Brand Tipperary needs backing

IN ALL FAIRNESS

Sport has changed a lot over the years, and whether it is amateur or professional, no sport is immune to the need for money and the increased importance of it.

The GAA might be an amateur organization but is still needs money to run itself. How much is enough, is the question a lot of people ask when they see admission prices keep going only going one way, with the confirmation last week that a stand ticket for the All-Ireland Senior Finals going forward, will now be €100.

Inflation is something that the GAA isn’t immune to either with costs rising year on year, with counties employing more full-time staff, from administrators to coaches, to cover the increased workload, and that will only increase further as expectations rise, particularly in terms of marketing where the GAA are still struggling in terms of selling their products where you had big football games on last weekend with sparse attendances. The format is fine, more games in the summer is what people wanted, yet the same people aren’t going. What would be wrong with €10 admission to these group football games and packing the venues out. The Munster Hurling Championship has proved that packed venues create the atmosphere where games benefit and people will want to come back again and again, to such an extent that the GAA wouldn’t have to charge €100 each for an All-Ireland ticket.

The costs associated with preparing inter-county teams area a runaway train, but no one within the organisation has been willing to grasp the nettle and try and put a limit on it to create fairness for all.

Some counties are able to cope with the rising costs more than others, the likes of Dublin who can tap into a deep commercial sector, while Kerry have the strong brand that is Kerry group behind them which go hand in hand. Then you have the likes of Limerick who have a strong benefactor in JP McManus, who isn’t handing over blank cheques, but it certainly takes the pressure off in terms of funding.

Tipperary is a strong brand, it is a name known the world over, not only by the place but also by reference in the World War I song “it’s a long way to Tipperary” written by Tipperary man Jack Judge.

However, the Tipperary brand is not having its full value extracted in a GAA sense. Tipperary County Board is fire-fighting at the moment in terms of income. It isn’t because they have been careless in terms of their spending, in fact it is the opposite, they are trying to get the value out of everything they have.

Last week, in the build-up to the All-Ireland under 20 hurling final, they launched a training fund for supporters to contribute to help with the preparation of the team, as well as the minors who are still in the championship. This is the kind of fundraiser usually associated with clubs ahead of county finals, not a high profile county such as Tipperary.

This time of the year is when all county boards are top-heavy with costs but have little income. Next weekend is the first time this year that Tipperary GAA will generate revenue from gates with the county hurling league finals, and the football ones the following weekend. It won’t be much in the overall scheme of things, but every little helps.

The next six weeks will see the new Tipperary GAA Clubs Draw being promoted. This draw remains one of the biggest annual fundraisers in the country with a turnover of over €1.7 million. However, Tipperary County Board made only around €150,000 from that in terms of revenue last year. Remember, a minimum of half of that €1.7 million goes to the clubs as they retain half of the €100 ticket, and sometimes more depending on the number of tickets they sell, up to seventy per cent if they sell over 200 tickets.

But out of what remains to the County Board, they also have to account for the prize-fund of over half a million euro which leaves a profit of around €150,000 a very low return for an awful lot of effort.

My point being, this isn’t the time for anyone to consider pulling out of the GAA Clubs Draw because Tipperary had a down year at senior level, as not only do the county board lose out on vital revenue, so do the clubs.

The County Board are targeting increasing their number of subscribers from 17,000 to 20,000 which would be welcome across the board.

Plans are also in place for a “Win a House” competition later in the year which have been successful in other counties but what Tipperary really need is the commercial sector to come on board in a bigger way.

The Commercial Board set up when Teneo came on board as sponsor in 2019 is still operational but there was no official figure of their contribution in the 2023 annual report which showed commercial income, across the board, of €715,275. Not an insubstantial sum but Tipperary needs much more, and that is just to keep up with everyone else.

Tipperary senior hurling manager Liam Cahill has enough on his plate in preparing his team without having the pressure of fundraising for dog nights and training camps, aspects that shouldn’t be in his remit. However, to many, he is the face of Tipperary GAA at the moment.

In the same way John Kiely made the approach to get involved with Limerick following the 2009 All-Ireland semi-final embarrassment by Tipperary to try and turn things around, we are at a point where big business in Tipp needs to step up and approach Tipperary County Board and ask, what do you need?

Fiserv only signed up for one more year in 2024 so a new shirt sponsor is likely to be needed for next year and beyond. Phase 2 of the redevelopment of Dr Morris Park has been shelved as the funds aren’t there, while the next phase of the all-weather pitch in TUS Thurles has required clubs to part fund it with a €1000 contribution each, and that is without a sod being cut out of the ground. Semple Stadium is badly in need of refurbishment too and while Croke Park and Munster Council will contribute, Tipperary will have to stump up its share as well.

That is before any money is put into our teams from under 14 to senior, hurling and football, and come 2027 it will be camogie and ladies football as well, when integration is supposed to be complete.

However, it can be done. Clare are the perfect example, where as recently as three years ago, they were at a low ebb organisationally. They were in a crisis but as the saying goes “never waste a good crisis” and they have turned things around superbly, including off the field with strong fundraising, and last week their much criticised training centre in Caherlohan now have all their pitches reseeded to bring them up to scratch.

It took bravery, hard work, and fresh thinking, but it has worked out for them. If they can do it why can’t Tipperary?

It cannot be left up to Jimmy Minogue, Murtagh Brennan and Eleanor Lahart, Chairperson, CEO, and treasurer of Tipperary GAA to come up with the answers all by themselves, they need help and support. Instead of waiting for them to ask, why not be a John Kiely and make the first move!