Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

Leinster have absorbed close to 20 years of opportunity costs from catering, corporate hospitality and third party event rental incomes that could have been generated had they developed their own modern midsized stadium in South Dublin.

When you consider Dublin's economic growth in the last decade in particular, they could be charging absolutely stupid money for corporate suites these days. Serious opportunity missed thanks to dreadful vision and leadership.

Thankfully they at least have their IRFU sugar daddy to bail them out each year, as their operations would otherwise be terminally unsustainable.

They were probably saying to Eben 'see YOU in the final'…..which was the case tbf!

Only in Ireland!

With all due respect, this is nonsense.

The Aviva is too small for maybe two or three matches per year, the other 95% of the time it's the right size. Spending hundreds of millions on a piece of infrastructure that we would only need on rare occasions would be absolute madness (see also Ahern, Bertie).

Croke Park is also exactly the size it needs to be, can you imagine All-Ireland weekend if there were 20,000 fewer tickets floating around?

What sunk the Bertie Bowl was the cost. The last estimate was 1 billion, and public construction projects are not renowned for sticking to budget.

Abbottstown would have been a serious pain in the hole, it's the absolute middle of nowhere, and I say that as someone who is up there every week.

Played in it quite a few times when it was grass and it was a pain. I’d say 75 games is fairly conservative. Finals weekends is 3 games on a Sunday. There are quite a few of them in a row between AIL junior and youth matches for the two clubs, all the schools games along with some representative matches I’d say it’s well over a hundred matches a year.
The minis team I coach have been down twice this season as away fixtures and on the main pitch both times. It’s an advertisement in sweating your assets.

With all due respect to you, let's look at that in percentage terms and consider the accuracy of your view.

The Aviva is too small for probably 75 to 100% of international rugby games played in it. Croke Park is full for possibly 5% of the GAA games played in it - note that for the last couple of years All Ireland Hurling Final tickets have gone on general sale, albeit a small number but it has happened, in the days leading upto the final as they were returning unsold. So yes, the Aviva is too small for most rugby games and Croke Park is too big for most GAA games. That's simply a statement of fact.

The Aviva is too small for probably 75 to 100% of international rugby games played in it.

Ok well in 2024, the Aviva has hosted/will host Italy, Wales, Scotland, Argentina, New Zealand, Australia and Fiji.

Of those seven matches, for how many do you think demand would significantly exceed the current supply? I'd say maybe three, four at most, and that's with the best Ireland team possibly ever and the economy riding high putting cash in pockets and money in corporate budgets.

Look at the soccer team; building a bigger stadium would have saddled them with even more debt and even more empty seats.

Croke Park is too big for most GAA games, but it would have been madness to build a smaller stadium as you are advocating.