Has GAA lost it's soul to commercialism?

Slideshowbob

Used to follow Intercounty GAA twenty or thirty years ago when a kid but boy has it changed:

Galway play in Leinster hurling championship (that's taking the p!ss surely, sooooo fcuked up)

No longer called all Ireland by GAA I notice but football / hurling championship

Back door rules, you don't have to win provincials to play on!!

Barriers back up in croker (did some insurance company request this or something) back to treating attendants like animals. Haven't soccer stadia done away with this?

Old logo replaced by snake-like simplified GAA logo

All the above sprung to mind recently

I have this image of marketing, image and revenue consultants advising powers that be over the years with fancy expensive reports and above is the upshot

Meanwhile we still expect players to be "amateur"??

hisholinessnb

Silliest thread of the week award goes to...................

Moans about the changes, commercialism etc within the GAA (every single sport has got more commercial over the years) then finishes with a moan about not going professional, the irony here is fantastic.

At the end of the day the GAA are making the most of what they have to bring as much money as they can in, money which is then sent out to the clubs etc, which is surely a good thing.

floggg

hisholinessnb wrote: »

Silliest thread of the week award goes to...................

Moans about the changes, commercialism etc within the GAA (every single sport has got more commercial over the years) then finishes with a moan about not going professional, the irony here is fantastic.

At the end of the day the GAA are making the most of what they have to bring as much money as they can in, money which is then sent out to the clubs etc, which is surely a good thing.

+ 1.

Its not the GAA which has gone commercial, the world has. Deal with it.

I'm pretty sure they couldn't open croker to the public without insurance, so excuse them for complying with the requirements of their policy. They could do without the barriers and then pay 2 - 3 times the price.

Are you accused out commercialism for putting in a house alarm to get cheaper insurance?

WesternZulu

What do you want the GAA to do, stay in the dark ages!!
The only point i agree with is the barriers in the hill.

Do you still want a Connacht "Championship" in hurling?
They had to change it and do something with Galway....not commercialism, just common sense.

They chaged the name to the GAA Football Championship and the GAA Hurling Championship to take back the name from companies, as people used to always call them the "Bank of Ireland All-Ireland Football Championship" and the "Guinness All-Ireland Hurling Championship".
Thats nearly the opposite to commercialism.

The current system is infinitely better than the old one. More games. Easy to say you preferred the old one but imagine if you were a player and done all that training in the depths of winter and got knocked out after ONE game!
The current format is not perfect and in time will get replaced by a champions league type system
Again, not commercialism...just common sense.

Agree with the barriers in Croke Park.

The logo was changed, replacing an old one that replaced a logo before that.
The only way you could have a case would be if the GAA never had a logo.
They are just moving with the times.

Your have an image of marketing, image and revenue consultants advising powers that be over the years with fancy expensive reports. These people have to be there and listened to.
How do you think that Croke Park was built, of course reports and consultants had to be used otherwise with your attitude something like Croke Park would never have been possible.

Anyway the GAA are up against other sports and have to move with the times or be left behind as much as that may pain you.

Edit:
Didn't Galway play in the Munster Hurling Championship in the 60's as well when the GAA was pure (i know,sooooo fcuked up)

FatherTed

There were barriers at Croke Park in the 70's and 80's when I went as a young lad so what's the difference?

antoobrien

Slideshowbob wrote: »

No longer called all Ireland by GAA I notice but football / hurling championship

We have London and New York taking part in the championship, so we can't really call it the All Ireland anymore. Would you rather the 'GAA World Championships' or some such nonsense?

thesultan

It's not promoting it's games enough

Slideshowbob

WesternZulu wrote: »

the "Bank of Ireland All-Ireland Football Championship" and the "Guinness All-Ireland Hurling Championship".
)

Other points by yourself and others I appreciate even though I would not agree. You must be too young to remember the championships before they had sponsors

And for the guy who termed this silly post of the day, it's my observances on the matter and counter arguments posed have not since changed my views.

Perhaps if you could provide links to gaa revenues etc on how proportionately it filters down to club level that would be more useful to an apparently Ill informed person like myself

Thanks

One thing i did take exception to at the weekend was the black eyed peas and then u2 playing when the Kilkenny minors and then Tipp accepted the respective cups. Other then that i have no problem with any commercialism in the GAA.
I just felt the respective county anthems should be played instead.

Fr Tod Umptious

FatherTed wrote: »

There were barriers at Croke Park in the 70's and 80's when I went as a young lad so what's the difference?

Exactly and well into the 90s at the canal end too

StephenHendry

Deleted User wrote: »

One thing i did take exception to at the weekend was the black eyed peas and then u2 playing when the Kilkenny minors and then Tipp accepted the respective cups. Other then that i have no problem with any commercialism in the GAA.
I just felt the respective county anthems should be played instead.

Deleted User wrote: »

One thing i did take exception to at the weekend was the black eyed peas and then u2 playing when the Kilkenny minors and then Tipp accepted the respective cups. Other then that i have no problem with any commercialism in the GAA.
I just felt the respective county anthems should be played instead.

i dont' it see that way, the tipp players sang sliabh na mban after accepting the cup which from being where i was on the hill as a tipp fan was brilliant, something ill never forget. the players singing the song would be far better than it being played out in croke park,

as for your comment on u2/black eyed peas songs playing , the gaa has to move with the times whether we like it or not

StupidLikeAFox

Deleted User wrote: »

I just felt the respective county anthems should be played instead.

I wouldnt fancy this ringing around Croker when Kildare win the All-Ireland next year! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G87Yu-wuiFw :D:D

hisholinessnb

Slideshowbob wrote: »

You must be too young to remember the championships before they had sponsors

I don't think pointing out that you are older than some posters (which is impossible to prove as anonymous posters) helps your argument.

Slideshowbob wrote: »

And for the guy who termed this silly post of the day, it's my observances on the matter and counter arguments posed have not since changed my views.

I said it was silly as it was both naive (what sport hasnt gotten more commerical over the years) and ironic, given that it ended hinting that we should pay our players.

Slideshowbob wrote: »

Perhaps if you could provide links to gaa revenues etc on how proportionately it filters down to club level that would be more useful to an apparently Ill informed person like myself

Why do you need links?
Are you actually suggesting the money the GAA are bringing in (from all areas) is not benefitting the clubs??

I don't know the exact proportions as to what goes to clubs versus stadium development, underage coaching etc etc but this is entirely irrelevant as the more money the GAA pulls in, the higher the clubs "percentage" will be.

Or would you rather they abandoned sponsorship, back door games etc, thus reducing the income by huge amounts, then paying players out of what is left?
This may take you back to the good old days, but it would be at the expense of every small club in the country.

aDeener

Slideshowbob wrote: »

Used to follow Intercounty GAA twenty or thirty years ago when a kid but boy has it changed:

Galway play in Leinster hurling championship (that's taking the p!ss surely, sooooo fcuked up)

No longer called all Ireland by GAA I notice but football / hurling championship

Back door rules, you don't have to win provincials to play on!!

Barriers back up in croker (did some insurance company request this or something) back to treating attendants like animals. Haven't soccer stadia done away with this?

Old logo replaced by snake-like simplified GAA logo

All the above sprung to mind recently

I have this image of marketing, image and revenue consultants advising powers that be over the years with fancy expensive reports and above is the upshot

Meanwhile we still expect players to be "amateur"??

:rolleyes: