Money-spinning summer for GAA

The €3 million-plus the GAA will pocket from the September 28 replay of yesterday’s All-Ireland hurling final is the cherry on top of a summer of bumper championship attendances for the association.

Croke Park will gross nearly €20m from matches this month alone — starting with the 81,553 fans who paid to see the thrilling All-Ireland SFC semi-final between Dublin and Kerry on September 1.

Yesterday’s final grossed in excess of €5m — excluding corporate tickets — and with the football final on September 22 and the Saturday replay of the hurling to come, it will create a record of four 80,000-plus Croke Park games in the same month.