Each week we take a look at a sponsorship opportunity costing less than €10,000 which could give your brand a perfect medium to reach out through sport, and your sport a chance to secure much needed partnerships to take you to another level…
Sponsorship of the GAA at Championship level taps into the sports deep embedded roots within communities and a host of reasons to engage with Irish consumers. It’s also expensive and beyond the reach of many brands but that does not mean that the sport is a closed door for imaginative sponsorship.
Opportunity
The European Board of the GAA has developed into the fastest growing part of the the international expansion of the sports. It was set up in 1999 and now boasts 80 clubs in 24 countries across the continent.
In the past weeks there have been tournaments in The Hague for teams from Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany and Scandinavia while other multinational tournaments took place in Munich, Toulouse and Galicia.
Some of the teams carry personally sourced sponsorship generally covering the cost of the kit as would be the case in many clubs but none of the tournaments carry any commercial branding and that is where not one but multiple opportunities arise.
35% of the players across Europe are indigenous but the real reach for an Irish brand is to the expatriate market which may be firmly rooted in local areas or may in the future be looking at bringing skills back home.
That makes an obvious case for recruitment companies or professional service businesses looking to attract top talent from wherever they can be found.
Costs
The GAA remains firmly amateur in terms of the players so the largest costs of getting to tournaments is largely covered by fundraising and players own contribution. Costs to be met include hire of facilities, catering, trophies and marketing, all of which can be covered by a figure that could be as little as €2,000.
Of course their is the cost of activating by getting to the tournament and that may well be more than the cost of the rights but with Sky Sports still heavily engaged in promoting the sports through its broadcast deal the potential for Europe wide PR is greater than would normally be the case in an opportunity of this size.
Three reasons why this could be seen as a good deal:
1. The ‘Diaspora’ remains a hard to reach but receptive audience and this taps straight into a main line of engagement for many who have chosen or been forced to live abroad.
2. Being involved with the GAA at any level lends an air of community credibility within workforces and customers at home.
3. Brands like Etihad, Fexco, Aer Lingus and GAAGo have recently been involved in high profile engagement around international GAA. Yet it remains available at a lower cost than might be expected. That won’t last for long.
Contact
Tony Bass at sponsorshipofficer.europe[at]gaa.ie is the man to speak to. Or if you prefer contact us today and we will make the introduction.
Are you involved in sport and looking for a sponsor?
If you are a sporting organisation that is part of the Sport for Business community this weekly feature is an opportunity to showcase your initiatives, with a sponsorship ask of €10,000 or less, and potentially open doors to those within our 10,000 strong regular readership. In the coming weeks we will have opportunities in Basketball, Olympic Sport, Volunteering and more…
Contact us today if you would like to feature in the future.
