Football championship attendances up by 20% according to FRC final report

Anecdotally, several county boards are reported larger attendances at recent football championship games putting them down to the experimental rules, which could be made permanent at next month’s Special Congress.

Thu, 04 Sep, 2025 - 17:11

John Fogarty

Gaelic football championship attendances jumped by 20% year-on-year, according to the Football Review Committee’s (FRC) final report.

As Central Council are to hear on Saturday that the costs of running the FRC were approximately €300,000, over 1,000,000 people (1.029 million) went to the provincial and All-Ireland matches in 2025 when the new rules were operative compared to 858,459 in 2024, a difference of 171,504.

That followed a 25% jump in recorded National Football League attendances this season from 2024. A total of 510,697 adults went to league fixtures, up 131,520 from 2024.

The GAA’s financial accounts are expected to show close to €20m was reaped in Sam Maguire and Tailteann Cup gate receipts after €18.279m was earned in 2024. They will also demonstrate over €5m was accrued from the NFL this year. The year previous, the figure was €4.628m.

The drive in league gate receipts owed to the interest and attractiveness of the rules as well as the decision to charge juveniles (U16s) €5 into games this year when they were previously allowed in for free. Almost 100,000 (97,858) juveniles attended football’s secondary competition.

In June, GAA president Jarlath Burns revealed that attendances for the group stages of the All-Ireland SFC were up 21% on 2024. Anecdotally, several county boards are reported larger attendances at recent football championship games putting them down to the experimental rules, which could be made permanent at next month’s Special Congress.