GAA moneybags and Sean Cavanagh

[seafoid]

https://www.rte.ie/sport/football/2024/0513/1448909-cavanagh-clarifies-gaa-comments-after-burns-riposte/

I haven't pulled out the recent accounts but I remember seeing a couple of years ago 40, 50, 60million of cash reserves and a balance sheet of €100million. I'm an accountant, I know this stuff.

"For an amateur organisation owned by the members, owned by the people that are lining pitches, by people in every club up and down the country, for me that looks like a very healthy position.

"I previously worked with a lot of soccer organisations, a lot of them go bust all the time and haven't got 2p to rub together. For me, the GAA is in a very healthy financial position, they're acquiring lots of strategic assets all over the country.

[Rufus T Firefly]

"I haven't pulled out the recent accounts but I remember seeing a couple of years ago 40, 50, 60million of cash reserves and a balance sheet of €100million. I'm an accountant, I know this stuff.

"For an amateur organisation owned by the members, owned by the people that are lining pitches, by people in every club up and down the country, for me that looks like a very healthy position."

"I previously worked with a lot of soccer organisations, a lot of them go bust all the time and haven't got 2p to rub together. For me, the GAA is in a very healthy financial position, they're acquiring lots of strategic assets all over the country.

All of these comments are still not consistent with his initial statement in which he said, "the GAA is one of the richest organisations in the world."

Furthermore, Burns' comments - if I recall correctly - talked about a turnover in the region of 140 million Euro, and a context in which the GAA will be expected to contribute somewhere in the region of 500 million Euro in the coming years to a range of major GAA projects across the country.

I don't think Cavanagh's response does much to justify his initial comments, nor rebuff Burns' criticism.

[Pub Bore]

Cavanagh was a great footballer and is a poor pundit.  His tendency to try to be controversial has come back to bite him here.  Burns has him bang to rights. That noise you can hear is him backpedalling.

[imtommygunn]

It's not that he's a poor pundit - it's that he comes across as a dick. There's always an agenda or a dig. At least if other ones are poor at punditry they come across as decent enough sorts. He doesn't sell himself as either. Be better off without him.

[Milltown Row2]

Maybe he was saying that the GAA is in a good position (financially) and talk of using streaming services such as GAAGO is not really a big revenue builder?

What are the figures on money brought in by GAAGO?

A lot of people will use a stick to watch GAAGO, so a lot of money being lost there, would promoting it more via the networks TG4 (who have been a winter lifeline) and RTE give the GAA more revenue through raised numbers in GAA membership and whatever add on that brings.

As for saying that we only used to see one or two games a week back in the day, that horse has bolted a long time ago, the premier league in soccer people were saying its more diluted with the amount of games they show, but I'd say figures for interest worldwide for soccer and the premier league gets bigger. 

[imtommygunn]

TG4 most likely doesn't have the money though.

[tyrone08]

Sean said he missed the word amateur as in they are a very rich amateur group.

Burns is turning into a politician. Of course they gaa are rich, whatever the offical figure is they are far richer.

Where do you think all the money comes from for brown envelopes

[bennydorano]

A point I've made about GAAGO a few times is that, to me, it 100% seems like a staging post on the route to semi-pro. Once it gets really established costs will further recede and profits increase. I've no doubt Sean K looks at GAA financial figures through his previous GPA head - how long before we hear 'GAAGO made €Xm this year and the players who are the product get nothing'  only a matter of time imo.

[JoG2]

Sean said he missed the word amateur as in they are a very rich amateur group.

Burns is turning into a politician. Of course they gaa are rich, whatever the offical figure is they are far richer.

Where do you think all the money comes from for brown envelopes

This makes zero sense. Have to seen the turnover figures and the amijbt that is required in the next while?

What brown envelopes to to who are you talking about?

[lfdown2]

A point I've made about GAAGO a few times is that, to me, it 100% seems like a staging post on the route to semi-pro GAA. Once it gets really established costs will further recede and profits increase. I've no doubt Sean K looks at GAA financial figures throough his previous GPA head - how long before we hear 'GAAGO made €Xm this year and the players who are the product get nothing'  only a matter of time imo.

How is that different than 'the GAA got €Xm from Sky/RTE/TG4 this year...'

I don't necessarily understand the point here (not specifically yours Benny), is it that all games should be available free to air all the time? Or just all the good games? Who should pay for this? Should funds be diverted from capital projects so that people can sit at home with a bowl of crisp and crack open a beer to watch the games?

