Inter-county GAA sponsors set to stick rather than twist

A general view of dandelions growing on the Avantcard Páirc Seán MacDiarmada. Photo: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Sponsors of inter-county GAA teams are expected to honour their 2020 financial commitments despite the ongoing cessation of activity and threat of there being no championship this year.

It is now nine weeks since Croke Park pressed pause on the 2020 season and there is a possibility there may be no further inter-county activity this year.

Sponsors of inter-county teams, according to a well-placed source, pay a significant portion of the overall sum promised to county boards in the early months of the year and although it will be October, at the earliest, before their brand is again seen inside the whitewash of a GAA field, it is not expected that county boards will be left notably short-changed.

Cork’s 2019 financial accounts show that main sponsor Chill Insurance contributed €330,000 last year, while Supermac's, long-term sponsors in Galway, poured €322,798 into Galway GAA coffers in 2018. There are a number of other sponsors who would be handing over similar figures to county boards on an annual basis.

There is no doubt that counties’ commercial income will take a substantial hit as a result of the ongoing lockdown, but that is unlikely to extend to inter-county sponsorship money. On the general income front, county boards are facing significant gate receipt losses on account of April being a complete washout and the uncertainty surrounding the return of club action later this year.

“I think there will still be a lot of goodwill from the sponsors, especially longer-term sponsors,” said the source.

“County Boards obviously need the money and I think it would be more damaging to the sponsor if they pulled out or reneged on the amount promised. If there is a return to action before the year is out, then the increased appreciation for GAA will mean the sponsor will get value from providing goodwill.

“There will be more value to the sponsor in staying involved and staying supportive, but expectations might be higher when we come out the far side of this and they might review what they get in terms of the sponsorship deal because everyone is going to be that bit more focused after all of this.”