Mullane blasts ‘shameful’ ticket costs
The two-time All Star, speaking at a Puma promotional event, also accused the Association of prioritising TV revenue ahead of player welfare, and criticised the cross-over between the Munster senior and U21 hurling championships.
Mullane’s main gripe, however, was the costs involved with supporting inter-county teams at a time when people are suffering the impacts of the national economic downturn.
“They need to start looking at everything,” Mullane said of the GAA.
“The ticket prices are absolutely crazy. You had the scenario last week with Waterford and Clare (in the Munster football championship) and people were asked to pay €20 to go in and watch the football.
“Waterford and Clare now play again next week (in the Munster hurling championship) and it is €30 for the price of tickets. The tickets are dearer now in the middle of the recession than they were when we were in the height of the Celtic Tiger.”
Croke Park stood over its ticketing policy later in the afternoon when informed of Mullane’s comments, and claimed that the latest evidence only validated their ticketing structures for major matches.
“There hasn’t been an increase in four years and this recession only kicked in about two years ago, so it wasn’t like we were hiking prices up in the better times either,” said GAA spokesman Alan Milton.
“Things are tough now and they were last year too but, not only did our attendance figures hold steady in 2009, they actually increased by 4,000 on ‘08 so there are obviously a lot of people who don’t agree with John.”
That last hike, announced in February of 2007, was the Association’s first since 2004 and president Christy Cooney declared earlier this year that he didn’t envisage any increases until at least 2013.
Milton, like other Association figures before him, also made the claim that the GAA offered exceptional value when stood alongside other Irish sporting codes but Mullane believes such comparisons to be invalid.
“At the end of the day, the rugby and the soccer, they are professional sports. The GAA are an amateur sport. They can’t forget that. They are using that carrot the whole time.
“Why don’t they have amateur prices? The GAA is all about being family-orientated. Let’s try and help families in the middle of a recession, instead of going out and charging these prices.”
The GAA have acknowledged the impact of the recession this last 12 months with a number of initiatives that have included special offers for both the NFL and All-Ireland Club finals.
A ‘Hurling Heaven’ and ‘Football Feast’ offer was also unveiled towards the latter stages of last summer’s championship and such initiatives are now commonplace throughout the country, according to Milton.
“We believe that, as an Association, we have been very innovative in thinking outside the box. We have no control over how expensive it might be to get to a game or how much people spend once they are there.
“We understand that times are tough for a lot of people but we believe our games offer excellent value for money with things like minor games before senior games and double headers.”
Mullane was also unhappy with the decision to fix Waterford’s opening Munster SHC tie against Clare for June 7, the Bank Holiday Monday, labelling the date as “absolutely ridiculous”.
“I was only talking to (Kerry’s) Declan O’Sullivan there and they had the same scenario last year against Dublin and it is a crazy situation.
“The GAA are thinking of TV revenue but they are not thinking of the players. It’s unfortunate for the players that we have to hang around.
“It’s bad enough waiting around until Sunday but to wait around an extra day … you have to think of work then.”
MULLANE added that some players would have to take the Tuesday off work to recover from their exertions, something Croke Park pointed out was a relatively modern phenomenon.
However, Milton said that such considerations would be taken into account if there had been any representations from either county board and that it could be looked at in future if more players shared Mullane’s views.
Waterford’s preparations for that game aren’t being helped by the fact that their U21 side are in action in that grade’s championship the previous Wednesday when they face Cork in Pairc Ui Chaoimh.
Tipperary had to overcome a similar situation last year when a number of U21s had to play for both panels in the space of three days on two separate occasions. “For us it is a total nightmare,” Mullane said. “We have eight or nine off the U21 panel and for numbers alone we will have them one night and not the next.”
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