Sponsorship news welcome but fears around league likely to remain a feature
WITH the lack of a title sponsor for the League of Ireland prominent on the FAI’s lengthy to-do list at the beginning of 2021, the confirmation that SSE Airtricity are sticking around for a further two years has to be welcomed.
Certainty is needed in these uncertain times, even though we are still waiting for firm clarity on whether the deal is going to have any impact on modest prize-money levels.
SSE Airtricity’s 2020 deal was worth around €340k per annum and their relationship, stretching back to 2010, has included some minor rights access to the senior international team as part of the package.
Critics would point to deals such as Lidl’s additional €3m investment in ladies’ football (over three years) as a vibrant example that makes SSE Airtricity look like a silent sponsor by comparison.
But the FAI had their own quirks during that time and the addition of the Women’s National League (WNL) into this renewed deal is an encouraging step.
The WNL was introduced with great fanfare but the extent to which it has trundled along certainly left the FAI open to accusations of box ticking. It is now growing at senior and underage level and a move that aligns it with the men’s game should actually help the packaging and identity, even if Áine O’Gorman explaining that players are paying to play highlighted just how long a road they have to travel.
New FAI CEO Jonathan Hill (pictured) was hired on account of his commercial acumen, with senior figures involved in his appointment of the view that the football body hasn’t truly capitalised on its potential.
These are difficult times for the FAI to drive a hard bargain – not just because of Covid-19 – and speculation around Paddy Power’s interest in becoming national team sponsor has highlighted a backlash they may face if they go down that road, even though they really have to listen to all interested parties, given their debt issues.
Naturally enough, the league announcement was accompanied by questions around the fixtures and the state of the 2021 season. The men’s top flight is due to start on March 19 with the women’s equivalent and the First Division pencilled in for a March 26 start date.
February was the initial plan but Covid restrictions prompted an understandable change, yet murmurs around the extension of Level 5 restrictions brings natural concern, even though elite sport is allowed to proceed.
The problem, of course, is that the longer the lockdown continues, the further away the prospect of fans entering stadiums becomes. And the League of Ireland is hugely reliant on that footfall.
Government support of around €2m, in addition to redistribution of other monies, was required to finish the 2020 season behind closed doors. There are various estimates doing the rounds about what would be needed
to run a full 2021 season on that basis in a worst-case scenario.
It’s understood that the FAI top brass are confident they will get backing from the State and the relationship with the relevant actors has advanced to the stage that they don’t require a massive summit to sort this out; a legacy of the Delaney era Oireachtas Committee hearings is that opposition spokespeople now see value in banging the LOI drum.
But there’s a queue here too, with other sports seeking help for their own reasons. So, while clubs here have gone about recruiting players, only a handful are paying them at the moment; the rest are waiting for clear information about what’s coming.
Pandemic wage supports are a huge source of reassurance but they are only in place until the end of March, and while the educated guess is that the retention of Level 5 will move these dates, football is in the peloton waiting to see what happens out front.
There are other lingering questions related to broadcast deals and the future identity of the WatchLOI streaming service, which was popular with customers but needs more of them.
O’Gorman also highlighted how players in her league weren’t tested for Covid in 2020. It must be stressed that the senior leagues here only suffered minor Covid disturbances in the autumn, but the new strains and issues with lower leagues over the water tell a tale.
In other words, there are more hurdles to cross before the path to resumption appears crystal clear.
The longer lockdown continues, the further away the prospect of fans in grounds become