EXPENSES REMAIN THE KEY ISSUE FOR GPA
Players body may seek out monthly reimbursement for members, says Flynn
PAUL Flynn only took up the role of GPA chief executive in September. It has barely been enough time for him to get comfortable in his surroundings.
However, he’s already satisfied that the voice of the inter-county player has been heard, especially in the debate over Gaelic football’s experimental playing rules when the contentious hand-pass rule was binned.
At next week’s Congress in Wexford, Flynn hopes that voice will become stronger as the body seeks a seat on the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC). However, the proposed representative will only sit on fixture-planning and scheduling, not disciplinary matters.
‘It is for the purpose of intercounty football and hurling fixtures only. We represent the inter-county players and we want our voice heard with regard to fixtures,’ Flynn pointed out. ‘We have been clear on that. We were in there in November, presenting our survey of players and review of the season. We have no vote. All we do is give that information and leave the room. We feel that when they are talking about fixtures, inter-county games, it is very easy for us to be in there and to be a decision-maker. But we can leave again if they want to discuss other issues.
A voice on the CCCC will reinforce the perception that the GPA have become part of the GAA establishment. In their offices in Santry yesterday, where the body’s trailblazers like Kieran McGeeney and Brian Whelahan adorn the walls, Flynn spoke of a partnership with Croke Park.
It’s a relationship that is up for review this year when the framework agreement, signed in 2016, will be re-negotiated. Backed by last year’s ESRI study that showed players, on average, spend 31 hours a week devoted to their county, Flynn is hoping to negotiate a more regular reimbursement of expenses. ‘Later on this year, we’ll start negotiating the future deal,’ Flynn said. ‘For us, the demand is increasing. We’ve got a membership body that is growing, whether that is through past players or relationships we have developed with the WGPA. ‘One of the key issues we are still seeing is around expenses. It’s reimbursement cost for our players. If you take the ESRI report, where you were talking 31 hours, a lot of guys are travelling maybe three hours to training, an hour and half there and back. ‘They might be a student and incurring costs from January until May. They may not get their initial expenses block paid until the middle of the summer. That’s a big hole and can be fairly difficult. They can’t hold down part-time jobs because of the demands of the game. That’s definitely something that will have to be looked at.’
Flynn agreed that the body could look at getting expenses paid at shorter time intervals, perhaps monthly. He also believes that the negotiation will provide an opportunity for growth within the GPA. Even though there was surprise that the GAA agreed to giving the body a 15 per cent cut of commercial revenue in 2016, there might even be scope to argue for a slice of ticket sales, still the association’s largest revenue stream.
Flynn defended the commercial revenue portion, saying that it is a model replicated across the world. ‘If you think about the revenue that’s generated by the inter-county games. It is around 80 per cent and that’s kind of conservative because there’s some additional revenue that we believe is still related to inter-county games but, conservatively, around 80 per cent of revenue generated is from inter-county.
‘Sometimes I feel that can be a little lost, that ultimately, the inter-county game is the revenuegenerator. And our funding streams are funding from the GAA.
‘We see it as a partnership. It is not linked with ticket prices, it is only linked to commercial revenue but that could potentially change in the future. At the moment, it is only linked to commercial revenue, which is something I believe that can grow, which would see
‘It’s vital to have balance in their lives’
our funding grow,’ he added.
‘As I said, we have a growing membership base. Demands from players are higher because demands of the games are higher. All we are trying to do is to allow our players have balance in their life, so they can be amateur athletes and play our games.’
Flynn pointed out that the GPA funding goes directly into their programmes, of which more than 1,600 were availed of by members last year along with 161 in January of this year. They also ran a rookie day recently which warned young inter-county players of the perils of social media and educated them on anti-doping.
And even though concerns have been raised at the extent of the GPA fundraising in the United States, Flynn insisted that it is crucial to continue to finance their programmes, especially the Jim Madden leadership programme.
‘We are not the only entity in the US who are fundraising. The US GAA have concerns about everybody being over there. It is not just ourselves, but there are many Irish diaspora over there who have their own interests.
‘We have our core group of donors and they’re very proud to support the GPA.
‘Some of these individuals, they don’t go down to Gaelic Park. They’re very successful business people who come home and support their counties.
‘They’re very connected with what the Gaelic Players Association is doing for players as people. They love that motto that we bring to them: “You see players. We see people”.’