GAA's Marketing Tactics

PASCAL CHIMBONDA

Well,

Just want to get peoples overall perspectives on the GAA's marketing tactics.

such as:

Where do you feel GAA could improve in regard to the way they market their games?

Do you feel that marketing is important in other to prevent the threat of other sports? (eg soccer and rugby)

Do you feel it would be worthwhile for the GAA to market towards foreign markets? (eg Irish american tourists)

Do you feel such things as half time entertainment and the general game razamataz would entice people to matches?


Or just even your overall opinion?

its an interesting topic

nice_guy80

the GAA do marketing?

Seriously?

when did that start?

thesultan

Tv adds are terribly poor. Their is soccer and rugby advertised on tv the whole time and most of it espically the rugby is very poor fare. I

randd1

The GAA don't do marketing.

PASCAL CHIMBONDA

Ye say GAA dont do marketing?

well they have made attempts such as getting the likes of Jedward to play at half time.

do ye think that the GAA need to market more?

PASCAL CHIMBONDA

PASCAL CHIMBONDA wrote: »

Ye say GAA dont do marketing?

well they have made attempts such as getting the likes of Jedward to play at half time.

do ye think that the GAA need to market more?

That was Dublin GAA who are probably the exception to the rule but in general the GAA need to wake up and smell the coffee. Louth modelled their new jersies in a toilet and their picture was taken by a camera phone (and a poor one at that). Tipperary have an online club shop that needs huge improvement and to the best of my knowledge i think we are one of the only counties to have an online shop. Loads of examples.

nice_guy80

why isn't there adverts staring to advertise the upcoming leagues?
the GAA website is so poor for detailing/promoting upcoming matches.

for the preseason competitions RTE could easily have a discussion programme focussing in on how the new managers are getting on as well as a look at the third level scene
and then a proper league highlights programme, plus another discussion programme
there should be a merchandise shop at every game
there should be hot food at every game.
there should be huge temporary signs on the roads into the towns where league games will be played, advertising the opposition and game time. (even soccer and rugby teams do a that)
beer should be served at all games. (it is at rugby games and there is no problem)

you should be able to buy a package of tickets for the league eg buy two away tickets, get one home ticket free.

none of that is rocket scienece.

Realt Dearg Sec

The complete unwillingness, or more likely inability, to simplify the layout of the inter-county season is by far and away the most damaging aspect of the GAA's publicity. All the marketing in the world can't hide the fact that there are only three or four hurling matches a year that non-traditional hurling people care about in the slightest. Until they work on that, glossy ads and competition launches are a waste of time. Which is just as well because frankly the GAA are useless at them.

But expending energy on marketing sideshows (however inept) completely avoids the blindingly obvious problem facing the GAA.

I guess the failure to have GAA stars, or even the games themselves, as prominent elements in advertising has been a strange one to me. In the 90s hurling was a big part of Guinness ad campaigns, and made it all look very cool. Rugby still does this, or look at the NFL in America. It's odd to me that a sport that combines aggression, speed and skill is not all over advertising campaigns of the companies sponsoring both the teams and the competitions. For example, Guinness no longer really advertise their sponsorship of hurling, and only use it for drinkaware stuff, which is not the case with their rugby involvement. Vodafone don't even do much with the Dublin footballers.

I dunno if corporate sponsorship stuff is necessarily a SOLUTION to anything, just a strange thing I've observed. The GAA seems to be largely hidden a lot of the time.

Syferus

The Gathering is a huge opportunity for the Government and the GAA to make gaelic games into the tourist attraction they're ready-made to be. Uniquely Irish and with an incredible ethos to match it should be near the top of most tourists' lists to catch a game but I'd wager most barely even know they exist. That needs to be fixed.

I think online is the GAA's biggest headache in a lot of ways to growth outside Ireland. You see the services organisation like the NFL and NBA provide for online streaming of their game and on-demand as-live video content and you start to wonder why the GAA aren't doing the same. If I was Liam O'Neill I'd be making sure that when rights contracts come up the next time the GAA ensure they retain worldwide online rights to every game at every level.

That doesn't mean others can't air live games online or buy rights for certain countries or area but that the GAA could offer anyone with an interest in the sport throughout the world an avenue to engage with the sport at a sensible and affordable price.

Armagh GAA have been airing some club games live lately on their website so people are moving in that direction but until the GAA itself makes a big move there won't be a sea change.

Syferus

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

The complete unwillingness, or more likely inability, to simplify the layout of the inter-county season is by far and away the most damaging aspect of the GAA's publicity. All the marketing in the world can't hide the fact that there are only three or four hurling matches a year that non-traditional hurling people care about in the slightest. Until they work on that, glossy ads and competition launches are a waste of time. Which is just as well because frankly the GAA are useless at them.

But expending energy on marketing sideshows (however inept) completely avoids the blindingly obvious problem facing the GAA.

I guess the failure to have GAA stars, or even the games themselves, as prominent elements in advertising has been a strange one to me. In the 90s hurling was a big part of Guinness ad campaigns, and made it all look very cool. Rugby still does this, or look at the NFL in America. It's odd to me that a sport that combines aggression, speed and skill is not all over advertising campaigns of the companies sponsoring both the teams and the competitions. For example, Guinness no longer really advertise their sponsorship of hurling, and only use it for drinkaware stuff, which is not the case with their rugby involvement. Vodafone don't even do much with the Dublin footballers.

I dunno if corporate sponsorship stuff is necessarily a SOLUTION to anything, just a strange thing I've observed. The GAA seems to be largely hidden a lot of the time.

Going to Dublin last Summer was like entering a Vodafone-sponsored Mecca for the Dubs. The public transport was flooded with propaganda posters of Bernard Brogan doing his best blue steel impersonation or of low-angle shots of Dennis Bastick to make him look even more like a giant. And that's not to mention the papers or the billboards.

I think Vodafone wring plenty from that sponsorship, far more than any other sponsor does.

iDave

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

The complete unwillingness, or more likely inability, to simplify the layout of the inter-county season is by far and away the most damaging aspect of the GAA's publicity. .

