Should Croke Park Sell it's Naming Rights?

RoyalCelt

Thomand Park's name is up for sale as Munster are struggling with their repayments. This got me thinking. It appears Aviva pay the IRFU and the FAI 4 million in total (open to correction on this) per year for the naming rights.

I wouldn't expect the GAA to do that but something along the lines of Kingspan Breffni Park could be done. So if Allianz for example bought the naming rights they would rename it Allianz Croke Park.

What would this be worth a year? I'd hazard a fairly safe guess and say 2 million. This year 1 direction will sell out 82k tickets x3, Garth Brooks 80k tickets x5 and an american football match that will have around 60k at it.

Looking at last years championship you have 4 matches with an 82k attendance and 5 other matches that had between 65k-75k at them. Then you have another 2 over 50k and aroud 10 others between 2 and 40k.

That's a serious amount of action for the stadium. The games will now be broadcast on sky accross Britain and on free to air in australia. RTE are also adding a world wide app so the name croke park will be heard by an awful lot of people.

The RDS reckon they're worth about a million a year so my guess of 2 million is very conservative.

Now how can I justify selling the name of such a historical site especially now that Croke Park is debt free without ever selling it's name? Simple. All money made from it goes directly to the players grant which is currently around €500 a year. This would increase it to around €2000 a year at which stage it becomes a very respectable grant.

I don't see the vast majority of the members being opposed to this and honestly can't see how Dr. Croke and the other founders would have an issue if they were still alive. Surprised nobody has ever mentioned this idea before.

Does anyone agree or disagree with me?

jacksie66

This post has been deleted.

ProudDUB

Yes. Re name it Brogan Park. I'll donate 50p.

Seriously...No, No No, a thousand times no. Croke Park needs to remain Croke Park for eternity. Somethings are sacred and should never be put up for sale.I most certainly can see the vast majority of GAA people having a serious problem with this.

Thomand Park has to look at some other ways of raising cash. They are seriously in debt. If they weren't, they wouldn't be considering selling off the naming rights. The GAA do not have that problem with Croke Park. It more than pays for itself, so they do not have the same problem.

Whether or not players should be compensated more for their time and effort is one thing. Flogging off the naming rights to a national institution is another thing entirely. With all due respect to the people of Cavan, you can't really compare their county ground, with the place that Croke Park has in the hearts and minds of the entire country.

RoyalCelt

ProudDUB wrote: »

Yes. Re name it Brogan Park. I'll donate 50p.

Seriously...No, No No, a thousand times no. Croke Park needs to remain Croke Park for eternity. Somethings are sacred and should never be put up for sale.I most certainly can see the vast majority of GAA people having a serious problem with this.

Thomand Park has to look at some other ways of raising cash. They are seriously in debt. If they weren't, they wouldn't be considering selling off the naming rights. The GAA do not have that problem with Croke Park. It more than pays for itself, so they do not have the same problem.

Whether or not players should be compensated more for their time and effort is one thing. Flogging off the naming rights to a national institution is another thing entirely. With all due respect to the people of Cavan, you can't really compare their county ground, with the place that Croke Park has in the hearts and minds of the entire country.

I know but they can keep the name still like the "Allianz Croke Park" example I used. If it only benefits the players is it really that bad? I highly doubt Dr. Croke himself would object if it was to be a direct benefit to 1,500 players around the country.

Dirty Dingus McGee

They could still keep the Croke Park and maybe call it something like "Pepsi Presents Croke Park"

Something like that sounds really classy.

iDave

Cant see it happening in the short term. Stadium naming rights are usually a revenue generating exercise or a way to pay for said stadiums debts. Neither of which are a problem for the GAA at present.

Radio5

No.No. No.

Its rarely called its proper name now.

When I hear it called Crowe Park, as it so often is, I want to thump whoever is speaking. Repeatedly.

Dr. Bre

for a few it should be named choke park!

RoyalCelt

Dr. Bre wrote: »

for a few it should be named choke park!

Or Croak Park!

Pete_Cavan

I think the best way to maximise revenues from Croke Park is to build up the reputation of the stadium. Make it one of the must see stadiums in the world and the main tourist attraction in Dublin. Croke Park should be synonymous with Dublin in the same way Guinness is. This can only be done by building a brand, something that is instantly recognisable and carries a certain reputation. This cant not be achieved by changing the name every few years, even if it is only the sponsor name tagged onto the beginning that changes. I recently read that Croke Park was named the 5th most intimidating stadium in world rugby. We should be trying to build on this and increase exposure for the stadium to have it recognised as one of the top sporting venues in the world (in terms of facilities, atmosphere, eco, etc.), the American Football game should help. Getting more people in on non-match days will be a big boost to revenues, although I don’t know how it would compare to income from naming rights. IMO branding is one of the most important thing for continued success of the association and Croke Park should be an extension of the GAA brand (the same as Old Trafford is to Manchester Utd), that brand should not be handed over to a corporation.

Obviously the above does not apply to county grounds around the country but I would like to see naming rights formally limited to just putting a sponsor in front of the original name, i.e. Kingspan Breffni Park.