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Replying To FullOfPorter: "County boards are by no means perfect and plenty of mistakes made, we ended up in big debt a while back as well. But at the end of the day they are volunteers, the organisation remains community based no matter what happens and no US investor is discarding the teams when all goes wrong. I'm not sure if it unique to Ireland but professional rugby in Ireland seems to be controlled by the governing body with only four teams to manage where producing players for the national team is the main objective. Fair play to them but I feel absolutely no affinity with Connacht rugby. Following the GAA is an antidote to aloof nature of professional sport that lacks the community feel which the GAA has. I think going pro will eliminate that." We're not unique in that in rugby because same system operates in Scotland - SRFU owns the two professional teams there (Edinburgh and Glasgow), pays the players of those teams directly, and calls much of the shots about when they play for those teams or when they're released for national team duty.
England and France, the professional clubs are all independently owned and operated.
Wales is a messy mix of both systems, and it gets even messier every time they try to do something about it.
Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 3874 - 14/08/2026 15:46:13
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I've no issue with the GAA opening up Croke Park to other events as all that revenue ultimately benefits the game, the problem is that they've condensed the inter-county season so tightly that it's visibly burning out players and a lot of injuries flaring up through the season.
As it stands the calendar is currently:
> National League: 7 games in 8 weeks (or 8 games in 9 weeks with a league final)
> Provincial Championships: 3 games in 4 weeks or 4 games in 5 weeks (depending on province)
> All Ireland Series Round 1 to Quarter Finals: can be 4 games in 4 weeks or 4 games in 5 weeks
Concerts generally don't start until late August and pre-season soccer friendlies can be played mid-week so that doesn't really matter when they are. Why can't the GAA football calendar be pushed out a couple more weeks into August and free up all this congestion through the football year?
This would mean;
+ Keep league calendar as is.
+ Have a minimum 2-3 week gap (adding 1 week to current calendar) between league & championship so teams can reset (and there can actually be some build up before championship!)
+ Add 1 week to provincials
+ Add 1-2 weeks through all Ireland series so it's not so condensed
These few adjustments would help with player burnout/injuries and I think attendances would improve due to less week on week games.
LowerHogan (Meath) - Posts: 111 - 14/08/2026 16:10:00
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https://www.rte.ie/sport/football/2026/0814/1587930-croke-park-keen-to-host-annual-premier-league-friendlies/
Also, strange how the perspex barrier was removed from The Hill and Nally for the game this week but will be back up for GAA games in Croker…!
Fionn (Dublin) - Posts: 5270 - 14/08/2026 16:17:25
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Main thing to take out of that game is that Hill16 plastic wall fence is not needed for GAA matches either.
Gaa_lover (USA) - Posts: 4062 - 14/08/2026 17:11:53
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Replying To LowerHogan: "I've no issue with the GAA opening up Croke Park to other events as all that revenue ultimately benefits the game, the problem is that they've condensed the inter-county season so tightly that it's visibly burning out players and a lot of injuries flaring up through the season.
As it stands the calendar is currently:
> National League: 7 games in 8 weeks (or 8 games in 9 weeks with a league final)
> Provincial Championships: 3 games in 4 weeks or 4 games in 5 weeks (depending on province)
> All Ireland Series Round 1 to Quarter Finals: can be 4 games in 4 weeks or 4 games in 5 weeks
Concerts generally don't start until late August and pre-season soccer friendlies can be played mid-week so that doesn't really matter when they are. Why can't the GAA football calendar be pushed out a couple more weeks into August and free up all this congestion through the football year?
This would mean;
+ Keep league calendar as is.
+ Have a minimum 2-3 week gap (adding 1 week to current calendar) between league & championship so teams can reset (and there can actually be some build up before championship!)
+ Add 1 week to provincials
+ Add 1-2 weeks through all Ireland series so it's not so condensed
These few adjustments would help with player burnout/injuries and I think attendances would improve due to less week on week games." Clubs!
Seanfan (Roscommon) - Posts: 848 - 14/08/2026 17:55:58
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Replying To LowerHogan: "I've no issue with the GAA opening up Croke Park to other events as all that revenue ultimately benefits the game, the problem is that they've condensed the inter-county season so tightly that it's visibly burning out players and a lot of injuries flaring up through the season.