Have to agree 100%. We have a a bizarre season whereby you have 2 competitions in the winter and spring downplayed as a way of blooding in new players plus challenge matches so by the time the championship has started your county has played more than 10 matches yet are only guaranteed 2 championship matches (and thats as many as a lot get) and to win the championship you play less than 10.
How can you expect to build a loyal fanbase willing to buy season tickets en masse when most of the season structure is just for second rate league/January tournaments matches.
Another bizarre aspect to it is your given 7 months notice of your first championship match, draw in October and first match in May/June yet if you find yourself in the qualifiers for some counties you have another 8 week gap and then all of a sudden you have 6 days notice of your next match in the football qualifiers.
Get a more structured season in place with better scheduling and more emphasis on competitive fixtures first and then we can focus of everything else.

Clareman

Something about someone coming on board to just ask questions about marketing seems odd to me, but I'll leave this up for now and give my 2 cents.

My 2 cents
On Line Marketing.
The GAA seems intent on leaving local County Boards look after their own websites, most are a complete disgrace with little or no updates, very badly laid out, terrible colouring schemes and difficult navigation schemes.
The GAA has not embraced Social Media at all, most Facebook or Twitter feeds are by supporters, not any official channels.
I don't think I have ever seen a Google Ad advertising anything GAA.
Heaven forbit a GAA Youtube feed.
Boards.ie is the biggest Irish Online Forum, the GAA is the biggest Irish Sporting Organisation, why not talk to someone in Boards HQ about getting a presence on here?

Tourism.
In most Cities the largest sporting centre will have some kind of tourism blurb about it (Cardiff Millenium Stadium, London Wembley, Barcelona Nou Camp) and will have advertisments in most hotels or travel centres (Bus Depots, Train Stations, Airports) advertising either a tour or what's on that weekend.
The GAA should have a notice in every Bus/Train Station showcasing what's on that week locally.

Game Advertising.
Unless you are involved in the game you won't have a clue when matches are on, where to get tickets, how to get tickets.
The GAA needs to realise that they are in the Entertainment business and start advertising their games accordingly.
Most county grounds are in the middle of towns but for league matches there is nothing done in the town to encourage people to get to the games, stuff like Mascots, face painters, musicians going around the towns before each game would drum up some interest and encourage people to go to the games.

At the moment, the GAA only has 2 or 3 games a year when it's difficult to get tickets, they also only seem interested in showcasing the intercounty game, they have to realise that large parts of the population would be very interested in popping around to their local pitch to watch a game if it was A)Entertaining and B)Value for Money.

Realt Dearg Sec

Syferus wrote: »

Going to Dublin last Summer was like entering a Vodafone-sponsored Mecca for the Dubs. The public transport was flooded with propaganda posters of Bernard Brogan doing his best blue steel impersonation or of low-angle shots of Dennis Bastick to make him look even more like a giant. And that's not to mention the papers or the billboards.

I think Vodafone wring plenty from that sponsorship, far more than any other sponsor does.

I live in Dublin and I never thought it to be particularly flooded with ads like that. Maybe I was just immune to it from living here to begin with.

Regarding your alst comment, about other sponsors, the one that strikes me is Avonmore and the Kilkenny team. They've sponsored our lads for years now, but their ads on TV (for example their constantly awful, twee weather forecast ads) have never once featured the team in any capacity. Surely when you are advertising dairy products, the opportunity to link it with an incredibly successful sports team would be a massive temptation? If not, why sponsor the team at all?

keane2097

Kerry Group don't seem to get a whole lot from their sponsorship of Kerry either. In fact I seem to remember Tommy Walsh and Dave Moran doing an ad for a rival milk company locally a few years ago!

Dirty Dingus McGee

They could do with being harder on RTE.RTE's treatment of the games at times is pathetic.Example from Aertel tonight where apparently there are a load of "club" games in the O'Byrne cup being played this evening, also RTE's generally negative coverage dueing the summer doesnt help the GAA, nor the fact that the major TV station in Ireland doesnt show muh interest in shwoing league games.It would provide a boost for the league if a match every week swas shown live on RTE and this could be easily achieved if the GAA just told them that if they want to show the championship they have to show league games.

davegrohl48

A national ad campaign purely related to season tickets would be a great idea Fill out league attendances a bit more Rte also need to improve their in-game player stats and analysis Assists are not tracked Posessions won Blocks. Metres carried Tackles Just scores at moment It would improve enjoyment of watching a game

art foley

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

They could do with being harder on RTE.RTE's treatment of the games at times is pathetic.Example from Aertel tonight where apparently there are a load of "club" games in the O'Byrne cup being played this evening, also RTE's generally negative coverage dueing the summer doesnt help the GAA, nor the fact that the major TV station in Ireland doesnt show muh interest in shwoing league games.It would provide a boost for the league if a match every week swas shown live on RTE and this could be easily achieved if the GAA just told them that if they want to show the championship they have to show league games.

mate - have you seen the tv rating figures for big games- apart from the finals figures are poor

I know that russia vs poland in the football had twice the figures as the all Ireland semi finals and eastenders etc would have a lot more than the all Ireland semi finals

unfortunately we arent in a strong position to argue as we just dont get the viewers for the big games:(

Dirty Dingus McGee

art foley wrote: »

mate - have you seen the tv rating figures for big games- apart from the finals figures are poor

I know that russia vs poland in the football had twice the figures as the all Ireland semi finals and eastenders etc would have a lot more than the all Ireland semi finals

unfortunately we arent in a strong position to argue as we just dont get the viewers for the big games:(

Most GAA championship matches get good viewership figures compared to what is on tv most other sunday and saturday afternoons.There isnt a huge amount else on TV during the summer and I doubt RTE would want to lose the GAA from their schedule

