O'Connor Park Naming Rights

[feirmeoir]

any word from the Tullamore GAA meeting, did they agree to the Co Board's proposal

[Plain of the Herbs]

A vote didn't take pace in the end, according to Will O'Callaghan's tweet a few hours ago. It is a curious one, and there must be a clause relating to the approval of the Tullamore club in the small print to the lease agreement between the crunchie board and the landlord club.

Naming rights would be a useful fundraiser for the Board. They pay a substantial sum each year to the Tullamoe club in respect of the long lease of the property, so it would be somewhat ironic if the Club were to vote in favour of denying the Board the opportunity to sell the naming rights. The Offaly board earn considerably less by way of commercial income than other counties of a similar size.

Besides, the O'Connor clan, after whom the ground is named, is not representative of a large territory to the south and west of the county (which was Ely O'Carroll territory in medieval times).

[bracknaghboy]

Ya sure why not. The GAA is only about money these days so if we pimp out the naming rights of O'Connor Park at least we'll have a few bob to pay for some high performance codologists, strength and conditioning guru's, (because you find out that sort of stuff on the interweb),maybe an aul head stats man and a dietician or two (because again none of this type of info exists out there). The truth is any money got from it will be pumped into the bottomless intercounty pit and will ultimately be wasted on expanding the size of backroom teams and protein bars.

[Plain of the Herbs]

Don't agree.

Heel of the hunt, this is about having intercounty squads from U14 Development to Senior who are striving to be the best that they can be. We can't complain about our intercounty squads not being looked after (complaints about meals, gear arriving too late in the year, all that kind of stuff) due to inadequate funding and in the next breath complain about new avenues of fundraising not being explored.

A few years ago, I got the accounts for the Offaly and Leix county boards for 2013 to do a comparison. I picked Leix due to having a similar population, similar demographic and hurling / football split. I had intended doing a commentary o that breakdown but never got around to that. The first thing that jumped out at me is that Leix' sponsorship income exceeded Offaly's by around €45k. In adition, Leix had income from a Dog Night, a Golf Classic that Offaly just don't have. Consequently, Leix were in a position to spend some €150k under the heading of 'county team admin' a big head start when it comes to helping your teams be the best that they can be.

Up to about five years ago, Offaly teams were a more attractive team regarding shirt sponsorship. The hurlers were likely to be seen on live TV (RTE) at least once a year, while there is a good chance the footballers would be too. The board stuck with Carrolls throughout when income could have been maximised if they cast their net wider. Those days are gone and Offaly are no longer a desirable TV attraction.

And if an Offaly based business, perhaps a significant employer in the county, who employs some county players, wants to buy advertising which wil promote their business and their product, and is willing to pay for naming rights to the county ground, then I'm all for it. With OCP set to host three Leinster championship games in the next six weeks (Offaly v Westmeath and Laois v KIldare in football; Galway v Dublin in hurling), some of which will be live on television, then they need to get this moving straight away. And now Tullamore club are in no hurry. You will recall just two months ago the Tullamore club were making an issue about not being paid their annual rent. It's a two fingered salute from O'Brien Park.

It's not about the county selling their soul, or selling something tangible that won't be seen again. They are selling advertising.

We blame the Board when there are feck ups, and there have been too many, but they should be given credit here for bringing another major sponsor on board.

[greenairfield]

It is down to the board to bring outside revenue...They should have a fundraising committee to bring in funds for teams just like Laois! So it is there fault for not been more pro active on this.

I heard last weeks county board meeting was a shambles by all account.

[feirmeoir]

anyone know who it will be called after, I read somewhere it might be Bord Na Mona

[SearingDrive]

anyone know who it will be called after, I read somewhere it might be Bord Na Mona

That seems to be the favourite

[Exiled in Connacht]

anyone know who it will be called after, I read somewhere it might be Bord Na Mona

That seems to be the favourite

Has Bord na Mona man opened up his piggy bank

[Bord na Mona man]

I've tried to tell them that naming the ground after me is way too much!

[SearingDrive]

anyone know who it will be called after, I read somewhere it might be Bord Na Mona

That seems to be the favourite

Has Bord na Mona man opened up his piggy bank

Maybe a turf bank?

[SearingDrive]

I've tried to tell them that naming the ground after me is way too much!

Do you get an executive box?

[Bord na Mona man]

I've tried to tell them that naming the ground after me is way too much!

Do you get an executive box?

No, just a throne in the secret VIP area!