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The Corona Virus And Possible Effects To GAA Matches

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Replying To GeniusGerry: "In fairness the GAA have laid off staff and are looking at huge losses for the year, this will have a massive knock on effect for many years. If there is an opportunity to salvage anything financially I have no problem with that, as long as it can be done safely and everyone is on board. I do agree that their agenda is mainly financially driven, putting the clubs playing first in July / Aug is a lucky coincidence rather than a case of the grass roots being given priority." €75 million in revenue in 2019 sorry i just cant feel sorry for them loosing a few quid this year, if there was to be GAA this year it should have been just Club only and it is still a big "IF" as to GAA matches going ahead, scheduling a championship for october/november/december is purely financially driven, the GAA has changed over the years from its values and it is now all about revenue and sponsorship. While i would love to see games returning in a safe manner i would be of the opinion that a championship in winter with Covid and the Flu has about a 25% chance of actually happening Tod (Kerry) - Posts: 31 - 09/06/2020 15:49:59 2280192 Link
Replying To galwayford: "Croke park has good public transport. People usually walk to the stadium. What is the problem?" Yeah but public transport might not be operating at 100% capacity either. Also consider shops, pubs, restaurants etc. I'm not saying it's impossible, just that Croke Park is not the only aspect that needs careful consideration. Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 9115 - 09/06/2020 15:53:27 2280193 Link
As I said before, Horse racing is back. It is a big industry. There are lots of stables. It could be said that Cheltenham set a bad example this year regarding Social distancing- from UK and Irish fans. But that did not stop HRI from lobbying to get back asap. They know a lot of money is involved. I think the GAA should not be shy about pushing for matches with crowds to come back. Of course social distancing and hand hygiene are important issues. galwayford (Galway) - Posts: 2517 - 09/06/2020 16:10:10 2280194 Link
As I said before, Horse racing is back. It is a big industry. There are lots of stables. It could be said that Cheltenham set a bad example this year regarding Social distancing- from UK and Irish fans. But that did not stop HRI from lobbying to get back asap. They know a lot of money is involved. I think the GAA should not be shy about pushing for matches with crowds to come back. Of course social distancing and hand hygiene are important issues. galwayford (Galway) - Posts: 2517 - 09/06/2020 16:10:10 2280195 Link
Are some of the calculations done above on reduced capacity based on every person attending coming as a single individual? The vast majority of people attending games come in groups of at least 2 , and family groups will have more than that from the same household so that would mean fewer empty seats needed and higher capacity possible. PoolSturgeon (Galway) - Posts: 1902 - 09/06/2020 17:19:30 2280198 Link
Replying To cavanman47: "Yep, and with edge of rows, etc that figure may be pushed up slightly. But a standard seat in Croke Park is 482mm wide I believe - so Horan claiming that he can get 21k in with 1m distancing maintained is incorrect as far as I can see." I wasnt sure about seat size to be honest so that would mean a big change of rules or special dispensation from the gov Breezy (Limerick) - Posts: 1236 - 09/06/2020 18:30:11 2280204 Link
Replying To PoolSturgeon: "Are some of the calculations done above on reduced capacity based on every person attending coming as a single individual? The vast majority of people attending games come in groups of at least 2 , and family groups will have more than that from the same household so that would mean fewer empty seats needed and higher capacity possible." Hard to prove on the day that the people with you are family though Breezy (Limerick) - Posts: 1236 - 09/06/2020 18:33:16 2280205 Link
Replying To Tod: "€75 million in revenue in 2019 sorry i just cant feel sorry for them loosing a few quid this year, if there was to be GAA this year it should have been just Club only and it is still a big "IF" as to GAA matches going ahead, scheduling a championship for october/november/december is purely financially driven, the GAA has changed over the years from its values and it is now all about revenue and sponsorship. While i would love to see games returning in a safe manner i would be of the opinion that a championship in winter with Covid and the Flu has about a 25% chance of actually happening" Why is it purely financially driven? Im a fan and my friends and family too and we all want to see AI hurling if possible this year so its not just about money its also about all the people who want to see top level GAA this year if we can. And what kind of a fan "just cant feel sorry for them loosing a few quid this year" the club game isnt just all built on volunteers collecting spare change in a bucket you know Breezy (Limerick) - Posts: 1236 - 09/06/2020 18:37:32 2280206 Link