TheTwiz

I travel all over the country with my job and the only county with any worthwhile marketing is Dublin. All over the city, bus stops, Luas stops etc there were ads with Bernard Brogan, Cian O'Sullivan, Denis Bastick, etc. The county board themselves actively market the 'Spring Series' on radio, newspapers, TV and Internet. Players are on the radio and TV promoting the Spring Series. Dublin have photo shoots with models to promote new sponsorships.
I remember when Dublin ran out to fireworks and flashing lights vs Kerry in the league I heard a few Kildare fans say "Typical Dubs" "What has this got to do with GAA" I could only laugh at them.

nice_guy80

art foley wrote: »

mate - have you seen the tv rating figures for big games- apart from the finals figures are poor

I know that russia vs poland in the football had twice the figures as the all Ireland semi finals and eastenders etc would have a lot more than the all Ireland semi finals

unfortunately we arent in a strong position to argue as we just dont get the viewers for the big games:(

prove that

RTE don't show any league games, so we don't really know what the viewing figures could be.
they show plenty of rugby matches though

munchkin_utd

nice_guy80 wrote: »

prove that

RTE don't show any league games, so we don't really know what the viewing figures could be.
they show plenty of rugby matches though

re televising high profile league games, the county boards are already on the edge financially so they would be up in arms should a high profile game be put on tv at the same time on a Sunday afternoon which may affect their gate receipts.
RTE though should be able to provide some sort of summary coverage of all league games in the higher divisions just like UTV and BBC does for the 9 Ulster counties.
If anything, if the 9 Ulster counties are playing non Ulster counties, then should RTE got their arse into gear and coordinate with the northern tv companies they would only need to provide cameras at 7 grounds
(i.e. for football theres 32 counties less kilkenny plus London which is 16 games per match day, 9 of which are already have cameras present from the north leaving RTE only having to cover the other 7 matches)

there are a good number of rugby games on free TV at the moment but they are in the middle of their season now so thats to be expected.
Over the summer they will have little to no coverage except when theres a world cup on.

Realt Dearg Sec

art foley wrote: »

mate - have you seen the tv rating figures for big games- apart from the finals figures are poor

I know that russia vs poland in the football had twice the figures as the all Ireland semi finals and eastenders etc would have a lot more than the all Ireland semi finals

unfortunately we arent in a strong position to argue as we just dont get the viewers for the big games:(

Do you have numbers for that assertion?

Fr Tod Umptious

TheTwiz wrote: »

I travel all over the country with my job and the only county with any worthwhile marketing is Dublin. All over the city, bus stops, Luas stops etc there were ads with Bernard Brogan, Cian O'Sullivan, Denis Bastick, etc. The county board themselves actively market the 'Spring Series' on radio, newspapers, TV and Internet. Players are on the radio and TV promoting the Spring Series. Dublin have photo shoots with models to promote new sponsorships.
I remember when Dublin ran out to fireworks and flashing lights vs Kerry in the league I heard a few Kildare fans say "Typical Dubs" "What has this got to do with GAA" I could only laugh at them.

I think your dead right

The individual counties and provinces do a poor job
Poor local advertising, the exception of local radio, terrible websites and social media etc

At a national level the Championship is well marketed I think, from May to Sept there are plenty of TV and radio adds advertising upcoming games, plenty of bill boards all over the counrty with Championship stuff on them.
But they again the GAA have most of that period to themselves.

The League has a tougher time catching the imagination of people as it starts at the same time as the massively over hyped 6 nations event.

I'm not sure if fireworks, Jedward or The Rubberbandits are that effective, but value for money tickets, lots of radio and TV ads are if you ask me.

Colm R

Clareman wrote: »

On Line Marketing.
The GAA seems intent on leaving local County Boards look after their own websites, most are a complete disgrace with little or no updates, very badly laid out, terrible colouring schemes and difficult navigation schemes.
The GAA has not embraced Social Media at all, most Facebook or Twitter feeds are by supporters, not any official channels.
I don't think I have ever seen a Google Ad advertising anything GAA.
Heaven forbit a GAA Youtube feed.
Boards.ie is the biggest Irish Online Forum, the GAA is the biggest Irish Sporting Organisation, why not talk to someone in Boards HQ about getting a presence on here?

Bang on. You could very easily implement a standard National, County and club website system.

For example, all a club would have to do to start the website is enter their colours, their name, and bang - you get your website allocated to you in an easy to manage format.

Individual club admin could easily add content in a standard format as they please without any technical knowledge.

I think this is how the NFL (US) and the AFL (Oz) do this.


The current system is too dis-jointed to be of any use, and the difference in standards from excellent to poor to nothing is very obvious.

Realt Dearg Sec

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

The League has a tougher time catching the imagination of people as it starts at the same time as the massively over hyped 6 nations event.

It isn't helped by the fact that the League is an utterly meaningless sideshow, a fact that is proven by the lack of concern that nearly all managers have about it. The GAA has created a season in which most managers and players regard the vast majority of their matches as little more than practice games, then they wonder why people aren't showing up?

Personally I'd scrap the league altogether, along with the various Disney-character cups they are playing off at the moment in front of nobody in particular for reasons best known to themselves. Give us a longer, logical championship, and you would have no trouble televising it, and marketing it, because people would know that it mattered to players and management, beyond lip service when Marty Morrissey sticks a microphone in their face.

Fr Tod Umptious

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

It isn't helped by the fact that the League is an utterly meaningless sideshow, a fact that is proven by the lack of concern that nearly all managers have about it. The GAA has created a season in which most managers and players regard the vast majority of their matches as little more than practice games, then they wonder why people aren't showing up?

Personally I'd scrap the league altogether, along with the various Disney-character cups they are playing off at the moment in front of nobody in particular for reasons best known to themselves. Give us a longer, logical championship, and you would have no trouble televising it, and marketing it, because people would know that it mattered to players and management, beyond lip service when Marty Morrissey sticks a microphone in their face.

I like the League.
It's something to look forward to in the spring, it's great to see how teams are developing, it's great to go to inter-county games for 5 or six straight weeks in a row.
I enjoy going to the odd game on a Saturday night too.

It's a great opportunity for each team in the country to set goals and targets, be it a division win, promotion to a higher division, game time for new plaers etc.

