It will be the biggest sporting attendance of the year, possibly the most watched TV sports event of 2023, and for those involved perhaps the greatest day of their sporting lives.

Back-to-back All Ireland weekends, with two more to come, almost feels like repeating Christmas but never getting sated with what treats there are in store.

The hold that Gaelic Football has over the whole of the country is immense and when it is Dublin against Kerry in the biggest day of the year the intensity ratchets up a notch or three.

They have won 38 and 30 Titles respectively, the next most successful county is Galway with nine.

In the last fifty years, they have met at the Final stage on nine occasions with Kerry winning five and Dublin four.  The last three meetings have gone the way of Dublin, including the electrifying 2019 match and replay when Dublin made history as the first team in Men’s Gaelic Games history to win five titles in a row.

But on Sunday the slate is wiped clean.  Kerry are the reigning Champions and beat Dublin in last year’s Semi-Final.  The bookies have the green and gold as favourites and for those involved history only begins when the first whistle is blown.

Off the field of play the magic of the game is the reason why it has consistently proven to be the most sought-after sponsorship property in Irish sport.

It was 40 years ago, in 1994 that the Championship first carried the name of a brand and that was Bank of Ireland who stayed as the solo sponsor until the GAA moved towards a multi-sponsor model in 2008.

Each of the three brands that currently have their name above the door are deeply committed and in this for the long haul.

SuperValu are the longest serving on the Championship having commenced their partnership in 2010.  The sale of tickets through SuperValu outlets has been a major winner for both sides and in recent years the brand has used its sponsorship and marketing budgets to highlight diversity.

This year’s campaign included a partnership with the Gaelic Players Association to deliver Rainbow laces to all inter county players and the TV ad highlighting that ‘community includes everyone’ has been given heavyweight coverage across TV and online.

 

AIB have been even longer a partner of the GAA through its sponsorship of the club championship dating back over three decades.

They added the Senior All Ireland Football Championship in 2015 and renewed that  in a deal that now carries all the way through to 2028.

This year’s TV ad is a repeat of last year’s Tough Can’t Quit and that has been freshened up in Posters and Digital advertising with the line ‘It’s in our Blood.’

AIB is also the partner of our own GAA coverage throughout the year.

 

The newest sponsor, with their name above the door for the first time in 2023 is also one with a long and deep-rooted history of sponsorship across Gaelic Games.

Allianz signed up to a five-year deal earlier this year, adding to its 30-plus-year relationship with the Allianz Leagues.

The TV ad is fresh and appeals to pretty much every county with a whistle-stop tour of historic moments down the years, to an upbeat and very Irish soundtrack.

It has also created a very tidy min documentary series, dovetailing with the ‘Write your own story’ theme and following County Louth on its journey through this year’s League and Championship.

 

It is also a poignant year for the Dublin sponsor AIG.

We will be looking back on their ten-year tenure on the Blue shirt in much greater detail in the coming weeks but this will be the last outing for the brand having decided at an international level to step away after this season’s Championships.

If the Dublin Ladies team loses to Cork on Saturday night this will be the last outing for the iconic shirt and the brand has been celebrating its support over the last number of months with fresh online content, TV advertising and some major activity planned for this weekend which we will be looking back at on Monday morning.

 

Down in the Kingdom the Kerry Group may now be a global corporation but it has never, and perhaps will never give up its place on the Kerry shirt.

When the GAA allowed sponsorship for the first time back in 1991, the conversation started in Tralee and the brand has been there ever since.  That’s 32 years and counting. As deep as the lakes you might say.

 

 

This promises to be a magical weekend.  Let the games commence.