Reports are circulating this morning that the GAA and the Gaelic Players Association will announce a new five year partnership later today.
The original deal between the two bodies which covers a variety of arrangements from shared commercial deals through to the administration of grants and expenses was signed in 2011 and extended for twelve months last year to enable the negotiation of the new deal.
Commercially the relationship has worked well with a total of seven deals ranging in length from three to ten years in place.
These include partnerships with PwC, Aer Lingus, Avonmore, Best Menswear, Opel, Lenovo and Cúl Heroes.
The length of the new deal will generate additional confidence to go out and expand the breadth of these relationships giving brands access to players on a structured commercial basis while maintaining the central amateur nature of the GAA.
It’s a smart partnership which works for all and while it always appeared inevitable that it would continue, seeing the ink dry on contracts will still be a positive step.
Sport for Business will report later on the details as they emerge.
