Financial pressure could see sale of naming rights to Semple Stadium

By Shane Brophy

Semple Stadium is becoming a drain on the financial resources of Tipperary County Board, according to the stadiums chairperson Con Hogan and could lead to the naming rights of the stadium being sold.

For the first time this year, the County Board had to provide funding of €50,000 to the Field of Legends as the stadium earned little or no income for the past twelve months due to the coronavirus, despite it being heavily used in the club and inter-county championship, requiring continued maintenance.

“Last year and this year, Semple Stadium is starting to become a drain on county financial resources,” Hogan said at county convention.

“Up to last year we were always able to wash our own faces and generate enough income to run the stadium. It costs around half a million euro a year to run the stadium. The costs of maintaining an old stadium are just enormous. It is an old stadium and when it had no maintenance this year for six months due to the lockdown it would just shock you how much it deteriorated.”

In the most recent accounts of the stadiums management company, Thurles Gaelic Sportsfield Society Ltd to the end of 2019 recorded a deficit of €316,000, with 2018 having a deficit of €107,799, despite the stadium hosting Munster & Leinster hurling finals as well as an All-Ireland semi-final replay.

Con Hogan said a new funding model needs to be found for the stadium to ensure it is not overlooked for big games into the future.

“Back in 2000, the Horgan Report recommended Semple Stadium be designated as Ireland’s number two pitch. That happened for a while but that has faded into the background,” he added.

“We are not getting enough matches to sustain the pitch. If you don’t get matches, you don’t get the rental income and you don’t get commercial income. It is a real problem and one we have to face.”

One of those new income streams could be from selling naming rights to Semple Stadium, with county secretary Tim Floyd in his report saying naming rights “have got to be a priority in the year ahead.”

To that end, Hogan endorsed the appointment of Liam O’Shea as a new Commercial Advisor to Tipperary County Board, with one of his remits to deal with issues relating to Semple Stadium, as well as the development of a first all-weather pitch in the county at LIT Thurles with Tipperary GAA committed to investing €600,000 to the project so as to become an anchor tenant.

“With the increased number of games, the pressure on inter-county venues is huge,” Con Hogan added.

“I have no doubt the province and the county will need very soon and quickly as possible an all-weather pitch and I am delighted the county is in the partnership with LIT in that regard.

“Semple Stadium gets badly cut up and doesn’t get a chance to recover with the National League starting in mid-February.”