Páirc Uí Chaoimh premium level seats costing Cork county board up to €200 per year

Each time a Páirc premium level seat holder attends a National League, Munster championship, or All-Ireland series game at the venue, Cork County Board must pay the value of the ticket to the organising body, be that Munster or Central Council.

Thu, 21 Dec, 2023 - 06:50

Eoghan Cormican

In the latest hidden cost to emerge regarding the debt-burdened Páirc Uí Chaoimh, the Irish Examiner can reveal that Cork County Board are paying €150-€200 per premium level seat to Munster and Central Council each year.

Each time a Páirc Uí Chaoimh premium level seat holder attends a National League, Munster championship, or All-Ireland series game at the venue, Cork County Board must pay the value of the ticket to the organising body, be that Munster or Central Council.

If a premium level seat is not occupied on matchday, then no charge is incurred by the Cork County Board.

The county board executive have revealed that they are paying Munster Council up to €40 per occupied premium level seat for provincial championship games, meaning the board must shelve out €80 if a premium seat holder attends both of Cork’s home fixtures in the Munster SHC round robin.

The executive estimate that they are paying €150-€200 per premium seat to Central and Munster Council each year.

“We do like to see the place full but it does mean a cost when people sit in the seat,” said Cork GAA CEO Kevin O’Donovan.

“For Munster championship games, you could be talking anything from €20-€40 for seats. But it would only be the amount of sales and it is based on face value,” explained board treasurer Diarmuid Gowan.

Páirc Uí Chaoimh’s 2,200 premium level seats vary in price depending on the vantage point offered. The middle four sections, for a 10-year period, are priced at €6,500. The sections looking out onto the respective 45-metre lines are priced at €5,000, while the outer sections at either end can be snapped up in 10-year bundles for €4,000.

The direct debit payment plan for the cheapest Páirc Uí Chaoimh premium seats is €450 per annum. But after match ticket payments to Munster and Central Council are subtracted, what the county board is actually pocketing per seat per year is closer to €250.

Páirc Uí Chaoimh’s financial difficulties largely dominated the recent Cork GAA convention. The stadium recorded a loss of €2.688m in 2023. It was said at convention that unless there is a “massive improvement” in the operation of Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork GAA is facing a €5m cashflow crisis over the next five years.

Freemount delegate John O’Flynn drew attention to the “hidden liability” of advance income totalling €4.8m. He explained that the figure relates primarily to Páirc Uí Chaoimh premium level seat sales over the past five years, money which has already been received and spent.

“That well is going to run dry very shortly because there aren't that many premium seats left (for sale). Our cashflow is going to dry up over the next five years,” O’Flynn warned.

“For all the years we have got stadium accounts, the stadium has lost money every single year except in 2022 when we had five concerts.

“So we are really challenged for the stadium to even break even. The reality is that if we break even over the next five years, we are going to have a cash shortfall of about €4.8m because we have already got that cash and it has already been spent.

“I would be really concerned that unless there is a massive improvement in the operation of the stadium or huge income from GAA activity, then we are going to struggle to meet that cash requirement over the next five years.” Cork treasurer Diarmuid Gowan said that with only one concert in the pipeline for next year, it will make 2024 “very challenging”. Cork secretary Kevin O’Donovan described the county’s cash flow problem as “stark”.