Munster final matchday experience needs to be more than just a lash of pre-match pints
MUNSTER MARCH: The Lyons and Twohig families cool off in the fountains outside Páirc Uí Chaoimh ahead of the Cork v Clare senior hurling clash. Pic: Chani Anderson.
Cork GAA’s Munster Council delegate, Joseph Blake, has called on Cork City Council and the Cork Business Association to step up and provide a Munster hurling final matchday experience that offers more than pre-match pints.
The June 7 provincial decider will be Cork’s first Munster SHC final on home soil since the redevelopment of Páirc Uí Chaoimh, with Blake asking City Council and local businesses to row in behind the fixture and create an event that goes beyond the 70 minutes of action.
From lining the roads into Cork city with red and white flags to the establishment of fanzones at Kennedy Quay and on the large green space at the back of the City End goal, Blake says there is so much scope to both promote the game over the coming week and then deliver an all-inclusive experience on the day itself.
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With Munster Rugby’s sell-out fixture against a South African selection at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in 2022 generating a €5.6m spend in the city, he says it is a no-brainer that Cork City Council and the Cork Business Association would step up ahead of this latest sell-out at the Ballintemple venue.
“The Munster hurling final is one of the highlights of not only the GAA calendar but the national sporting calendar. Cork city should be capitalising upon that,” Blake began.
“I’ve reached out to the City Council, the City Mayor, the City CEO, and also the Cork Business Association to ask that the city does its part in getting behind the team and the game.
“When people come to the city for a match, they go for a few drinks beforehand and that’s great, but for families with kids who want to do something the morning of the game, we need to create a family environment.
“We should also want to cater for the large numbers who won’t have a ticket but will still be in the city and who’ll want to sample the matchday atmosphere, somewhere for them to watch the match that is not necessarily going to a pub, such as a fanzone.
“Could you create a fanzone behind the Marina Market, on Kennedy Quay, where a screen could be erected to allow people watch the match outdoors? This is what Cork City Council should be exploring.”
And for those fortunate enough to get their hands on a Munster final ticket, Blake believes the large green space behind the City End goal is ripe for use as another fanzone.
“Walking down to the stadium last Sunday for the Clare game and looking at the park area behind the City End goal, I was thinking, wouldn’t it be brilliant if you had something there for families before the match, it could be entertainment, it could be skills challenges, it could be a stage where you have former players giving their thoughts, just so the matchday experience is more than go to the pub and then go to the game.”
The promotion of inter-county games is an area the GAA could be doing much better at, according to former Cork County Board PRO Blake.
“Walking around Cork city last week, there was no indication that there was a game taking place on Sunday that would attract over 40,000 people.
“We have far more inter-county games that don’t sell out than do, and so I think the GAA needs to do more in promoting our games to people who are travelling into the country.
“We need to be pushing out information to tourists via airline and ferry companies, the same as when I was in Boston a few years ago, where the minute you landed in the airport and all the way into the city itself, there was advertising everywhere of the fact that the New England Patriots were playing the Miami Dolphins in the NFL that weekend, where it was on and how to buy tickets.
“You couldn’t but know that the match was on, and that’s what we should be looking to achieve here. Something as simple as an advertising board at Cork airport of the footballers or hurlers in action, with a QR code attached that, when scanned, shows what games are on and where you can buy tickets. This is our culture; we shouldn’t be slow in showing it off to those coming into the country.”
Returning to the Cork-Limerick Munster SHC final, Cork clubs have learned of their ticket allocation from the county board.
From the initial allocation of 10,814 tickets, the Echo has reported that Premier Senior and Senior A hurling clubs will get six stand and 48 terrace tickets, with Premier Intermediate, Intermediate A, and Premier Junior affiliations receiving four stand tickets each and 44 terrace.
Junior A clubs are to be given two stand tickets and 38 terrace, with junior B getting two stand and 20 terrace respectively. Football affiliations will receive the same terrace allocation as their hurling counterparts, but no stand tickets.
Over 2,500 stand tickets will be given to various other parties as decided by Cork County board.
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