Supermac’s trying to make the most of their long-running sponsorship deal with Galway GAA

AS GALWAY hurling’s main sponsor for 27 years, Pat McDonagh can identify the feel of a losing All-Ireland final dressing-room.

Until last September, Galway had lost five finals (1993, 2001, 2005, 2012 and 2015) and drawn one (2012) and, as one of the more hands-on sponsorship figures around, McDonagh has had an intimate insight into what it’s like.

“There is no lonelier place to be,” he said.

The hands-on approach he is renowned for in business

– he was recently behind the counter helping to serve in the Supermac’s outlet at the Galway Plaza just off the M6 – is mirrored in his sporting interests too, particularly his association with the Galway hurlers that dates back to 1991 when company logos were first worn on the front of GAA jerseys. Six years ago they took on the sponsorship of the Galway football team too.

McDonagh’s love for Galway GAA is evident by his long-standing sponsorship relationship and his omnipresence at matches around the country.

But there is a brand angle too and the link with Galway has been in tandem with the company’s growth around Ireland. From 30 to 35 outlets in the early 1990s, that figure has now risen to 108.

“It certainly was a big help to us when we were trying to build a brand. I come from a hurling area so it felt natural to me to support it,” McDonagh said.

He’s had to make his money work hard and now he’s going to have to stretch it even further.

Supermac’s have recently agreed an extension to their Galway sponsorship for a further five years but with that comes additional cost, an estimated €300,000 main payment per year now, up from €220,000 that the attached table shows. With addons and bonuses, that could come in at €400,000 per year.

The company estimates that €511,300 was spent on their GAA sponsorship in 2017. Of that, they attribute €346,500 spent directly on Galway GAA. The rest is made of support to brand promotion and funding of schools and clubs.

The bulk sponsorship came in at €220,000 but contributions to functions at the Galway Races and on the run-in to the AllIreland final came to €80,000.

Bonuses for winning the AllIreland senior and minor titles as well as the league and Leinster titles were €25,000.

One of the biggest outlays is for advertising and marketing which came to €122,400. Many companies involved with teams operate on the ‘euro for a euro’ principle – what they spend directly on sponsorship they match on promoting the sport.

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“We wouldn’t spend as much money on advertising as some of our more international competitors.

“We like to give back to the local community through sponsorship of local teams. We sponsor quite a few teams around the country, not just in Gaelic games but ladies’ football, camogie, rugby, soccer. It’s as much giving back to the community where you are getting your business from as much as anything else,” he admitted.

McDonagh said that once a deal is done with the county board he is left to his own devices.

“As a sponsor, you have to maximise it yourself. You have to work it yourself. Whatever you spend on sponsorship you have to spend as much again in promoting it, whether that’s through advertisements on match-day programmes or putting stickers on cars or f lags or whatever the case may be.”