GAA and GPA hoping to reach image rights agreement before end of month

Speaking in October, 2024 hurler of the year Shane O’Donnell took exception to his image being used to promote GAAGO. Pic: John Sheridan/Sportsfile

The GAA and Gaelic Players Association (GPA) are hoping to hammer out a new image rights agreement by the end of the month.

The thorny subject of players’ intellectual property and exactly what entitlements leading footballers and hurlers have in relation to use of their likeness and names has come to the fore in recent funding negotiations.

There have been mixed reports about just how close the parties are coming to reaching consensus on image rights. GAA president Jarlath Burns is understood to taken a strong stance on the matter.

However, the GPA informed members in December that Croke Park had given a commitment to striking an image rights accord before the end of this month.

As part of previous protocols, the GAA and GPA worked together in the commercial partnership Le Chéile, netting the players’ body a minimum of €500,000 per annum with that guarantee eventually being removed.

Speaking in October, 2024 hurler of the year Shane O’Donnell took exception to his image being used to promote GAAGO. 

“The bottom line is I don’t agree with it and then I saw on the GAAGO website all year they’re selling the season pass with myself and three other hurlers just like right above the part where it says ‘buy for x amount of euro’.

“To anyone, you could think that we’re endorsing that or we have given our explicit consent that we would be put up there. That’s just not the case. We weren’t even asked.

O’Donnell continued: “The thing is I don’t want to even benefit financially from that. I don’t want to be endorsing GAAGO because I don’t agree with it. I just really want them to ask me, ‘Can we put your image up there?’” 

In October, GPA chief executive Tom Parsons told this newspaper that image rights was a pertinent subject in world sport. 

“I’m on the boards of the EU Athletes and World Players Association and the protection of image rights is very topical across the board. In every protocol negotiations, it's come up and no doubt it'll come up again in this one.” 

Under the outgoing protocol, the GPA were entitled to 15% of the GAA’s net commercial revenue with a minimum share of €2.5 million. 

In 2023, they received €2.9m in core funding from Croke Park, which was down almost €500k on 2022 largely as a result of Sky Sports ending their media rights holder relationship with the GAA.