I do not know the figures but It would be interesting to see if league attendance has increased with the introduction of the season ticket

Anyway marketing it in the middle of the British/European soccer season and 6 nations is not a easy task.

art foley

Top Programmes (RTE 1)
Adult 15+
September 2012


Rank Programme Name Day Time Date TVR 000's
1 The Late Late Show Fri 21:36 Avg 16.35 572.3
2 RTÉ News: Nine O'Clock Mo-Fr
/Sun 21:01 Avg 14.96 523.6
3 RTÉ News: Nine O'Clock Mo-We
/Sa-Su 21:11 Avg 14.10 493.5
4 Up For The Match Sat 21:51 Avg 12.01 420.5
5 The Saturday Night Show Sat 21:52 Sep 29 11.29 395.2
6 The Secret Millionaire Mon 21:35 Avg 11.27 394.4
7 People Of The Year Awards Sat 21:41 Sep 15 11.11 388.9
8 Fair City Tu-Th
/Sun 20:02 Avg 11.09 388.2
9 RTÉ News: Six-One Mon-Sun 18:01 Avg 10.87 380.5
10 Room To Improve Wed 20:31 Avg 10.48 366.6
11 Prime Time Tu/Th 21:36 Avg 10.41 364.3
12 Crimecall Tue 22:19 Sep 25 10.16 355.4
13 FILM: The Blind Side Wed 21:36 Sep 12 9.96 348.5
14 John Lonergan's School Principles Tue 21:37 Sep 4 9.64 337.6
15 Eastenders Tu/Th 19:30 Avg 9.56 334.4
16 For One Night Only... Sat 21:49 Sep 1 9.48 331.8
17 Fire Fighters Tue 20:33 Avg 9.33 326.5
18 At Your Service Sun 20:32 Avg 9.27 324.4
19 A Little Bit TV Tue 19:00 Avg 8.88 310.8
20 Eastenders Mo/Fr 19:59 Avg 8.87 310.3


Source: Nielsen TV Audience Measurement, Live data




Top Programmes (RTE 2)
Adult 15+
September 2012

Rank Programme Name Day Time Date TVR 000's
1 The Sunday Game Live Sun 15:25 Sep 9 22.45 785.8
2 The Sunday Game Live Sun 15:30 Avg 20.89 731.3
3 The Sunday Game Live Sun 15:15 Sep 30 18.30 640.7
4 The Sunday Game Live Sun 14:15 Avg 8.94 312.8
5 The Sunday Game Live Sun 14:42 Sep 30 8.65 302.8
6 The Sunday Game Live Sun 15:55 Sep 16 8.18 286.3
7 Champions League Live Wed 19:30 Sep 19 7.21 252.5
8 Revenge Tue 21:30 Sep 11 6.99 244.7
9 The Sport Files Sun 17:32 Sep 9 6.95 243.1
10 World Cup 2014 Qualifier Fri 16:30 Sep 7 6.93 242.7
11 The Sunday Game Live Sun 13:15 Sun 2 6.22 217.8
12 The Sunday Game Sun 21:30 Avg 6.08 213.0
13 Revenge Tue 21:52 Sep 4 5.96 208.4
14 FILM: Daddy Day Care Sun 17:50 Sep 23 5.73 200.7
15 Revenge Tue 21:00 Sep 4 5.22 182.6
16 Reality Bites - Ladies Day Tue 21:32 Sep 25 4.67 163.3
17 The Sunday Game Live Sun 13:45 Sep 16 4.63 162.1
18 Criminal Minds Mon 21:52 Avg 4.38 153.3
19 FILM: Mrs. Doubtfire Sun 17:53 Sep 30 4.33 151.5
20 RaboDirect Pro12 Live Fri 19:00 Sep 14 4.16 145.6

art foley

Top Programmes (RTE 1)
Adult 15+
June 2012


Rank Programme Name Day Time Date TVR 000's
1 Late Late Show Anniversary Special Fri 21:41 Jun 1 25.95 880.3
2 Saturday Night with Miriam Sat 21:38 Jun 30 12.71 431.2
3 RTÉ Nine O'Clock News Sat 21:21 Ave 12.21 414.2
4 The Saturday Night Show Sat 21:51 Jun 2 11.67 396.0
5 RTÉ Nine O'Clock News Sat 21:37 Jun 23 11.23 381.0
6 The Way We Worked Thu 19:00 Jun 7 10.41 353.2
7 RTÉ Nine O'Clock News Mon-Sun 21:02 Ave 10.27 348.5
8 RTÉ Six-One News Mon-Sun 18:01 Ave 10.07 341.6
9 Ireland Outside The Euro? Mon 21:34 Jun 11 9.91 336.3
10 Eastenders Mo/We
/Fri 20:00 Ave 9.49 321.9
11 The Consumer Show Tue 20:33 Ave 9.38 318.3
12 FILM: The Matchmaker Fri 21:38 Jun 22 9.12 309.5
13 Fair City Tu/Th
/Sun 20:02 Ave 9.07 307.6
14 FILM: Angels And Demons Mon 21:28 Jun 4 8.75 296.6
15 FILM: Dear John Wed 21:46 Jun 20 8.66 293.8
16 The Sunday Game Live Sun 15:46 Jun 10 8.62 292.2
17 Winning Streak Sat 20:22 Jun 2 8.50 288.3
18 Crimecall Tue 21:36 Jun 19 8.44 286.4
19 Reeling In The Years Mo/Su 18:32 Ave 8.44 286.1
20 FILM: The Wedding Date Fri 21:37 Jun 15 8.40 284.9