And Sean Cavanagh has just been completely embarrassed with his hyperbolic statement being called out, I teel you what, based on his handle on numbers I wouldn't be wanting to drop a set of company accounts in to him.

[tyrone08]

Sean said he missed the word amateur as in they are a very rich amateur group.

Burns is turning into a politician. Of course they gaa are rich, whatever the offical figure is they are far richer.

Where do you think all the money comes from for brown envelopes

This makes zero sense. Have to seen the turnover figures and the amijbt that is required in the next while?

What brown envelopes to to who are you talking about?

The point is for an amateur organization to have cash reserves of tens of millions of pounds they can hardly call themselves poor.

If they care about raising revenue then wouldnt it be easier to drop the ticket prices a bit to encourage more attendance.

The brown envelopes are the payements made to every manager in the gaa, these arent exactly going through the books now are they.

I actually dont have an issue with paying for some games but for Burns to come out and justify it by saying we need the money while having large cash reserves is just wrong.

[imtommygunn]

The brown envelope thing is on clubs though.

The GAA are not a poor organisation however there are significant overheads as Burns is pointing to so they continually need to be on the ball with generating revenue etc.

[JoG2]

Sean said he missed the word amateur as in they are a very rich amateur group.

Burns is turning into a politician. Of course they gaa are rich, whatever the offical figure is they are far richer.

Where do you think all the money comes from for brown envelopes

This makes zero sense. Have to seen the turnover figures and the amijbt that is required in the next while?

What brown envelopes to to who are you talking about?

The point is for an amateur organization to have cash reserves of tens of millions of pounds they can hardly call themselves poor.

If they care about raising revenue then wouldnt it be easier to drop the ticket prices a bit to encourage more attendance.

The brown envelopes are the payements made to every manager in the gaa, these arent exactly going through the books now are they.

I actually dont have an issue with paying for some games but for Burns to come out and justify it by saying we need the money while having large cash reserves is just wrong.

Surely they have to have cash reserves when they multiple projects to plan for annually?

The GAA has just offered €25 euro off when buying the Qualifier package...hopefully only the start (they really need to make the season ticket more attractive)

Brown envelopes within clubs, how is this relevant? That's between clubs and whoever fills those brown envelopes.. That's a discussion to be had but surely not relevant here?

[lfdown2]

Sean said he missed the word amateur as in they are a very rich amateur group.

Burns is turning into a politician. Of course they gaa are rich, whatever the offical figure is they are far richer.

Where do you think all the money comes from for brown envelopes

This makes zero sense. Have to seen the turnover figures and the amijbt that is required in the next while?

What brown envelopes to to who are you talking about?

The point is for an amateur organization to have cash reserves of tens of millions of pounds they can hardly call themselves poor.

If they care about raising revenue then wouldnt it be easier to drop the ticket prices a bit to encourage more attendance.

The brown envelopes are the payements made to every manager in the gaa, these arent exactly going through the books now are they.

I actually dont have an issue with paying for some games but for Burns to come out and justify it by saying we need the money while having large cash reserves is just wrong.

But surely its all relative, while (as far as I can see) at the end of 2023 there was 'cash' of circa €45,000,000 there are proposal capital projects of circa €500,000,000 in the coming years (if Burns is to be believed), as such having cash in the bank is irrelevant.

As intommygunn say, the brown envelope issue is a local issue and unfoirtunately all (or 99%) of our clubs (assuming most of us are members) are involved.

[bennydorano]

A point I've made about GAAGO a few times is that, to me, it 100% seems like a staging post on the route to semi-pro GAA. Once it gets really established costs will further recede and profits increase. I've no doubt Sean K looks at GAA financial figures throough his previous GPA head - how long before we hear 'GAAGO made €Xm this year and the players who are the product get nothing'  only a matter of time imo.

How is that different than 'the GAA got €Xm from Sky/RTE/TG4 this year...'

I don't necessarily understand the point here (not specifically yours Benny), is it that all games should be available free to air all the time? Or just all the good games? Who should pay for this? Should funds be diverted from capital projects so that people can sit at home with a bowl of crisp and crack open a beer to watch the games?

And Sean Cavanagh has just been completely embarrassed with his hyperbolic statement being called out, I teel you what, based on his handle on numbers I wouldn't be wanting to drop a set of company accounts in to him.

Should be considerably more money generated by having no middle man operator, which should only increase with getting better established / growth and after the initial costs subside.