Dodgy boxes and streaming affecting Laois attendances, claims county secretary

Niall Handy addressed how an increase in streaming revenue has not compensated for the decline in money being received for attendance at games.

ATTENDANCES DOWN: Laois GAA secretary Niall Handy has hit out at the prevalence of dodgy boxes and believes streaming is negatively impacting gate receipts. Picture: Matt Browne/Sportsfile

Laois GAA secretary Niall Handy has hit out at the prevalence of dodgy boxes and believes streaming is negatively impacting gate receipts.

In his annual report, Handy addressed how an increase in streaming revenue has not compensated for the decline in money being received for attendance at games.

In 2025, Laois GAA received €45,625 in streaming, a rise of €16,125. However, gate receipts fell by €12,508 to €444,825 with close to a €28,000 decrease for championship fixtures, while match programmes and shop purchase figures also deteriorated.

Handy wrote: “In recent years, we have successfully streamed our internal club games via Clubber TV, a contract that was extended for 2025 to include all our games. The service provided is excellent and is a means for our older membership and diaspora to view our games.

“Unfortunately, I am of the opinion that the streaming of our games is having an adverse effect on our gate receipts. Local publicans promoting the broadcasting of our games in the comfort of their taverns with refreshments provided, and of course, there is also the ‘dodgy box’ brigade, all contribute to a decrease in our attendance at games.

“It is difficult to try to quantify the potential losses incurred, but it will certainly be part of our discussion with Clubber TV in our negotiation with them to potentially extend our contract for further years.” 

In 2025, Laois spent €1,172,012 on their teams, which was up almost €59,000 on last year. A total of €423,043 was spent on management and backroom teams across their inter-county teams.

The board reported a surplus of €95,642 but that was significantly down from €218,733 in 2024.