AIB has officially announced it’s sponsorship of GAA Club Championships in Football, Hurling and for the first time Camogie. The latter sports inclusion echoes the breakthrough nature of Liberty Insurance’s joining in commercial terms of the All Ireland Hurling and Camogie Championships and is another major boost for the profile of Women’s sport in Ireland.
The overall sponsorship from AIB is now entering its 22nd year and celebrates with a new theme that they are ‘the toughest of them all.’
Most County Championships are now complete or drawing to a conclusion across the country and the action moves straight away to provincial and then All Ireland level with finals to be played at Croke Park on St Patrick’s Day 2014.
The club is an integral part of any sports organisation but perhaps especially so within the GAA where ‘the parish’ is held as such a high ideal that transfers are an extreme rarity and only really happen when a player has had to relocate because of work.
“To win an AIB GAA Club Championship would mean everything to me,” said Fingallians and Dublin star Paul Flynn at yesterday’s launch in Carton House. “It’s so difficult to win because of the amount of games, often in a short space of time and it can be physically and mentally tough. To win an All-Ireland with my club, playing with your friends and for your community would be the ultimate achievement for me.”
The challenge of effective branding at what is in effect a collection of the winners of multiple tournaments is one which AIB have traditionally faced through outdoor advertising, often targeted especially in the local areas of the teams that go the furthest.
With an extensive branch network this is a sponsorship that does reach down to community level but this year will see a shift in emphasis from that side towards a more national campaign, led by social media around the theme of ‘the toughest.’
There is a specific twitter account up and running @AIB_GAA, and the sponsor and the GAA will be pushing hard at #theToughest hashtag on the same micro blogging service.
Conor Mallaghan of Carton House Hotel will be one of the business panel of speakers at our Sports Tourism Seminar at the GAA Museum in Croke Park on November 7th. Click here for more details and to reserve a place.
“This is the time of the year when our club activity assumes centre stage and you only had to witness the celebrations in villages and towns across the country in recent weeks to see what success in county championships means to players and clubs alike,” said GAA President Liam O’Neill.
“There is of course a special dynamic involved in the AIB Club Championships as some of the best known players return to the scene where it all began and where it will all finish. AIB’s assistance in helping us to showcase the special rivalries that emerge is greatly appreciated as is their support of the Camogie championships. Here’s to another season of excellent club activity.”
That theme was followed up on by Camogie Association President Aileen Lawlor who said
“Clubs are the grassroots of our Association. This is where the player is first introduced to Gaelic games.”
“This is where the player develops their love of the game and proudly represents their club, parish and community. AIB cater for families in parishes and communities all over Ireland just as we cater for all children from a young age and well into their adult life in the community. We are delighted to announce this partnership, and we look forward to working alongside AIB over the next few years”.
Sports Analytics Round Table ** Sports Tourism Seminar ** Irish Sponsorship Awards ** Sports Philanthropy Round Table ** Youth Sports Conference ** Sport for Business 20/20 for 2015
