The eye-watering price of next year’s Ryder Cup tickets or a FIFA World Cup match this summer reflects the commercial reality of global sport. A model the GAA was never meant to follow.
That’s why there’s something deeply uncomfortable about hearing a GAA administrator justify charging children €35 to sit in a stand at a provincial championship match.
Yet that is exactly what Connacht GAA CEO John Prenty did ahead of last weekend’s provincial football semi-finals, defending a budgetary decision that feels not only tone-deaf but fundamentally at odds with what the organisation is supposed to represent.
The explanation offered was that Connacht GAA hasn’t turned a profit over the past two years and needs to balance the books. But does it? Why? If one province is struggling more than others, with a much smaller fixtures list, then it should be advocating for itself with Croke Park to help alleviate the issue surely.
Numbers don’t stack up
Maintaining financial stability is something GAA HQ should be responsible for through an equitable funding system across all provinces, given the GAA reported a healthy consolidated revenue of €142 million, with a surplus of €3.7 million in 2025.
However, if the solution to this supposed financial strain is to force adults to choose between paying €35 to sit beside their own child in the stand, then something has gone badly wrong in how priorities are being set.
The GAA is not, and has never claimed to be, just another commercial sports body. It is rooted in community, built on volunteerism and sustained by generations of families attending games together for decades. That doesn’t sit comfortably with a pricing model that effectively tells parents: pay premium rates for your children to sit in the stand, or “here are your concrete seats” — even when countless stand seats remain empty.
It was interesting to see so many patrons voting with their feet on Saturday and Sunday, particularly in MacHale Park for the meeting of Mayo and Roscommon, where large sections of the stand lay empty as many supporters elected to sit on the terraces rather than pay the higher price.
Fortunately, the weather played its part for those in attendance. For families, especially those with younger children, the stand offers shelter from the elements, better visibility and a more manageable environment to keep an eye on wandering youngsters.
Long-term consequences
The GAA’s long-term strength depends on cultivating young supporters as future players, members, volunteers and lifelong fans. The standard child’s price of €5 should be commended, because treating children as a revenue stream rather than an investment risks undermining that future. You certainly don’t grow the next generation by charging far more than necessary.
Of course, the financial realities facing administrators cannot be ignored. And nor should they. Running competitions costs money, and provincial councils must be sustainable. But leaning so heavily on a small number of championship fixtures for income only exposes a deeper structural issue. If the model depends on extracting maximum revenue from key games, then it is the model — not the children in the stands or purported individuals posing as pensioners — that needs to be rethought.
There are alternatives: stronger commercial strategies, better cost management and more creative engagement with sponsors and communities. What there isn’t, or shouldn’t be, is a compelling argument for pricing young supporters out of the best seats. Or perhaps even out of attending games altogether.
Because ultimately, this isn’t just about ticketing. It’s about what the GAA chooses to value. If the organisation begins to prioritise short-term financial recovery over accessibility, it risks losing the next generation entirely.
On the field, it was something of a “meh” weekend for both of our county’s flagship sides. The footballers blew off the cobwebs against Leitrim after five weeks without competitive action. And while it was great to see the likes of John Daly, Cillian McDaid, Shane Walsh, and Damien Comer return, Galway made extremely hard work of overcoming perceived minnows Leitrim.
With a red-hot Roscommon to come in the Connacht final, they’ll have to significantly up the ante if they are to claim a sixth successive Nestor Cup.
For the hurlers, it was very much a case of getting the job done against Offaly, as it was far from spectacular. Beat Kildare in two weeks’ time and they’ll have maximum points on the board, and a victory over one of Dublin or Wexford should be enough to secure a place in the Leinster decider.
