Marketing of the GAA

Conditioned

http://www.rte.ie/aertel/206-01.html

How Christy Cooney can say the GAA is being marketed adequately is beyond me. Yes me have to compete with other sports but thats the reason we have to try harder to market our sports.

The National league is a great example every year. The majority of a counties matches are played in this competition and by all accounts attendances are down this year. Its about time the GAA hyped up the national league. They should also get as much coverage of GAA on TV as possible apart from the matches. Magazine types programmes are great, something similar to football focus at a time when people will watch it. How many GAA programmes do we see on a Friday night...when most teams are training!

Not everyone like Celebrity Banisteoir but I thought it was great, the more GAA programmes the better. They should push for some sort of kids GAA programme during a week evening. A superstars competition or something.

blackbelt

Conditioned wrote: »

http://www.rte.ie/aertel/206-01.html

How Christy Cooney can say the GAA is being marketed adequately is beyond me. Yes me have to compete with other sports but thats the reason we have to try harder to market our sports.

The National league is a great example every year. The majority of a counties matches are played in this competition and by all accounts attendances are down this year. Its about time the GAA hyped up the national league. They should also get as much coverage of GAA on TV as possible apart from the matches. Magazine types programmes are great, something similar to football focus at a time when people will watch it. How many GAA programmes do we see on a Friday night...when most teams are training!

Not everyone like Celebrity Banisteoir but I thought it was great, the more GAA programmes the better. They should push for some sort of kids GAA programme during a week evening. A superstars competition or something.

As a friend of mine and another poster on here would say,"Marketing is a dirty word in the GAA".

I find it ridiculous that the GAA go to great lengths every January to promote and advertise an opening league game in Croker under lights only to get a big pay off and then the next week you see league games on TG4 up in Pearse Stadium,Ballyshannon and Omagh where the ground is nearly empty.I saw a good picture in The Independent a few months ago of Cork v Wexford in the NFL and the stadium was extremely bare.

Apart from the first game of the League under lights,it seems the GAA then resort to giving up all hope on all fixtures in between and once the finals come around they are tired of the league and do a half assed job to advertise or encourage people to go as seen by the attendance in Croke Park 3 weeks ago.Tha sensational thing about it is that the big advertisement campaigns are always marketed at the Dubs and Tyrone.There are an abundance of Dublin fans that would go given that it is in Croke Park but what about the likes of Cork,Derry,Monaghan?Should they not be advertised or encouraged.

Then we have the start of the main attraction and competition in the GAA calendar.The football and hurling Championships start off without so much as a whimper.We had the Ulster Hurling Championship start with no mention unless you read teletext and the football championship was "kickstarted" by a kickabout between Mayo and New York in the Bronx.Mind you,some of us would have loved nothing more than to watch New York embarrass Mayo for those 6 or 7 minutes when they went 4 points up to no score.

What Tv coverage do we have?Apart from Setanta that cover the Saturday night league games,TG4 that do an excellent job of covering Sundays League games,we have RTE who show their hand when the Championship comes knocking.The ratings is the primary concern but even RTE has lost its full grip on the monopoly it had on Championship rights and now TV3 have given them the two fingers by potentially having 2 Dublin matches compared to RTE's 1.No big deal you might say but what if the draw was not Dublin v Meath?RTE would be fairly embarrassed if it was a Leinster Semi-Final between Dublin and Meath aired by TV3.However,RTE have cleverly engineered a ratings strongpoint by showing 7 out of 8 Ulster Championship matches.

RTE also boast a popular Championship Highlights programme every Sunday night from May to September and an impressive Friday evening discussion programme,"The Road To Croker".

The GAA relies heavily and takes for granted that GAA fans take an interest in the game and attend matches but we don't always get crowds of 50,000+ at every games.The GAA has relied on TV rights and sponsorship to make up the bulk of its revenue.This is not marketing as such but naturally in this day and age it is where the organisation would do most of its business.However,there is much more to marketing the game than meets the eye.For gate receipts apart,it would make a bigger spectacle on TV to have a fairly packed stadia with a buzzing atmosphere.Thus increasing the value of GAA fans tv license contribution.

What about the little guys?The guys that give up their Sunday afternoons to sell programmes,the guys and gals that sell beer under Hill16.The young teenagers who sell sandwiches,coke and sweets in the stand shops and most importantly the charities who may not ever get a bigger window of opportunity to be amongst the most giving and kind sports supporter that is the GAA supporter.What about those who sell colours,hats and scarfs?

During this economic hardship,the GAA needs to reflect on its principles.We are celebrating 125 years of the GAA but for how long did the GAA survive without the existence or widespread availability of tv?Back then,attendance was never a problem and the GAA hierarchy thrived.The GAA could possibly be bigger if they marketed their product to the fans that make it hence making that tv deal and sponsorship more lucrative and the memories unforgettable.

Conditioned

blackbelt wrote: »

As a friend of mine and another poster on here would say,"Marketing is a dirty word in the GAA".

The GAA relies heavily and takes for granted that GAA fans take an interest in the game and attend matches but we don't always get crowds of 50,000+ at every games.The GAA has relied on TV rights and sponsorship to make up the bulk of its revenue.This is not marketing as such but naturally in this day and age it is where the organisation would do most of its business.However,there is much more to marketing the game than meets the eye.For gate receipts apart,it would make a bigger spectacle on TV to have a fairly packed stadia with a buzzing atmosphere.Thus increasing the value of GAA fans tv license contribution.
quote]

Good post I agree with this part in particular. If a league game or lesser competiton is on the TV the GAA should actively encourage bigger crowds by letting kids in free and maybe even reduced ticket prices. A packed crowd looks great for any sport and people at home watching start to think they missing something.

I forgot about the road to croker, I don't actually think I've seen it. With Training on a Friday night for the majority of the countries GAA clubs I'm sure that RTE is losing alot of potential viewers.

Daysha

Great post BB. I couldn't believe the Championship actually started last weekend. None of the preview guides in the paper are being published until today, it's like last week doesn't exist.

It does begger believe that they went to so much hassle for the beginning of the NFL, and then the real deal, the Championship in their 125th anniversary comes along and nothing. It shouldn't matter that it's in a lackluster ground no where near the scale of Croke Park. Gaelic football and hurling are universal sports and every match should be treated with equality, whether it be 82,000 in Croker or 3,000 in Westport.