No sponsorship for Hawk Eye

Hawk Eye will not have a sponsor when it makes its GAA debut in Croke Park in June.

GAA stadium and commercial director Peter McKenna confirmed the score detection technology will be without a backer for 2012 as its performance first needs to be studied.

It had been mooted that Hawk Eye might carry a sponsor as it does at the Wimbledon tennis championships to offset the cost of the system.

“It’s proven to work in a test scenario but it has to be first seen in a live environment and how well it operates,” said McKenna.

“We will wait until we have done that and look at possibly finding a sponsor in 2013.”

Hawk Eye officials had been expected to meet with the GAA in Croke Park last Wednesday. However, the meeting has been delayed as the installation of the apparatus in GAA HQ isn’t as advanced as was anticipated. It is hoped the meeting will now take place next week.

The two-year pilot trial of Hawk Eye at Croke Park will begin on the June Bank Holiday weekend for the Leinster SFC quarter-finals involving Dublin and the winners of Westmeath versus Louth, with Wexford facing Longford or Laois in the other last-eight game. The system will be used in all championship football and hurling matches at Croke Park this year and 2013.