Source: Nielsen TV Audience Measurement, Live data




Top Programmes (RTE 2)
Adult 15+
June 2012

Rank Programme Name Day Time Date TVR 000's
1 Euro 2012: Rep Ireland v Croatia Sun 19:38 Jun 10 30.25 1025.9
2 Euro 2012: Rep Ireland v Spain Thu 19:36 Jun 14 27.67 938.4
3 Euro 2012 Semi Final We/Th 19:00 Ave 14.35 486.6
4 Euro 2012: Sweden v England Fri 19:50 Jun 15 13.49 457.7
5 Euro 2012 Mo/Tu
Sa/Su 19:00 Ave 13.44 455.9
6 Euro 2012: Spain v Italy Sun 16:46 Jun 10 12.71 431.1
7 Euro 2012 Quarter Final Th/Fr
Sa/Su 19:00 Ave 12.07 409.4
8 Desperate Housewives Tue 21:56 Jun 5 11.78 399.7
9 Euro 2012 Netherlands v Germany Wed 19:29 Jun 13 11.47 389.2
10 Euro 2012 Germany v Portugal Sat 19:40 Jun 9 11.23 381.0
11 Euro 2012: Poland v Russia Tue 19:39 Jun 12 10.81 366.8
12 The Sunday Game Live Sun 15:45 Ave 9.61 325.9
13 Euro 2012: Ukraine v Sweden Mon 19:40 Jun 11 9.59 325.3
14 Euro 2012 Fri 19:38 Jun 8 9.45 320.5
15 Euro 2012: Italy v Croatia Thu 16:00 Jun 14 9.26 314.2
16 Euro 2012 Fri 16:43 Jun 8 8.18 277.6
17 Euro 2012 Netherlands v Denmark Sat 16:30 Jun 9 7.81 264.8
18 Euro 2012: Ukraine v France Fri 16:31 Jun 15 7.67 260.2
19 Father Ted Wed 22:49 Jun 27 7.55 256.2
20 Euro 2012: Denmark v Portugal Wed 16:30 Jun 13 7.48 253.7

Realt Dearg Sec

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

I like the League.
It's something to look forward to in the spring, it's great to see how teams are developing, it's great to go to inter-county games for 5 or six straight weeks in a row.
I enjoy going to the odd game on a Saturday night too.

It's a great opportunity for each team in the country to set goals and targets, be it a division win, promotion to a higher division, game time for new plaers etc.

I do not know the figures but It would be interesting to see if league attendance has increased with the introduction of the season ticket

Anyway marketing it in the middle of the British/European soccer season and 6 nations is not a easy task.

I like the league too. I enjoy going down to Kilkenny and being at a match in the park, then strolling up for a pint in the cold sunshine, chat about who's doing well, who needs to up it, who they should be trying out, then home for the roast dinner. But two things: 1) there aren't many of us there, and 2) all of those conversations are ultimately about the championship.

I should have said, I wouldn't just scrap the league and leave the championship as it is. I would make the championship first round about five or six matches long. That way the games that we now call the league would suddenly have the importance of championship games. On the other hand, there would now be enough championship games that teams wouldn't be complaining year in year out about not getting enough championship games, or that it is unfair in this way or that. The best teams would come out of the process, and everyone would have to take the league seriously.

All of that is pretty off-topic, until you remember the fundamental point: you can't market what isn't there. People talk about the need to market the league, but you can only market it as an exciting, meaningful and enjoyable competition if, at its heart, it is one. Otherwise you are just bluffing, and as with all aspects of sport, bluffing will be very quickly identified.

art foley

hopefully the FAI dont play hard ball as they have the power not us

so many people watched the russia poland game even though it was on 3 other channels

frightening

Realt Dearg Sec

art foley wrote: »

hopefully the FAI dont play hard ball as they have the power not us

so many people watched the russia poland game even though it was on 3 other channels

frightening

Thanks for those figures. Where are they actually online? It's just that you said the All Ireland semi finals were also beaten out by the likes of Eastenders, which sounds unbelievable. Would like to see the figures.

Matt_Trakker

Televise every single county game and offer them on a subscription channel for a couple of quid a month.
Proper 2-tier league, home and away matches. Promotion for winners of Teir 2, relegation for last place in tier 1.
Promotional playoffs between 2nd & 3rd in Tier 2 Vs 2nd & 3rd last from Tier 1
All Ireland could continue like a Cup competition.

The All Ireland (in hurling at least) is a feckin sham at this stage, Munster's the only place where hurling (other than Kilkenny) is decent. Proper league system with televised games would have more people watching more games.

League format would mean more money for counties, the GAA and ad revenue for the tc provider, more money equal a better standard.
The way they handle the leagues at the minute is beyond a joke, it's god awful

aong

From a style perspective GAA ads tend to be about fans, tea and sandwiches - rarely about the intensity/skill of the game. It'd be great to see something along the lines of the NBAs 'I love this game' from a while back. Just snapshots of skills in slo mo, simply done

munchkin_utd

interesting also that the Camogie Final got a larger viewership than the first round of the champions league in September when RTE showed a game involving either Celtic, Man Utd or Chelsea (cant find which was shown)

6 The Sunday Game Live Sun 15:55 Sep 16 8.18 286.3
7 Champions League Live Wed 19:30 Sep 19 7.21 252.5

Regarding the high figures for the Euro games involving Ireland, its a competition that only happens every 4 years or in Irelands case their first appearance in 24 years!
Its also the NATIONAL team meaning representing everyone from Cork to Donegal and in between and being a one off event it'd also draw in stragglers with no interest in the sport, watching it out of obligation (partner demanding the telly is on that channel) or curiosity to see what all the fuss is about, boosting the figures beyond core soccer viewers.

The all ireland finals though are the peak of the GAA season but being an annual event and one involving only 2 counties out of 32, there wouldnt be that novelty effect to attract the masses.

I do sometimes wonder where the figures come from as I would have thought that way more than a shade over 1 million would have been watching the Euros so I presume the figures dont include anyone watching in the pub or a hotel?

art foley

munchkin_utd wrote: »

interesting also that the Camogie Final got a larger viewership than the first round of the champions league in September when RTE showed a game involving either Celtic, Man Utd or Chelsea (cant find which was shown)

6 The Sunday Game Live Sun 15:55 Sep 16 8.18 286.3
7 Champions League Live Wed 19:30 Sep 19 7.21 252.5

Regarding the high figures for the Euro games involving Ireland, its a competition that only happens every 4 years or in Irelands case their first appearance in 24 years!
Its also the NATIONAL team meaning representing everyone from Cork to Donegal and in between and being a one off event it'd also draw in stragglers with no interest in the sport, watching it out of obligation (partner demanding the telly is on that channel) or curiosity to see what all the fuss is about, boosting the figures beyond core soccer viewers.