Replying To Tod: "€75 million in revenue in 2019 sorry i just cant feel sorry for them loosing a few quid this year, if there was to be GAA this year it should have been just Club only and it is still a big "IF" as to GAA matches going ahead, scheduling a championship for october/november/december is purely financially driven, the GAA has changed over the years from its values and it is now all about revenue and sponsorship. While i would love to see games returning in a safe manner i would be of the opinion that a championship in winter with Covid and the Flu has about a 25% chance of actually happening" And if that 75 million is lost how do you think many operational activities can continue if nonincomenis brought in? If no income is coming in there has to be cutbacks and losses at all levels and that affects development officers going into schools etc. It cant just only be club games if there is to be gaa this year. That would be incredibly foolish. That the club game is treated poorly doesnt mean you just completely ignore the intercounty game in an exceptional year. KillingFields (Limerick) - Posts: 3495 - 09/06/2020 18:42:27 2280207 Link
Replying To Breezy: "Hard to prove on the day that the people with you are family though" I'm not sure you can prove it conclusively but I suspect that you'll need to book tickets in advance. Maybe even prove id if a secondary market in tickets starts up. Who knows ? lionofludesch (Down) - Posts: 475 - 09/06/2020 18:48:50 2280209 Link
Replying To Breezy: "That's why I said 4. There are 8 seats around you when you sit down front back 2 sides and 4 corners. So if for every person you count the 3 front and the 1 right side then all seats are covered as your back 3 are counted as another seats front 3 and your left is another persons right" Mmmmmm - maybe. lionofludesch (Down) - Posts: 475 - 09/06/2020 18:50:45 2280210 Link
Replying To lionofludesch: "I'm not sure you can prove it conclusively but I suspect that you'll need to book tickets in advance. Maybe even prove id if a secondary market in tickets starts up. Who knows ?" They said it would be a ticket lottery at least in the white paper I read. arock (Dublin) - Posts: 4895 - 09/06/2020 19:02:31 2280211 Link
Replying To Tod: "€75 million in revenue in 2019 sorry i just cant feel sorry for them loosing a few quid this year, if there was to be GAA this year it should have been just Club only and it is still a big "IF" as to GAA matches going ahead, scheduling a championship for october/november/december is purely financially driven, the GAA has changed over the years from its values and it is now all about revenue and sponsorship. While i would love to see games returning in a safe manner i would be of the opinion that a championship in winter with Covid and the Flu has about a 25% chance of actually happening" It's more than a few quid though. If there are no championships they will lose somewhere between 20-30m I think was the figure I read recently. That will have a far reaching impact well beyond the few fat cats having to skip their steak dinners and tighten up on expenses. It would mean permanent job losses for staff, massive cutbacks across the board at all levels including coaching & team grants, and you can forget about any capital projects for the foreseeable future. That is not something anybody that follows the game should wish for. I would imagine that break even or a loss under 10m is probably best case scenario at this stage. They are also going to be down millions in revenue from conferences and events in Croke park that won't go ahead now. I'm not in agreement with everything the GAA do and I am not a fan of Horan's but in this case they have a responsibility to all the stakeholders involved to keep the organisation solvent. Nobody is going to bail them out if they get in to trouble. GeniusGerry (Kerry) - Posts: 2105 - 09/06/2020 19:07:31 2280212 Link
This is obviously a bizarre year for sports and everything else. If you were hoping to bring your whole family to the All Ireland in either code it's probably not your year as tickets will be even harder to get than normal. Maybe the GAA could hike the prices up to cover for the lost revenue to help cover any losses or at least minimize the damage. I know me saying to "hike prices" isn't going to win me a lot of green thumbs but in this bizarre year it may take a bizarre solution. Trump2020 (Galway) - Posts: 2113 - 09/06/2020 22:22:25 2280227 Link
I haven't heard anything about player safety in all of the talk about club and county football. All the GAA seem worried about is how many patrons they can get to pay at the gate. Where are the guidelines for player safety? If fans have to stay 1 or 2 meters apart, how can players tackle each other while sweating and breathing heavily? No mention of testing every player in the run up to contact training or games. No guidlines about where subs and management will be on the sidelines (distance apart, face masks). No guidelines about water bottle use - do clubs need seperate water bottles for each member of the squad, all stored apart from each other and the water carriers wiping each bottle and their hands after each use. Professional sports have increased the number of subs allowed to help with player welfare but no mention of this for amateur players. All the talk about fixtures and player welfare but now they expect players to play full club and county fixtures right up to the end of the year and then continue on playing the whole of 2021 starting in January again.. wishfulthinkin (Cavan) - Posts: 1678 - 10/06/2020 06:35:45 2280235 Link
Some clubs back training already in groups of 10 but not on club grounds.. Any issues with this? Galwaymaster9 (Galway) - Posts: 393 - 10/06/2020 09:09:41 2280244 Link
