Dublin’s dominance hits GAA’s financial returns

Public turned off by lack of competitiveness as Gavin’s men continue to scoop the big prizes

THE dominance by Dublin footballers over several seasons is proving to be bad news for the GAA’s coffers as crowds drop off due to a lack of competitiveness.

While Dublin continue to be the best-supported team by a considerable distance, crowds at their games are dropping off due to a winning streak which has them seeking a record-breaking All-Ireland fivein-a-row this year as well as a sixth league crown in seven seasons.

The impact of Dublin’s superiority over most teams has been acknowledged by the GAA, who reported an 18pc drop in All-Ireland football championship attendances last year.

That’s despite the introduction of the 12-game ‘Super 8s’ series, which replaced the four quarter-finals. Overall, gate receipts fell by €4.8 million to €29.6m last year.

One of the biggest decreases was in the All-Ireland football semi-final, involving Dublin. Their meeting with Galway last August drew 54,717, down from 81,171 when Dublin played Tyrone in the 2017 semi-final.

Jim Gavin’s men were overwhelming favourites to beat Galway, who had lost to Monaghan a week earlier, resulting in a reduced turnout from both counties as well as among neutrals who would normally attend semi-finals.

Commenting on the overall drop in attendances last year, Ger Mulryan, the GAA’s new finance direc- tor, stated in his annual report that a number of factors were at work, “including the ongoing domination of Dublin in football, resulting in probable or perceived victories up to the semi-final stage”.

Dublin’s ever-tightening grip on Leinster, where they are seeking a ninth successive title this year, has also had negative impact on attendances.

A crowd of 41,728 saw them beat Laois in last year’s final, a drop of 25,000 on the attendance for the Dublin-Kildare final in 2017.

Obviously, the problem rests with their opponents, most of whom are unable to mount a serious challenge, but it’s now clear that the public have grown tired of turning out to see teams well beaten by Dublin.

The latest example was last Saturday when only 14,502 attended Dublin’s first home league game of the season, where they beat Galway by 11 points.

The average attendance at last year’s football championship games was down from 19,049 to 13,225, leading to gate receipt reductions of €3.7m on 2017.

Overall, GAA income for 2018 was down by €848,000 to €63.5 million. Commercial and State funding was up by €3 million.