As it stands the calendar is currently:
> National League: 7 games in 8 weeks (or 8 games in 9 weeks with a league final)
> Provincial Championships: 3 games in 4 weeks or 4 games in 5 weeks (depending on province)
> All Ireland Series Round 1 to Quarter Finals: can be 4 games in 4 weeks or 4 games in 5 weeks
Concerts generally don't start until late August and pre-season soccer friendlies can be played mid-week so that doesn't really matter when they are. Why can't the GAA football calendar be pushed out a couple more weeks into August and free up all this congestion through the football year?
This would mean;
+ Keep league calendar as is.
+ Have a minimum 2-3 week gap (adding 1 week to current calendar) between league & championship so teams can reset (and there can actually be some build up before championship!)
+ Add 1 week to provincials
+ Add 1-2 weeks through all Ireland series so it's not so condensed
These few adjustments would help with player burnout/injuries and I think attendances would improve due to less week on week games." Not a single mention or recognition of hurling in your post. Obviously therefore no consideration of dual players in dual counties.
I'm actually inclined to agree there are too many inter-county football matches in too short a timeframe. But the solution would be to have fewer matches in that timeframe - not to expand the timeframe itself.
Hurling has a different issue, in that it could probably do with a rebalancing somehow such that while there'd be the same number of matches in the same timeframe, there'd be more of them later in that time. But that's difficult to achieve due to the nature of championships when you get to the knockout stage.
Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 3874 - 14/08/2026 19:19:29
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Replying To Seanfan: " Replying To LowerHogan: "I've no issue with the GAA opening up Croke Park to other events as all that revenue ultimately benefits the game, the problem is that they've condensed the inter-county season so tightly that it's visibly burning out players and a lot of injuries flaring up through the season.
<u>As it stands the calendar is currently:</u>
> National League: 7 games in 8 weeks (or 8 games in 9 weeks with a league final)
> Provincial Championships: 3 games in 4 weeks or 4 games in 5 weeks (depending on province)
> All Ireland Series Round 1 to Quarter Finals: can be 4 games in 4 weeks or 4 games in 5 weeks
Concerts generally don't start until late August and pre-season soccer friendlies can be played mid-week so that doesn't really matter when they are. Why can't the GAA football calendar be pushed out a couple more weeks into August and free up all this congestion through the football year?
<u>This would mean;</u>
+ Keep league calendar as is.
+ Have a minimum 2-3 week gap (adding 1 week to current calendar) between league & championship so teams can reset (and there can actually be some build up before championship!)
+ Add 1 week to provincials
+ Add 1-2 weeks through all Ireland series so it's not so condensed
These few adjustments would help with player burnout/injuries and I think attendances would improve due to less week on week games."</div>Clubs!" Most club championships don't start until mid August, why does the inter county game have to suffer all season for at worst the 4 counties that get to the semi finals?
LowerHogan (Meath) - Posts: 111 - 14/08/2026 21:05:08
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Replying To LowerHogan: " Replying To Seanfan: "[quote=LowerHogan: "I've no issue with the GAA opening up Croke Park to other events as all that revenue ultimately benefits the game, the problem is that they've condensed the inter-county season so tightly that it's visibly burning out players and a lot of injuries flaring up through the season.
<u>As it stands the calendar is currently:</u>
> National League: 7 games in 8 weeks (or 8 games in 9 weeks with a league final)
> Provincial Championships: 3 games in 4 weeks or 4 games in 5 weeks (depending on province)
> All Ireland Series Round 1 to Quarter Finals: can be 4 games in 4 weeks or 4 games in 5 weeks
Concerts generally don't start until late August and pre-season soccer friendlies can be played mid-week so that doesn't really matter when they are. Why can't the GAA football calendar be pushed out a couple more weeks into August and free up all this congestion through the football year?
<u>This would mean;</u>
+ Keep league calendar as is.
+ Have a minimum 2-3 week gap (adding 1 week to current calendar) between league & championship so teams can reset (and there can actually be some build up before championship!)
+ Add 1 week to provincials
+ Add 1-2 weeks through all Ireland series so it's not so condensed
These few adjustments would help with player burnout/injuries and I think attendances would improve due to less week on week games."</div>Clubs!" Most club championships don't start until mid August, why does the inter county game have to suffer all season for at worst the 4 counties that get to the semi finals?"]Alot of counties start in June and July
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 20474 - 14/08/2026 21:54:18
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Replying To Pikeman96: "These pre-season friendlies are organised and run by the clubs themselves or by independent promoters. They'd look at what teams might be available to play and what grounds might be available to rent in locations where there might be money to be made.
I believe Manchester United themselves were the main organisers of this one. Their number-crunches would have identified Leeds as potential opponents and agreed to pay them a certain amount to travel over to play. Would also have identified Dublin as a "handy" place to likely get a sell-out crowd due to large Man United support here and the fact that they hadn't been here in a few years.
