Dubs close on pro prophecy

ALLIANZ FL DIVISION 1 SEMI-FINAL

It was Dessie Farrell’s more considered approach that eventually saw the players body recognised officially. But, shortly after his departure, O’Neill made a prediction: if a players’ union wasn’t going to guide the GAA towards professionalism, a team would.

In 2008, he told this writer: “Player associations either become all-powerful like the PFA in England or else they end up as a functional body working within a bigger structure. That’s fairly mundane stuff but powerful player associations have acquired TV revenue and if the GPA doesn’t get that in the next 10 to 15 years then it’ll be an entity that has been sucked in. If they allow that to happen it’ll come down to one team who will possess the power to change the face of the association completely.”

So who are the closest right now to fulfilling O’Neill’s prophecy? Well, anyone who has observed the sports pages over the last month will have noticed the amount of commercial deals being done by the Dublin footballers.

The Gibson Hotel, Skins Compression Clothing, Linwoods Superfoods and ROS Nutrition are just four brands that have come on board via Bernard Brogan and his cousin James’ company Legacy who have been acting as agents.Aer Lingus and Renault are still believed to have loose ties with the team with a new car deal possibly in the offing.

Going back to Pat Gilroy’s time, this Dublin team have had several associate backers such as UnderArmour, Aviva, Sisk, RKD Architects and HA O’Neil. They’ve had squad boot deals and Easter eggs too while the Brogan brothers had their own agreement with Spar last year.

The end of the Vodafone circa €750,000 per annum deal might be termed a disappointment for Dublin GAA as a whole, but there’ll be no shortage for suitors for the one, or possibly two, slots on the jersey for next season.

But one wonders whether Vodafone may have felt their brand link with Dublin had been diluted by the amount of extra commercial activity.

Former Dublin footballer Mick O’Keeffe, director of Pembroke Communications, was integral to brokering the deal between the Dublin County Board and the telecommunications giant. He stresses the need to differentiate the commercial activity that is done between the county board and the football team (Vodafone, O’Neill’s and The Heraldare the board’s sponsors). However, he has no hesitation in articulating the strength of their brand.

“Dublin’s footballers are the biggest show in town from a marketing perspective in the GAA. What these deals show is that Dublin footballers and Dublin GAA have a profile and there are a lot of people queuing up to be involved with them at various levels. At a product and a partnership level, there doesn’t seem to be any shortage of people and that helps with the running of the costs of the team.”

That last point is one O’Keeffe is keen to underline. Dublin players aren’t exactly making for themselves. While different counties may look upon themselves enviously, their overheads are higher than others and need to be addressed. If a product like Skins are willing to give benefits-in-kind to Dublin, which will cut the financial exposure to the Dublin County Board then all well and good.

“Dublin have a higher profile than others but they are also a very expensive county to run. There are 45 to 50 development officers that need to be paid, there are massive amount of clubs and it’s a big logistical operation. If companies are willing to help alleviate the costs associated with the senior football team then it can only be beneficial for the county board.”

So, commercially speaking, Dublin are just washing their faces right now but they can and will get stronger. Their total of national honours would have to improve to increase their stock.

Their league campaign, in which they finished top of Division 1, would give strength to the belief they are ready to climb the summit they got their fingernails to in 2011. Even if some of the objectives in Dublin’s Blue Wave plan were highly ~ambitious (provincial status in terms of funding and administration), they remain the cash cow of the GAA.

For one, it is their presence in the league semi-finals that is the primary reason why they are being held in Croke Park after last year’s disappointing crowd there.

“It’s happened in so many other sports,” said O’Neill, “that one team standing firm and they’re powerful enough to have others following them. Mick O’Dwyer’s Kerry were close to that, as were Cork before they signed away their right to strike, but there’ll be another. Ultimately, the Association and the GPA will not be able to meet their demands at some given point of time in the future.”

Right now, it’s Dublin who have the power and the potential to live up to O’Neill’s prediction. Whether they can accomplish it? We’ll be keeping our eyes peeled.