There’s merit in national football and hurling leagues

For years now this column asked itself: ‘what exactly does Allianz see in the national football and hurling leagues that most of us don’t?’

The insurance company extended its sponsorship of the competitions through to, and including, the 2020 season at the launch of this year’s versions earlier this month.

The partnership will be 28 years old by the time that branch of the tree reaches maturity: a strappling oak in a sponsorship sector where contracts rarely blossom beyond saplings.