GAA county jerseys have become one big advert
He has exhibited grace under fire. When Congress was interrupted by protestors in Mullingar Park Hotel five years ago, he walked down from the stage and asked them to leave. Following the Sky Sports decision two years ago, he had more than enough reason to lose his cool with how it was reported by RTÉ but was largely reserved in the aftermath.
No, just one issue has evidently vexed him: “Corporate GAA”.
Coined by some who determined the organisation’s greed was at the heart of the cancelled Garth Brooks concerts in Croke Park, Duffy visibly seethed when the phrase was mentioned. “Certain commentators, not averse to finding a bandwagon to jump on, and happier with a slogan than serious analysis, got good mileage out of a so-called ‘Corporate’ GAA, by which they mean the priority of the GAA is to make money,” he wrote in his annual report for that year.
“This bandwagon, it should be pointed out, was started by some of those opposed to Croke Park concerts. If the charge had any truth in it, it would be a serious matter deserving public discussion. But this is an utterly bogus charge, and a non-issue.”
Duffy was right then and remains right now. However, that cursed phrase isn’t going to go away anytime soon. Not when the GAA opens itself to such remarks.
Dublin’s jersey launch last week was the latest reminder of how the organisation has inadvertently opened the gates to big businesses. As well as on the front, insurance giants AIG have their logo on the back. As do the likes of Chill with Cork and Mayo and Tipperary with Elverys/Intersport. As they are entitled to.
Except, it was not for this reason they were permitted to effectively make county jerseys their advertisement boards. In 2012, Roscommon club Castlerea St Kevin’s put forward a motion calling for a second sponsor. It was eventually given the go-ahead the following year but the intention was it would provide an extra revenue stream to ailing clubs and counties.
“If it was passed, it would make it a lot easier for clubs and counties to secure sponsorship in the current economic climate,” said Castlerea St Kevin’s treasurer Barry Egan in 2012.
“Counties would benefit from it too especially with corporate sponsorship hard to come by. It means more sponsors but it makes it more attractive for them to come on board if they’re not paying as much as they would as a single sponsor.”
Clubs have benefited from it although few counties have taken up the offer — Antrim, Armagh, Carlow, Derry, Donegal, Laois, London, Monaghan and Offaly. Cavan, Fermanagh, Kerry, Kilkenny, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Meath, Tyrone, Westmeath, Wexford and Wicklow don’t carry a sponsor on their backs.
It can’t be said their jerseys look any better for the lack of a sponsor below their necks but at least their players look more like players and not advertisements.
Somewhere along the way, big companies’ mark on county jerseys has been allowed to become more pronounced. AIG didn’t need more presence on the Dublin jersey but they would be foolish to turn down the chance to further brand their team. And this is a company that want everyone to know who they back — they have pitched a large sign in Commercials Hurling Club overlooking the M7 coming into Dublin, reminding drivers they are in Dublin, the “Home of Sam”.
Few other sports organisations offer so much of their jerseys for sale. French club rugby have often been accused of making a mockery of their kits but the sickness is spreading. The Connacht rugby kit has become such a mishmash of commercial activity that it’s difficult to believe it represents a team.
The GAA will hardly ever get that bad but by giving the go-ahead to a sole sponsor to use their logo twice county boards have lost some of the ownership of the jersey to that company. Seeing the number of new Dublin jerseys already on show around the capital this past weekend, AIG are getting more than value for money no matter what way you look at it — front or back.
It’s not traditionalist to suggest a jersey should remain a jersey. Neither is it idealistic. Dublin’s gear will sell like hotcakes because it looks as good as their team but do players and supporters really have to be walking billboards?
A strange sort of calm before Cork and Tipp meet in Thurles
It didn’t need a second meeting of Clare and Waterford to suck the hype from Sunday’s Munster SHC quarter-final: Cork and Tipperary have done quite enough to ensure that themselves.
By most accounts, it is Cork who have made the most of their time together since the end of the league. Unlike earlier in the year, the sounds from their camp are mostly positive and yet it’s difficult to see them as anything but also-rans on the basis of their spring form.
It was notable they weren’t mentioned in Henry Shefflin and Liam Sheedy’s Championship preview on RTÉ Radio 1 last Sunday week until the pair were prompted by a listener’s text message at the end of the segment.
As for Tipperary, their management have hardly ingratiated themselves with clubs with the requirements placed on clubs. Barry Heffernan is out of the game meaning Seamus Kennedy could be drafted into the half-back line while Brendan Maher injured himself earlier in the month.
The favourites tag won’t suit them either, particularly when they have either been caught or caved so often in the closing stages. Kieran Kingston referred to that last week: “There’s no question in Tipperary and all over the country it’s just a matter of how much Tipp will win by — not whether they win, but how much they win by. That brings its own pressure.”
Cork know if they are in contention in the final 10 minutes they have more than a chance but it says plenty that Kingston has to indulge in such mind games.
Cork are riddled with questions and Tipperary don’t yet have all the answers.
Dubs will put on a show on the road
Laois boss Mick Lillis didn’t hold back when asked about Nowlan Park hosting their Leinster SFC quarter-final with All-Ireland champions, Dublin.
“I think the game being played in Nowlan Park is a disgrace,” he said after his side booked their place in the last eight adding “it’s a terrible indictment on the GAA it’s all down to money. It’s not down to bums on seats, which was the reason given: ‘there’s (sic) more seats in Nowlan Park.’ Sure, the Dubs don’t sit down in Croke Park, why would they want to sit in Nowlan Park?”
We hope Lillis was being facetious with the last comment because it hampers his argument to suggest all Dublin supporters intent on travelling to Kilkenny stand on Hill 16 for games in Croker.
That Dublin have been taken out of GAA HQ for the first time since 2006 is remarkable regardless of the venue. And whatever the venue Dublin wouldn’t lack motivation to put on a show.
Donie Kingston’s remarks about the champions being afforded a bias won’t be forgotten in the Dublin camp. Last October, Bernard Brogan admitted he would “hate for people to say we wouldn’t have had the same success if we hadn’t have played all our games in Croke Park.”
June 4 may just be a case example of being careful what you wish for.
