Croke Park the jewel as 'thriving' GAA reports revenue rise of 19%

The organisation has recorded overall consolidated revenues of €132m for the year

Peter McKenna, the GAA's Stadium and Commercial Director Pic: Morgan Treacy, Inpho

A year of record revenue for the company that runs Croke Park has contributed to a handsome set of GAA financial figures for 2024.

The amateur organisation has recorded overall consolidated revenues of €132m for the year, a 19% spike on the 2023 figure of €112.1m, with a bottom line surplus for 2024 of €6.3m.

Gate receipts of €39.1m and almost €25m in commercial revenue - both of which are up on 2023 figures - contributed to the healthy set of accounts.

State funding of €13.3m was also acknowledged in the 2024 figures with 82c in every euro generated by the GAA ultimately being reinvested back into the Association.

Croke Park Ltd continues to be a jewel in the GAA's crown with the company recording almost €60m in turnover for 2024, a massive 42% leap on 2023.

The home of Gaelic Games hosted six different concerts in 2024 between Coldplay, Bruce Springsteen and AC/DC events, driving up revenues.

Stadium rental income jumped from €9.1m in 2023 to €14.2m for 2024 with associated 'Food, beverage and meetings and events' income up over €10m to €24.1m.

Stadium Director Peter McKenna confirmed that Croke Park hosted 560,000 concert attendees, offsetting the drop in actual matchday attendees at the venue from 948,000 in 2023 to 865,000 last year.

In all, Croke Park Ltd has redistributed €165m to central GAA coffers since 2006 with another €16m provided last year.

However, upgrade work on the stadium did require an investment of almost €21m with the bulk of that being the €13.1m spent on refurbishing the Cusack Stand.

GAA Director General Tom Ryan said that the GAA is 'thriving' overall though concerns were expressed regarding future funding for large scale infrastructure profjects like stadium rebuilds and training centres.

Ryan said the reality is that the GAA 'can't keep pace with what counties want', mainly due to spiralling construction costs.

He said the GAA would have to be 'more selective' in terms of financing future projects and said the chances of returning to the position '10 or 15 years ago' where multiple projects could be financed each year is probably unlikely.

The cost of preparing inter-county teams, coming in at €44m overall, was also raised again as a major concern.

County boards returned a collective profit of €4.1m in 2023 but that figure nosedived to €€1.8m in 2024 with finance director Ger Mulryan stating that inter-county team expenses played a big part in the drop.