GAA in battle for hearts and minds with rival sports

It will probably hit us when Martin O’Neill announces his panel for Euro 2016 on Tuesday night next. Only then will it actually kick home to those of us in the GAA world that we are once again locked into a battle for the hearts and minds of sports fans in what is going to be a fairly busy summer on pitch and on screen.

We’ll get a preview of things to come this weekend when the Champion’s League final between Atlético and Real Madrid and the PRO 12 final between Connacht and Leinster diverts our attention away from the fact that there are football championship matches in three of the four provinces.

The last time we had the Euros and the Olympics in 2012 the GAA had just launched their ‘nothing beats being there’ campaign. Despite the usual criticisms, it was an aggressive marketing campaign aimed at getting supporters off their couches and armchairs and out to championship venues across the country during the busy summerperiod.