The all ireland finals though are the peak of the GAA season but being an annual event and one involving only 2 counties out of 32, there wouldnt be that novelty effect to attract the masses.

I do sometimes wonder where the figures come from as I would have thought that way more than a shade over 1 million would have been watching the Euros so I presume the figures dont include anyone watching in the pub or a hotel?

did you read the figures mate?

russia poland got huge numbers compared to the all ireland semi finals

there is a major tournament every 2 years not 4

in regards to the figures - most people watch ireland games and champions league games on a spectrum of channels so you can double all the football figures

popebenny16

any chance of putting up the august results?

the fact that sport of regularly outviewed by eastenders and the like is hardly surprising, which is why all sport is on the second channel.

By the way, GAA marketing is abysmal, a sham, full of begrudgery and takes its patrons totally for granted.

it reminds me of the line about work, that it would be great without the clients. Football and Hurling would be great if they didnt come with the GAA attached.

Dirty Dingus McGee

Looking at those figures.I you exclude the Ireland matches in June the one Sunday game that appears on June's figures has around the same viewership as most of the heavily hyped Euro 2012 matches.Nothing wrong with that if you ask me, yuo'd expect very high viwership for euro 2012 as with all major soccer tournaments as non soccer fans will generally tune in, I always do and I couldnt give a fiddlers about most of the matches.I noticed that the GAA viwership figures included by Art in september all exceed the viewership for the WC 2014 Qualifier on Spetember 7th

Syferus

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

I like the league too. I enjoy going down to Kilkenny and being at a match in the park, then strolling up for a pint in the cold sunshine, chat about who's doing well, who needs to up it, who they should be trying out, then home for the roast dinner. But two things: 1) there aren't many of us there, and 2) all of those conversations are ultimately about the championship.

I should have said, I wouldn't just scrap the league and leave the championship as it is. I would make the championship first round about five or six matches long. That way the games that we now call the league would suddenly have the importance of championship games. On the other hand, there would now be enough championship games that teams wouldn't be complaining year in year out about not getting enough championship games, or that it is unfair in this way or that. The best teams would come out of the process, and everyone would have to take the league seriously.

All of that is pretty off-topic, until you remember the fundamental point: you can't market what isn't there. People talk about the need to market the league, but you can only market it as an exciting, meaningful and enjoyable competition if, at its heart, it is one. Otherwise you are just bluffing, and as with all aspects of sport, bluffing will be very quickly identified.

I think levels of urgency need to be established here. First and formost we need to rearrange the current schedule to lessen the pressure on players, particularly u21 county players who most likely have to alternate between the u21 and senior panels and their college teams in the first three or four months of the year. Moving the Sigerson and co. to before Christmas would be a good start and, honestly, colleges' continued participation in the pre-season tournaments needs to be reassessed anyways because they are causing senior teams to field severely hamstrung panels and making most of the games close to pointless.

If the Sigerson was before Christmas then there would be little need for the colleges to be playing in the senior county pre-season tournaments.

After that archaic things like never having two Ulster championship games on the same day need to be scraped so the championship schedule can be streamlined and teams don't have obscene gaps between games.

Aiming for anything more than that is very, very unlikely to happen (nevermind the many issues radical proposals would bring up) in the short term so the low-hanging fruit should be the goals the GAA work towards.

Realt Dearg Sec

Syferus wrote: »

I think levels of urgency need to be established here. First and formost we need to rearrange the current schedule to lessen the pressure on players, particularly u21 county players who most likely have to alternate between the u21 and senior panels and their college teams in the first three or four months of the year. Moving the Sigerson and co. to before Christmas would be a good start, and hoenstly colleges' continued parcipation in the pre-season tournaments needs to be reassessed anyways because they are causing senior teams to field severely hamstrung panels and making most of the games close to pointless.

If the Sigerson was before Christmas then there would be little need for the colleges to be playing in the senior county pre-season tournaments.

After that archaic things like never having two Ulster championship games on the same day need to be scraped so the championship schedule can be streamlined and teams don't have obscene gaps between games.

Aiming for anything more than that is very, very unlikely to happen (nevermind the many issues radical proposals would bring up) in the short term so the low-hanging fruit should be the goals the GAA work towards.

There's not an item in your post I disagree with. Regarding the senior teams currently having to field severely hamstrung panels making the games close to pointless, I honestly don't know how much closer to pointless they can get. I agree that small steps are needed, but the actual structure of the GAA means you don't even get small steps, you get a kind of trampling around in circles. Because certain things seem to be sacrosanct, and because the self-interest of different counties must always be privileged over the needs of the sports, every change in the layout of the season becomes increasingly more convoluted and confusing. Any effort to improve things is met with hostility from some county or other who thinks they might lose out.

Mal-Adjusted

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

Because certain things seem to be sacrosanct, and because the self-interest of different counties must always be privileged over the needs of the sports, every change in the layout of the season becomes increasingly more convoluted and confusing. Any effort to improve things is met with hostility from some county or other who thinks they might lose out.

Any chance of some examples here? I completely believe you as it just feels like something the GAA would do, but facts would be nice.

Realt Dearg Sec

Mal-Adjusted wrote: »

Any chance of some examples here? I completely believe you as it just feels like something the GAA would do, but facts would be nice.

In terms of sacrosanct principles, I'm mainly thinking of the provincials in hurling. I don't know if it works in football (although people do seem to regard it as imbalanced) but it is certainly a mistake in hurling.

In terms of the interests of particular counties. The one that springs immediately to mind for me is Limerick's attitude to the league. When Donal O'Grady was manager there (and obviously he doesn't speak for Limerick GAA) he once actually proposed a six team top tier of the league as the best way forward. Then when he got shafted by the change in format the same man was in the papers denigrating the system that mirrored almost exactly what he said. (I'm aware that for many Limerick folks it was the fact that they were told they were promoted and then it was taken from them, rather than the system itself, that was the problem, but for DO'G that wasn't the case, he just switched opinion).

