GAA gate receipts, attendances and annual revenue all up in 2017 financial report

Director of Finance, Tom Ryan, says the GAA is in a 'sound financial state.'

The GAA recorded increases in gate receipts and attendances in 2017 in what must be considered a strong financial year for the organisation. Gate receipts accounted for more than half (52%) of the GAA’s income (€34.4 million), with that figure marking a €4 million  increase on 2016’s numbers. The average attendance per championship match grew to 22,000, with Mayo's All-Ireland semi-final and quarter-final replays against Kerry and Roscommon a major contributing factor to football's 22% increase while Wexford, Cork, and Waterford's attendance-boosting campaigns, including the latter's run to the final, helped hurling to a 29% jump.

“In terms of how we earned our €35 million in gate receipts and what that actually meant in terms of a return for the association as a whole, it's always interesting to look at where we're generating a return,” said the GAA’s Director of Finance, Tom Ryan, via their official website. “We had 350-odd matches over the course of this year and the lion's share of the €35 million revenue is earned from eight to ten significant matches. In terms of the net income out of the 350-odd games that are played, there are only just over 40 that generates any kind of a return. “So that in turn creates its own pressure. It means you've got to get everything right for those particular games at the tail-end of the season because they are the games that determined how you fare financially.

“The other 300-plus games are equally important but they’re not there to generate any money and are not judged by the amount of money they generate. “That means you've got to make as much as you can from the ones that do generate a return to safe-guard the future of those other competitions.”

The €14.8 million distributed by the GAA to counties in 2017 marked a 23% increase on the 2016's number of €13.4 million. Páirc an Chrócaigh CTR, responsible for the management and operation of Croke Park Stadium, had an operating profit of €10.9 million,  €7.5 million of which went to the GAA’s Central Council. Notably, Dublin's games development funding stands at €1,298,630, an 11% drop from €1,463,400 in 2016. However, despite that decrease, Dublin continues to tower above every other county in terms of funding, with Meath's €267,046 the second-highest total.