Life outside top tier costs Limerick €700,000

Limerick officials estimate they will have lost out on close to €700,000 by the end of their senior hurlers’ seventh straight season outside Division 1A next year.

Analysis commissioned by the county board a few years ago demonstrated how costly Limerick were finding life in Division 1B. It was reckoned they were missing out on a potential €100,000 per annum not being involved in the top flight. The figures were based on home attendances, advertising, programme sales, and team sponsorship. After defeat to Clare on Sunday consigned them to yet another campaign in the second tier, questions are being asked about the financial sustainability of counties like Limerick remaining in Division 1B.

Between football and hurling, Limerick accrued just €74,614 in income from last year’s leagues, a drop of 30% from 2014. Should they beat Dublin in Parnell Park in Saturday week’s Division 1 quarter-final, their league revenue will rise, as the rewards for progressing in the competition are almost as lucrative as those on offer in the All-Ireland SHC.