GPA raise the stakes in major gamble
However, I hadn’t anticipated matters would come to head so quickly. Yesterday’s call by the GPA galvanising their members into action in their quest for full recognition and 5% of commercial revenue certainly burst the lid open.
It throws down the gauntlet to Croke Park in no uncertain terms. Five per cent of commercial revenue might not appear a very high percentage but translated into hard cash, that is €2m per annum. It is a whopping sum indeed for an amateur organisation.
Whether the GPA are serious about this figure or setting the bar high as a negotiating tactic will have a big bearing on any support they are likely to receive from the grassroots. I couldn’t see the GAA agreeing to fork out such a hugh amount of money and I doubt if the public would support it either. One also has to pose the question what does full recognition actually mean?
The de facto situation is that there isn’t any other players’ body in the GAA nor will there be. If full recognition means the GPA might have to cease all its lucrative commercial activities as the prize for coming within the association, then they have to have some consistent revenue stream. And if it doesn’t come from the GAA, where does it come from?
The GPA may appear to have the ultimate power because without the players you can’t have games and without games there would be no major sponsors and no television rights.
But there are two other components in this conundrum. The voluntary officials at club and county level and the fans who pay through the turnstiles.
Without these two groups there wouldn’t be any GAA either. Ultimately the voluntary officials and the fans could have a major say in all of this. If they come down on one side or the other, it could have a huge impact on the outcome.
It also surprises me the GPA have chosen not to continue hostilities with the government on the grants issue. I would have thought this was the most pressing concern. A decision on this scheme is likely over the next few months. If the government pulls the plug now, you can be sure that will be the end of the matter.
Either way the Minister for Sport, Martin Cullen, will be pleased that the artillery is very firmly directed towards Croke Park and not towards Kildare Street.
There are two obvious reasons why the GPA have decided to up the ante right now.
First, the GAA is all about the championship, isn’t it? The big crowds, the great games, the major sponsors and the lucrative media rights all revolve around the championship.
Any disruption means complete chaos. A protest during the league as the GPA have undertaken in the past causes little more than a few ripples. In comparison, a major protest during the championship would have a tsunami effect.
Second, President, Christy Cooney, is in his first year in office. The GPA will know only too well it is far easier to get things done in the President’s first term than in his third year. By then a President elect will be primed to take over and therefore fundamental concessions are more difficult to achieve.
So it’s clear what’s prompted the GPA to up the ante all of a sudden. The game of poker has just begun with the stakes never higher. A royal flush worth €2million!
