The GAA’s Annual Accounts are among the most comprehensive to be published and explained by any sporting organisation.

They are so in order to be transparent and also in order that delegates to the GAA Congress later this month can have a full picture of how the sport is funded.

This year’s headline figure saw a record revenue line of €60.5 million and more money going back out to units than ever before.

We covered the top line figures in our report yesterday but today we wanted to look a little closer at some of the detail that goes to make up the bigger picture.

 

Corporate Income

There are many within the GAA who would decry the commercialism that they believe threatens the very heart of what the GAA is in communities across the country.

And at the same time there is immense pride from the facilities that Croke Park offers and what it says about the position of the Association in modern Ireland.

The stadium itself is run as a separate company under the leadership of Peter McKenna.

It delivered a ‘dividend’ to the GAA last year of €7.5 million, up from €7 million the previous year.

The most interesting element in the figures lies in the fact that the rental of the stadium for matches came to a total of €8.1 million while Corporate hire income was 50% higher than that at €12.3 million, not including the hire for concerts that yielded another €4.7 million.

Those are big numbers, without which considerably less would be available for the playing of games.

Media Rights

The value of media rights in 2016 was €11.5 million, up from €11.2 million the previous year.  These will rise again next year as part of the new five year deal across a range of rights packages.

The GAA never reveals exactly how much is paid by broadcasters for rights but we will get an indication and we estimate that the new deal will give rise to an uplift of around 20% .

Last year’s rise is partly explained by the growth of GAAGo, the joint venture between the GAA and RTE which we believe will be a key element of an evolving media landscape over the next decade.

Team Expenses

These rose by 22% in the year from €4.5 million to €5.5 million.  They cover the expenses of teams for participating in competitions yet probably only scratch the surface in terms of the money expended at county level in preparing teams.

This is a combination of player welfare, training facilities, physio, medical and all the other costs associated with maintaining a team.

When questioned over whether this payment itself was ‘feeding the monster’ of how much county boards were putting towards the elite teams Finance Director Tom Ryan admitted that Croke Park had no control over what individual Boards decided on what was best for them but that it was becoming ever more of an issue.

Deposit and Loan

The GAA runs a small deposit and loan scheme for the benefit of clubs and county boards.  Those with a surplus can place it on deposit with Croke Park and receive a modest interest payment for so doing.

The amounts are then loaned out to clubs and counties to fund development at a cost which would be below what would be charged if going to the commercial market for that element of funding.

There is strict management of the fund applied and it has been closed for loans since last September until the deposits start5 to come in again.

At present the GAA has €59 million out in loans, €18 million of that to the Cork County Board for the ongoing redevelopment of Pairc Uí Chaoimh.