The league's current format was also bizarrely re-organised at the last minute to include the winner of the second division in a semi final spot, ahead of three teams from the first division. That just doesn't make sense, and it was a sop to Clare, Limerick, Wexford and Offaly.

Another example would be the weird anomalous position of Galway in the championship, particularly at underage.

All of this stuff means that teams don't enter the competitions on equal footings, there are too many variables that are historical rather than in the interests of fair sport. As a Kilkenny man, incidentally, I find that this dog's dinner probably helped us win the vast number of All Irelands we have this last while. I'd sacrifice a few Kilkenny wins if it meant hurling was fairer, more exciting, with more meaningful games during the summer.

[sorry this is such a long post and so far off topic...maybe we should move it elsewhere? As I was saying I think the popularity of the sport has more to do with this than marketing but maybe that's not reason enough to keep going off on this tangent?]

nice_guy80

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

In terms of sacrosanct principles, I'm mainly thinking of the provincials in hurling. I don't know if it works in football (although people do seem to regard it as imbalanced) but it is certainly a mistake in hurling.

In terms of the interests of particular counties. The one that springs immediately to mind for me is Limerick's attitude to the league. When Donal O'Grady was manager there (and obviously he doesn't speak for Limerick GAA) he once actually proposed a six team top tier of the league as the best way forward. Then when he got shafted by the change in format the same man was in the papers denigrating the system that mirrored almost exactly what he said. (I'm aware that for many Limerick folks it was the fact that they were told they were promoted and then it was taken from them, rather than the system itself, that was the problem, but for DO'G that wasn't the case, he just switched opinion).

The league's current format was also bizarrely re-organised at the last minute to include the winner of the second division in a semi final spot, ahead of three teams from the first division. That just doesn't make sense, and it was a sop to Clare, Limerick, Wexford and Offaly.

Another example would be the weird anomalous position of Galway in the championship, particularly at underage.

All of this stuff means that teams don't enter the competitions on equal footings, there are too many variables that are historical rather than in the interests of fair sport. As a Kilkenny man, incidentally, I find that this dog's dinner probably helped us win the vast number of All Irelands we have this last while. I'd sacrifice a few Kilkenny wins if it meant hurling was fairer, more exciting, with more meaningful games during the summer.

[sorry this is such a long post and so far off topic...maybe we should move it elsewhere? As I was saying I think the popularity of the sport has more to do with this than marketing but maybe that's not reason enough to keep going off on this tangent?]

why not just one big division one??
but only get to play half the teams in it.
ie a random draw

why the need to play all teams in the division?

Realt Dearg Sec

nice_guy80 wrote: »

why not just one big division one??
but only get to play half the teams in it.
ie a random draw

why the need to play all teams in the division?

actually one way of maintaining the provincials would be a system like the NFL divisions. You play all the teams in your division and some of the teams in the other division, varying every year. You can still win your provincial but not without playing the other teams. Complicated, bound to piss off everyone, it seems perfect for the way the GAA runs its stuff.

Despite the sarcastic response, I should say that seriously I think something like it could work.

looder

Matt_Trakker wrote: »

Televise every single county game and offer them on a subscription channel for a couple of quid a month.
Proper 2-tier league, home and away matches. Promotion for winners of Teir 2, relegation for last place in tier 1.
Promotional playoffs between 2nd & 3rd in Tier 2 Vs 2nd & 3rd last from Tier 1
All Ireland could continue like a Cup competition.

The All Ireland (in hurling at least) is a feckin sham at this stage, Munster's the only place where hurling (other than Kilkenny) is decent. Proper league system with televised games would have more people watching more games.

League format would mean more money for counties, the GAA and ad revenue for the tc provider, more money equal a better standard.
The way they handle the leagues at the minute is beyond a joke, it's god awful

That's a myth, and I'm from Munster. The Munster Championship is just more even than the Leinster/Rest of All Ireland Championship.

popebenny16

how do you market a thing like the GAA?? (its almost like a song title )

the games themselves are fine (leaving out the improving football debate)

the problem is the attitude that the GAA (and i know that is a very general and vague term) has towards itself and the levels of importance it atttaches to its own comptitions.

The intercounty championship is king. Next is the Club Championship. But that is undermined by constantly postponing matches and entire championships at county level, so in otherwords the county GAA dont even see their own championships as the most important.

All Ireland Club championship however is more important than Intercounty Leauge. Intercounty League is more important than County Club Leauge.

Within the Intercounty Championship some parts of it are more important than others. Antrim play in Leinster Hurling unitll they get knocked out and then play in the Ulster Hurling. There is no Connaught Hurling Championshp maybe because there is a different species of human being out west who cannot comprehend what the sport is unless you are from Galway, who also play in Leinster.

Then we have warm-up things like now, and inter provincials and all-star things.

So, you have a large amount of compititons and a wide variety of importance is placed upon them.

This makes it hard enough to market but the main problem is - how to do market a product that its own particpants dont have much time for - eg, the leagues? The Ulster Hurling Championship? The Connaught Hurling situation?

Even what is happening in the Leinster Hurling Championship is not good, as it looks from the draw that the GAA are quite happy to have perpetual Kilkenny v Galway finals. If you want to kill off Hulring in places like Wexford Offaly and Dublin you're going the right way, as people will float over to the football where they see a better chance and stick with it.

In fact, in terms of this general indifference, the entire state of the Hurling championships has to be looked into. We are a long way into the game being held by the big three since the 1990's now, with only Galway and maybe Dublin showing any signs of a long term threat. But as long as the GAA gets their big day in september sure thats ok. The 2012 final and replay plastered over a few cracks.

The GAA looks suspisiously upon marketing, and always has, and when they do try a bit of it they either muck it up (look at the half time entertainment in a lot of All Irelands its like a mixture of Senior Scor and Failte Isteach) or hand it over compleatly to allow professionals do it (like coca cola and the itnernational rules) and then tut tut about it (there's no compromise in international rules).

