 professional franchises. The big IF would be.
1) If the tens of millions of euro that leave the economy every year filling the coffers of the English game could be diverted into the Irish game.
2) If GAA fans actually supported the new GAA franchises and attended at the same rates.
Neither if the above is ever likely to happen.
Quote from: Bord na Mona man on March 08, 2013, 03:55:22 PM
Rugby supports 3.5 professional franchises, though much of this is funded by the international game.
In theory, given their strength, soccer and the GAA could each support 10-12 professional franchises. The big IF would be.
1) If the tens of millions of euro that leave the economy every year filling the coffers of the English game could be diverted into the Irish game.
2) If GAA fans actually supported the new GAA franchises and attended at the same rates.
Neither if the above is ever likely to happen.
I think you need 30m people or more to get regular attendances above 40K at pro sports league matches.
Quote from: ballinaman on March 08, 2013, 02:21:48 PM
Quote from: deiseach on March 08, 2013, 02:19:42 PM
Quote from: Rossfan on March 08, 2013, 02:12:54 PM
Victoria was historically their strong hold.
I presume there's a huge population in Melbourne and Victoria is as far as I know the most populous State.
I mean, what distinguishes an Essendon fan from a Hawthorn fan.
Geography by and large is what I gathered when I asked the same question when I was in Melbourne a few years ago.
To a degree yes. AFL clubs in Melbourne can also have an ethnic/ socio economic element to them or so I am told
Melbourne ............. WASPS/ Old money
Collingwood/ Richmond/ Nth Melbourne............... Irish/Catholic
Carlton................. Italian
Essendon/Hawthorn.......... Protestant
Not really relevant anymore I suppose but was told that it lingers on still a small bit.
Important to point out from what I saw anyway that AFL was the only gig in town in Victoria with no soccer , rugby etc support to contend with.
Quote from: seafoid on March 08, 2013, 03:57:00 PM
Quote from: Bord na Mona man on March 08, 2013, 03:55:22 PM
Rugby supports 3.5 professional franchises, though much of this is funded by the international game.
In theory, given their strength, soccer and the GAA could each support 10-12 professional franchises. The big IF would be.
1) If the tens of millions of euro that leave the economy every year filling the coffers of the English game could be diverted into the Irish game.
2) If GAA fans actually supported the new GAA franchises and attended at the same rates.
Neither if the above is ever likely to happen.
I think you need 30m people or more to get regular attendances above 40K at pro sports league matches.
You don't necessarily need to be getting 40k attendances to fund a pro-team though.
Say it costs roughly 500k to prepare a decent GAA county team.
Pool 3 counties together into a franchise. The number of players being trained stays the same, so the overheads don't treble.
If the money raising powers of the counties remained the same (unlikely, but let's pretend), then the leftover pot (say €1 million) would be what pays the players wages.
Some rationalisation would take place afterwards to increase profit. More games to bring in more revenue. Firing any non-playing paid coaches and replacing them with your county players. And so on.
It would be cut throat if the public actually went along with it!
Quote from: Hound on March 08, 2013, 01:55:15 PM
Quote from: Capt Pat on March 08, 2013, 01:05:34 PM
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 :D
Quote from: Hound on March 08, 2013, 01:55:15 PM
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.
Quote from: Eamonnca1 on March 08, 2013, 01:00:48 AM
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.
Quote from: Donnellys Hollow on March 08, 2013, 06:16:05 PM
... a proper tote with no bookmakers ...
Not sure what you mean by this...
Quote from: seafoid on March 08, 2013, 01:41:36 PM
"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.
Quote from: Eamonnca1 on March 08, 2013, 07:14:40 PM
Quote from: Donnellys Hollow on March 08, 2013, 06:16:05 PM
... 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.
Quote from: AFS on March 08, 2013, 08:38:25 PM
Quote from: muppet on March 08, 2013, 08:18:00 PM
Quote from: seafoid on March 08, 2013, 01:41:36 PM
"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 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nations_Cup_%28football%29)?
Exactly, but pull out of..."the increasingly banal fixtures Platini is offering us"....otherwise it is meaningless.