Replying To Breezy: "Why is it purely financially driven? Im a fan and my friends and family too and we all want to see AI hurling if possible this year so its not just about money its also about all the people who want to see top level GAA this year if we can. And what kind of a fan "just cant feel sorry for them loosing a few quid this year" the club game isnt just all built on volunteers collecting spare change in a bucket you know" As a healthcare worker and having seen Covid up close this is exactly what we should be trying to avoid, people travelling from counties across ireland that are virtually covid free and congregating in Dublin which has the highest levels of covid in the country, then mixing with 21000 or 42000 before during and after the games(there is no possible way of avoiding close contact at some stage with these crowds) and heading back home mixing with further family members and back into work on the monday, all it would take was a small percentage of that 42000 crowd and it would spread like wildfire and this will be the winter when the health service is already severely stretched, if the GAA are insistent on having championship games this year then it will have to be behind closed doors like all other sports are doing! you will soon find out that if this is the only option they have then there will be no championship this year as it will actually end up costing them money, and money is what it comes down to with the GAA top dogs Tod (Kerry) - Posts: 31 - 10/06/2020 09:21:04 2280246 Link
Replying To wishfulthinkin: "I haven't heard anything about player safety in all of the talk about club and county football. All the GAA seem worried about is how many patrons they can get to pay at the gate. Where are the guidelines for player safety? If fans have to stay 1 or 2 meters apart, how can players tackle each other while sweating and breathing heavily? No mention of testing every player in the run up to contact training or games. No guidlines about where subs and management will be on the sidelines (distance apart, face masks). No guidelines about water bottle use - do clubs need seperate water bottles for each member of the squad, all stored apart from each other and the water carriers wiping each bottle and their hands after each use. Professional sports have increased the number of subs allowed to help with player welfare but no mention of this for amateur players. All the talk about fixtures and player welfare but now they expect players to play full club and county fixtures right up to the end of the year and then continue on playing the whole of 2021 starting in January again.." The GAA stance is that players take the risk the themselves, family and work colleagues, also they will have amateur club officials doing medical surveys on players entering and leaving club grounds etc.. taking temperature checks etc, players will have to fill out forms re their current health status and they can basically answer any way they wish, so that is the the GAA's player safety guidelines, i even read an article from davey fitzgerald where he stated that players may have to move into accommodation together and avoid all vulnerable family members which may include kids for the duration of a championship!! Possibly 2 months... Tod (Kerry) - Posts: 31 - 10/06/2020 10:11:11 2280250 Link
Replying To Tod: "The GAA stance is that players take the risk the themselves, family and work colleagues, also they will have amateur club officials doing medical surveys on players entering and leaving club grounds etc.. taking temperature checks etc, players will have to fill out forms re their current health status and they can basically answer any way they wish, so that is the the GAA's player safety guidelines, i even read an article from davey fitzgerald where he stated that players may have to move into accommodation together and avoid all vulnerable family members which may include kids for the duration of a championship!! Possibly 2 months..." Interesting, and who'll foot the bill for the accommodation? KingdomBoy1 (Kerry) - Posts: 14092 - 10/06/2020 10:48:41 2280256 Link
Replying To wishfulthinkin: "I haven't heard anything about player safety in all of the talk about club and county football. All the GAA seem worried about is how many patrons they can get to pay at the gate. Where are the guidelines for player safety? If fans have to stay 1 or 2 meters apart, how can players tackle each other while sweating and breathing heavily? No mention of testing every player in the run up to contact training or games. No guidlines about where subs and management will be on the sidelines (distance apart, face masks). No guidelines about water bottle use - do clubs need seperate water bottles for each member of the squad, all stored apart from each other and the water carriers wiping each bottle and their hands after each use. Professional sports have increased the number of subs allowed to help with player welfare but no mention of this for amateur players. All the talk about fixtures and player welfare but now they expect players to play full club and county fixtures right up to the end of the year and then continue on playing the whole of 2021 starting in January again.." Hi you could say the same thing about the most physically contact sport of all Rugby. Is any one talking about that. Yet you slag the GAA. galwayford (Galway) - Posts: 2517 - 10/06/2020 11:22:53 2280263 Link