the Ulster Council

ballsymchugh

so the ulster council have refused to move the time for the Down v Armagh match on saturday to avoid a clash with the champions league final. the attendance will be a lot worse because of it.

on newstalk just now, when commenting on the low sale of tickets, an armagh official blamed the kings of leon concert. seriously, can they not take their heads out of the sand for once and realise that people enjoy more than one sport, and only pure die hard GAA heads will go to the match, while many more will be watching the champions league.
they make the longford county board look amazing. the co-operation between them and longford town fc on timing of matches to avoid clashes is excellent. the soccer team use the county colours as their away strip.

is it time for them to drop the siege mentality? they're losing out on a lot of gate receipts because of it.

dartbhoy

It's puzzling why the Ulster Council won't move this yet they have history on these clashes of soccer/GAA!

I remember 1990 when they made Donegal and another county play an Ulster SFC game at the same time as Ireland's soccer game against Egypt in the World Cup! A paltry attendance of 4000 was recorded in the days when 1 defeat and your summer was over!

Blaming the Kings of Leon concert for poor ticket sales is ridiculous! Whether people like it or not the facts are there's a major soccer game been televised across the globe Saturday night however the Ulster council refuse to believe it's a problem!

ShamoBuc

WHAT !!!!! The Kings of Leon are playing at the same time!!! Goddamit!!
Lucky I don't have to choose....

ardmacha

the co-operation between them and longford town fc on timing of matches to avoid clashes is excellent.

It is one thing coordinating with other local events, but not with events involving teams from two other countries.

ballsymchugh

ardmacha wrote: »

It is one thing coordinating with other local events, but not with events involving teams from two other countries.

the point is that they don't clash so they maximise their gate receipts. but to have the head in the sand and blame the kings of leon for poor ticket sales when it's clearly one of the biggest sporting occasions of the year is just daft.
the leinster council had no problem rearranging the offaly match for earlier on saturday knowing what was going on.

rebel girl 15

ballsymchugh wrote: »

the point is that they don't clash so they maximise their gate receipts. but to have the head in the sand and blame the kings of leon for poor ticket sales when it's clearly one of the biggest sporting occasions of the year is just daft.
the leinster council had no problem rearranging the offaly match for earlier on saturday knowing what was going on.

What time Saturday?? Magners League final is on around 5ish!

J Cheever Loophole

The match is on Saturday evening because it was moved from the Sunday slot, back in October last year. The move was because the BBC wanted to show the game live. By showing the game live, the BBC will be paying a not insubstantial amount of loot for the privilege.

It is unfortunate that it has now clashed with the Champions League Final, particularly as Barca are in it (:D), and there is no doubt that the attendance will be affected. By how much, no-one can really say. How much would it cost the Ulster Council to move the match, in the way of lost TV receipts, and how would this figure compare to the unknown loss in revenue.... well, we're getting into Donald Rumsfeld's area of expertise, i.e. known unknowns!! Basically though, no-one can state that this game should be moved on issues of revenue alone.

As for the Ulster Council, I would have been a critic in the past, but I have to say I would have some sympathy here. I don't know what it's like in the rest of the country, but up here the soccer issue can be quite emotive, and the reality is that soccer is a competing sport for the love and affection of our youth. The Ulster Council has an obligation to promote our games, and if they were to move the Down v Armagh match (which is one of the biggest games of the GAA year) so that others could see a soccer match, I feel that would send out the wrong message, i.e. that our big games are not as important as that of the Champions League Final.

I say that as someone who (God willing) will be at the Athletic Grounds on Saturday evening, and will be keeping a close eye on events at Wembley.

Royal Seahawk

J Cheever Loophole wrote: »

The match is on Saturday evening because it was moved from the Sunday slot, back in October last year. The move was because the BBC wanted to show the game live. By showing the game live, the BBC will be paying a not insubstantial amount of loot for the privilege.

It is unfortunate that it has now clashed with the Champions League Final, particularly as Barca are in it (:D), and there is no doubt that the attendance will be affected. By how much, no-one can really say. How much would it cost the Ulster Council to move the match, in the way of lost TV receipts, and how would this figure compare to the unknown loss in revenue.... well, we're getting into Donald Rumsfeld's area of expertise, i.e. known unknowns!! Basically though, no-one can state that this game should be moved on issues of revenue alone.

As for the Ulster Council, I would have been a critic in the past, but I have to say I would have some sympathy here. I don't know what it's like in the rest of the country, but up here the soccer issue can be quite emotive, and the reality is that soccer is a competing sport for the love and affection of our youth. The Ulster Council has an obligation to promote our games, and if they were to move the Down v Armagh match (which is one of the biggest games of the GAA year) so that others could see a soccer match, I feel that would send out the wrong message, i.e. that our big games are not as important as that of the Champions League Final.

I say that as someone who (God willing) will be at the Athletic Grounds on Saturday evening, and will be keeping a close eye on events at Wembley.

But at this stage of the Championship they're not.

penexpers

rebel girl 15 wrote: »

What time Saturday?? Magners League final is on around 5ish!

Throw in is now 5pm, IIRC. Feel sorry for the Leinster council, moving the match and they are still clashing with a major event in a different sport.

J Cheever Loophole

Royal Seahawk wrote: »

But at this stage of the Championship they're not.

I'm curious - at what stage would they, and when you answer that, would you in turn not recognise that the answer is very much subjective anyway?

Clareman

IMVHO the GAA are very lucky with very few sporting occasions conflicting with their schedules each year, it wouldn't have taken much effort for them to have had a look and thought "mmmm, Magners League and Champions League Finals on the same evening, might as well avoid matches on that night".

Personally, I think Friday nights should become GAA nights during the summer, have events for kids, maybe have an event in the towns during the day (mascots and the like), big game (whether local or inter-county), get a real family atmosphere going, if anyone has ever been to Ravenhill you'd know what I mean.

ardmacha

I think Friday nights should become GAA nights during the summer,

Is there not much on TV on Fridays?

Pride Fighter

Clareman wrote: »

IMVHO the GAA are very lucky with very few sporting occasions conflicting with their schedules each year, it wouldn't have taken much effort for them to have had a look and thought "mmmm, Magners League and Champions League Finals on the same evening, might as well avoid matches on that night".

Personally, I think Friday nights should become GAA nights during the summer, have events for kids, maybe have an event in the towns during the day (mascots and the like), big game (whether local or inter-county), get a real family atmosphere going, if anyone has ever been to Ravenhill you'd know what I mean.

I disagree, but I'm speaking from the biased position of a League of Ireland supporter. It'd kill domestic soccer. I love both sports and prefer the status quo.

Clareman

Very good point re:LoI, didn't think of that to be honest.

But I honestly believe that the GAA has to do something to try to make their product more appealing to the masses. A month ago I was in Thomond Park followed by Cusack Park, Munster put on a show, they had stilt walkers, musicians, Brian Kennedy at half time, in Cusack Park the match was delayed by 5 minutes cause they couldn't get the crowd in on time and some combeen on the mic looking for people to go to misc. pitch openings. The program in TP was a fiver and it was a ~50 page colour booklet with various different articles as well as a spotlight piece on a club in the province, in Cusack Park it was €2 and it was 8 pages, 4 of which were ads, in blue and white.

The GAA is in a fantastic position where it is the only sport during the summer months (besides LoI) but they are in danger of losing so many supporters because they aren't in the "entertainment" business.