OPINION: GAA ticket prices almost like the Super Bowl - out of reach for ordinary fans

It will now cost you €100 to sit in the stand and watch the All-Ireland Senior Football or Hurling final in Croke Park. If you're a family with two kids, that's €400; there's no concession for kids or OAPs. It's all part of the GAA's new increased ticket prices for the showpiece finals announced last week and it's more evident than ever that the GAA's biggest games are going the way of the Super Bowl; out of reach for ordinary fans. 

The GAA announced that stand tickets for the All-Ireland hurling and football finals are rising to €100 this year, with Hill 16 tickets jumping to €55. The prices are up from the already extortionate €90 and €50 respectively charged for last year's finals.

The GAA understandably also announced that this is just "the second increase in 14 years", the "first since 2019." Let's be straight; it's the second increase in five years, once in 2019 when they went from €80 to €90 and and 2024 as they rise from €90 to €100. The GAA can dress it up anyway they like. The reality is a family of four going to the game in 2018 paid €320, bad enough, but now they're going to have to find €400. 

The GAA says "Revenue generated from our fixtures will increase our club grants for the redevelopment of pitches and club facilities from €3m in 2023 to €4.5m in 2024 and allow the Association to commit to allocating €5m for club facilities in 2025.

"As part of its redistribution model the GAA seeks to re-invest a minimum of 83% annually of its revenues generated back across its network in support of all its affiliated units. The additional ticket revenues generated will underpin a continued growth in our investment into Coaching and Games (€12m), Infrastructural Redevelopment of our County Grounds and Venues (€5m) and the continued capacity to assist club infrastructure through the GAA’s Club Development Fund Scheme."

That's all well and good but at what point do we shout 'stop.' The GAA wants to make more money, and more power to them, but our national games are for ordinary people. They are played by everyone from five to 55 years of age, and enjoyed by people of all ages, in every community in the country. The question should not be about what money can be made, it should be about growing the game. A stand half-filled with sponsors with deep pockets and the most wealthy supporters is not reflective of GAA in the community. To grow the game simply with the money you generate, which the GAA does, you first need the inspired youth.

The GAA could set prices at €1,000 each and I guarantee Croke Park would still be full for both All-Ireland finals. People who can find the money will find it, but is that all it's about for the GAA? At a certain point it becomes a little grotesque and it does become an elite event. The GAA needs the money for all the things they mentioned in their statement; but first they need kids inspired by the David Cliffords and Cian Lynchs of the world picking up a hurl or a ball. Those kids shouldn't be confined to seeing their idols on TV the odd time. 

Look at last week's U20 All-Ireland hurling final between Offaly and Tipperary. 27,000 people packed into Nowlan Park and it seemed like 15,000 of those were children. They pucked ball on the pitch at half-time and got up close and personal with their newest heroes at full-time. I'm not saying allow kids on the Croke Park pitch on All-Ireland day, but there's a lot to be learned there from the same Association about access. The tickets for that final were €25 for adults but only a fiver for kids. €60 and an entire of family of four gets that experience in Kilkenny. It's about fairness to fans who support the game from underage and junior levels to the senior grade. 

They are the same group of people who, on a weekend they can't go to a game, may have to stump up to watch their county on GAAGO. You'll pay on a gate too to watch your club at any decent level. Did we mention the kids' summer camps? You'd want a merry-go-round of mula on the front lawn to keep up with it all. The Association needs to keep itself going for sure, but it can't always be at the expense of supporters. Don't lock these people out of Croker on its biggest days.

Look at the Super Bowl as an example of a sporting event that has become over commercialised to the point you'd wonder if any genuine fans of either team make it to the stadium at all. The cameras often pan to the crowd and you see celebrities taking selfies and corporate boxes filled with people not even watching the game. The Super Bowl is for the rich and famous while the fans watch from home. The GAA is on that road and it's a fairly soulless destination in the end.