As regards the venue, they may well have sought a price too from IRFU/FAI for the rent of the Aviva Stadium. And then thought "x amount to rent that one and sell 50,000 tickets....or y amount to rent that one and sell 82,000 tickets....let's go for the bigger one".
GAA would have had little or nothing to do with it other than agreeing the rent and fulfilling whatever other terms were written into the agreement. FAI would have had even less.
If GAA was to try arrange such a thing as an independent promoter, they'd have to approach clubs first, agree an appearance fee (could be millions) that they'd have to pay them no matter what, and take charge of everything else involved in having the match too, such as policing, sponsorship, TV, etc.
I've no objection myself to the GAA making Croke Park available for a soccer match or anything else at a time that suits, and making money from renting out the ground.
But I would object to them arranging such a thing themselves. I wouldn't be happy with GAA time and resources being put into arranging a soccer match or a concert or a boxing match instead of being put into the running and oversight of our own games." Agree
Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 20474 - 14/08/2026 21:56:27
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Replying To LowerHogan: " Replying To Seanfan: "[quote=LowerHogan: "I've no issue with the GAA opening up Croke Park to other events as all that revenue ultimately benefits the game, the problem is that they've condensed the inter-county season so tightly that it's visibly burning out players and a lot of injuries flaring up through the season.
<u>As it stands the calendar is currently:</u>
> National League: 7 games in 8 weeks (or 8 games in 9 weeks with a league final)
> Provincial Championships: 3 games in 4 weeks or 4 games in 5 weeks (depending on province)
> All Ireland Series Round 1 to Quarter Finals: can be 4 games in 4 weeks or 4 games in 5 weeks
Concerts generally don't start until late August and pre-season soccer friendlies can be played mid-week so that doesn't really matter when they are. Why can't the GAA football calendar be pushed out a couple more weeks into August and free up all this congestion through the football year?
<u>This would mean;</u>
+ Keep league calendar as is.
+ Have a minimum 2-3 week gap (adding 1 week to current calendar) between league & championship so teams can reset (and there can actually be some build up before championship!)
+ Add 1 week to provincials
+ Add 1-2 weeks through all Ireland series so it's not so condensed
These few adjustments would help with player burnout/injuries and I think attendances would improve due to less week on week games."</div>Clubs!" Most club championships don't start until mid August, why does the inter county game have to suffer all season for at worst the 4 counties that get to the semi finals?"]If I'm reading you right that's 4 or 5 weeks in total, not a chance the players would agree to that.
sligo joe (Dublin) - Posts: 1177 - 14/08/2026 23:00:44
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Replying To Formertownie: "I dont know if anyone has asked or knows the answer . But why was nt the game played in the aviva the home of rugby .
Seriously though was it purely a financial decision larger capacity etc .
Surely if the fai want to gain momentum and earn money the blueprint for a preseason tournament it's the way to go to earn huge monetary rewards .
Who organised the game in croker a club the fai , croke park or was it just an independent promoter/company
If a promoter i m sure they ve crunched the numbers and realised it was a massive money spinner .
Be interesting to see if it repeats next year knowing g they could ve sold out more will the tickets see an increase in price by 25% at least.
Even after paying for croke park and the teams involved they surely made a killing .
Either way i would nt have any interest in going .
80000 tickets sold at say 75 euro average thats
6Million without sponsors etc . Nice earner .
Yes there are huge overheads but maybe gaa should run it themselves in future . Rather than just providing the greatest stadium in the country and nake even more money out of them .
So we can live rent free in peoples heads and charge them too ." The GAA run it? Then we would have to suspend the whole Association.
ORIELMAN85 (Monaghan) - Posts: 1209 - 15/08/2026 00:41:47
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Replying To Seniorleague: "Am i the only one here who think that Croke park is being OVERUSED for gaelic games?
Yes the united game was a meaningless farce,and yes i would personally agree that the fact it sold out is a bit embarrassing, but the fact is it sold out,and it makes more sense to schedule a sellout concert or soccer/boxing match there than it does to schedule a sparsely attended Leinster championship match or league match there,with no atmosphere and an ocean of empty seats." By that metric should club finals be taken out of Croke Park since it does not come near to a sell out? How about schools finals…the ladies finals? The reality is Croke Park belongs to all of us and every boy and girl dreams of playing there. Teams want to play there.
yew_tree (Mayo) - Posts: 12246 - 15/08/2026 08:29:04
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