In essence the GAA's marketing tactics do not exist, apart from giving them what they got last year, sure didnt they turn up anyway.

Clareman

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

actually one way of maintaining the provincials would be a system like the NFL divisions. You play all the teams in your division and some of the teams in the other division, varying every year. You can still win your provincial but not without playing the other teams. Complicated, bound to piss off everyone, it seems perfect for the way the GAA runs its stuff.

Despite the sarcastic response, I should say that seriously I think something like it could work.

Like the NFL where you have divisional rivalry and you also have a schedule for playing all the other teams as well, not a bad model actually as they have 32 teams as well.

Realt Dearg Sec

Clareman wrote: »

Like the NFL where you have divisional rivalry and you also have a schedule for playing all the other teams as well, not a bad model actually as they have 32 teams as well.

Yeah the more I think of it the more problems it seems to solve. Would probably work a bit better in football though.

Hammer Archer

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

Personally I'd scrap the league altogether, along with the various Disney-character cups they are playing off at the moment in front of nobody in particular for reasons best known to themselves.

The proceeds from the O'Byrne Cup go to a players' injury benefit fund.
And there were well over 3 thousand at the Meath - Louth game last night (despite what the official figure was). That's a massive amount, hardly "in front of nobody in particular". In my personal experience, O'Byrne Cup attendances have increased massively compared to what they were in the late 1990s. Think it was 2004 when the final in Mullingar had to be delayed because of the size of the crowd.
I like the pre season competitions and league. You can almost always have good craic with other teams' fans who are there for the game and not to get pissed like a lot of "supporters" in the championship.

Realt Dearg Sec

Hammer Archer wrote: »

I like the pre season competitions and league. You can almost always have good craic with other teams' fans who are there for the game and not to get pissed like a lot of "supporters" in the championship.

This I certainly agree with, like I say I do enjoy going to the league. I've never been to the O'Byrne cup, but the Walsh cup bores me to tears whenever I've been at a game, and certainly there weren't anything like thousands at it. Teams have a habit of arriving back from their team holiday for it, and I know for a fact that many teams' drink bans don't cover these competitions (you might have read the article recently about James Ryall and John Hoyne going on the lash in NI the night before a Walsh Cup game...although that wasn't with Cody's permission by any means).

Regarding the Injury benefit fund. I'll have to take your word for it, but I'd be pretty certain the players could make a good case for getting funding directly from the GAA for that, without having to go out and play even more games.

My problem is that these competitions mean that the intercounty season goes from January to late September, completely destroying the coherence of the club schedule (and by the way I enjoy those games much more than Walsh Cup) without good enough reason, and in the meantime the actual competition people are looking towards is dragged out and scattered (weeks and weeks between matches). I think in terms of marketing the games, a season of a few intense months, with teams out at least every two weeks, would be far easier to get people excited for, especially if all the teams were playing a whole bunch of championship games, instead of loads of league games and only a handful of championship ones. You could also limit the intercounty season in such a way that club fixtures could actually be relied on when teams get them at the start of the year (have you ever tried booking a holiday in February as a GAA player?)

nice_guy80

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

This I certainly agree with, like I say I do enjoy going to the league. I've never been to the O'Byrne cup, but the Walsh cup bores me to tears whenever I've been at a game, and certainly there weren't anything like thousands at it. Teams have a habit of arriving back from their team holiday for it, and I know for a fact that many teams' drink bans don't cover these competitions (you might have read the article recently about James Ryall and John Hoyne going on the lash in NI the night before a Walsh Cup game...although that wasn't with Cody's permission by any means).

Regarding the Injury benefit fund. I'll have to take your word for it, but I'd be pretty certain the players could make a good case for getting funding directly from the GAA for that, without having to go out and play even more games.

My problem is that these competitions mean that the intercounty season goes from January to late September, completely destroying the coherence of the club schedule (and by the way I enjoy those games much more than Walsh Cup) without good enough reason, and in the meantime the actual competition people are looking towards is dragged out and scattered (weeks and weeks between matches). I think in terms of marketing the games, a season of a few intense months, with teams out at least every two weeks, would be far easier to get people excited for, especially if all the teams were playing a whole bunch of championship games, instead of loads of league games and only a handful of championship ones. You could also limit the intercounty season in such a way that club fixtures could actually be relied on when teams get them at the start of the year (have you ever tried booking a holiday in February as a GAA player?)

why oh why don't the GAA play more floodlit games on a Friday night?
gives people something to go to.
the atmosphere is usually good and the county players then have at least until Sunday off.

plus, club games can be played on the saturdays and sundays.

Dirty Dingus McGee

This would be the season structure I woudl like to see.Although there isnt a hope in hell of it happening because the GAA is too democratic.

My structure would be to get rid of the league.Start the championship in late April/Early May.Football is a summer game there should be no intercounty football before April and after September.

Have 4 conferences with 8 teams in each play 7 matches.The league of the year before is used to set the seedings for each conference (2 teams from each division).The 4 lowest seeds get the extra home match to balance things out .1 match every second week.On the weeks a county has off club games are played.This means clubs know when matches will be played and these fixtures set for the group stage of the championship are not to be changed.3 teams from each group qualify for the knockout stages.The top teams straight into the conference final and the other 2 play off to see who would meet them in the conference final.The regular season would be finished by the end of July and the knockout matches would played in August and September.Teams would play each other on a rota so every 5 years each county would have met at least once.

This would sort out the club fixtures issue.Get both club and county season started later in the year(who the **** really wants to be playing football in Jan,Feb and March and not playing in the summer which happens too much).Make it easier for the GAA to promote the game, provide each county with at least 3 important championship home matches which could be easily promoted.Put much more emphasis on the All Ireland club championship as the GAA's winter competition and this could be promoted better like it is the GAA's version of the European Cup.We would get the vast majority of intercounty football matches played in the summer which is not the case at the moment despite football supposedly being a summer sport.