I think one of the best ways to market the league would be a weekly show with highlights from premier games and goals from every match in the first. At the moment there's no way in hell that this is going to happen- but there's no reason why the clubs couldn't make it a hell of a lot easier for a TV company to decide this is the way to go. If every club paid into a pool every season the league could pay for cameras to be at every ground for every league game. Even eL weekly would be a hell of a lot better with more goals and less waffle. The increased exposure would bring better advertising revenue for the clubs- looking for a sponsor(s) when you're guarenteed to be on TV, even for a few seconds every week, would be a hell of a lot easier.
If done properly it'd pay for itself but it will not, of course, happen. Too many people will feel that their club shouldn't have to pay, or that we should wait for it to be done for us. Even if just the premier clubs did it it'd be a big step forward.
The risk of lowering it from 15/16 euro is well, gates will still not increase and your cutting your income even more!! A gate of 6 to 7 thousand a week would sustain our clubs and create great atmospheres. Its a shame we cant suppenna people into coming for 2 - 3 months and see how it changes the league
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Most clubs have cameras at the game already. I run the Shels effort and the problem is top quality video footage from multiple sources like Sky is needed. A camera at the edge of the pitch is not going to cut the mustard with potential fans!! The gantrys if there are any in most grounds are not good enough, Tolka included. I have had first hand experience of this in a number of grounds now. I have a small media team now for Shels, but we are a season away from producing top quality tv style productions!!! Next season should see us being able to do that, but the effort is immense, and its not cheap!!!Originally Posted by Galway Harps
Last edited by Gareth; 07/06/2006 at 8:32 PM.
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The season kicks off in March, Rogue Trade when we still have sheets of rain. You can get sheets of rain in this country ANY TIME of the year. Crowds are pathetic on Bank Holiday weekends regardless of the weather anyway. It's always bloody freezing in Dalyer on the Jodi Stand side of the ground so that it doesn't matter what season it is.
It's not purely down to the product and it's packaging , it's down to our pathetic population and their built in inferiority complex.
The EL is not supported because it's Irish therefore it can't be as good as any other League
and partly because we are a nation of bandwagon jumpers and event junkies and going to games every other week is too much like hard work.
The reason the GAA is successful is because we are the best in the world at it. BOG ALL PEOPLE ELSE WHERE PLAY IT!
Also being a GAA fan involves going to eight games a year tops ( in the Championship of course..., most GAA fans cannot be arsed about their league either)
Last edited by CollegeTillIDie; 07/06/2006 at 9:52 PM.
If we had modern stadia throughout the league maybe we would see decent crowds turn up
Not neccesarily Rodger. If that were the case why haven't clubs attendances improved when they've improved their grounds ?(eg Jodi stand in Dalymount, new stand in Tolka, increasing the stand in Richmond etc etc). Most clubs grounds have improved over the last ten years, have most attendances ? I doubt it.
thats an invalid point.
one "decent" stand in an otherwise kip of a ground will do nothing to attract higher attendances.
the new stand in tolka is no use to anyone considering the rest of the ground and facilities are abysmal. try having a ***s in the toilets when the ground is even half full- youl be up to your ankles in urine
the jodi stand is the best stand in the league- decent enough toilets,a few bars etc, but most the facilities under it are years old, they werent redevolped along with the outside of the main stand.
richmond is an absoulte ****ehole.that stand is brutal.no toilets in it. loads of pillars in the way not too mention the other 3 sides of the ground are a disgrace.
we need proper newly built stadia all across the league. not just one or two new half decent stands
Galway United have improved their ground in the 1990's. They get good crowds when their team is doing well. Terryland was a sh1thole until 1992, and they still got good crowds when they were doing well. This Field of Dreams BS is just that. Tolka Park is one of the best grounds in Dublin and relatively nobody goes there despite the success of the team that plays it's home games there... Shelbourne.
Good stadiums would remove a major obstacle to marketing the league properly and selling it to the people. They won't bring the crowds on their own, but it'll make it a bit easier to get people to come and easier to get them to stay.
They're not the answer to the attendance problems on their own. The biggest problem is the league's image, which is atrocious due to a number of factors, only one of which is stadia.
i dont think its stadia per say. tolka on the face of it is a fine ground. all seated, good views from most seats.
but as anto-eile says, matters not a damn if you cant take the kid for a **** or get some food. start with the basics
Have you any basis for this. Apart from "its obvious"... Pretty much every GAA ground bar 1 or 2 is a kip and they're full. Likewise provincial rugby grounds (well decent crowds anyway) Clubs that do well on the field get decent crowds (bar Shels but even they are improving slowly). If UCD v Bray was played in a super-dooper delaney stamped ground you still wouldn't get 1,000 to go see it. The market is just no there for el football. Not while the organisation running idolise the competetion in Britain and spend so much money/energy on the internationla side.
The problem is that clubs have a far more realistic view than most fans here. They know the limited potential and probably know that dropping the price by €5 won't bring in enough new fans to cover the lost revenue from the regulars paying €15 (and not every club charges €15 in BTW) I'd also query how many new fans turn up knowing it costs €15 to get in and how many turn up, see €15 and go home but thats a different arguement
Last edited by Dodge; 08/06/2006 at 9:48 AM.
54,321 sold - wws will never die - ***
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Agreed. The Drumcondra End stand (which accounts for about 10% of the ground's capacity) has the only cantilevered roof in the place. It's only a matter of chance if you happen to be able see both goals clearly if you're sitting in the Richmond Road Stand.
Let's face facts here: the "rusty barbed wire and muddy banks" image of grounds in this league is the number one in the minds of those that stay away. Granted facilities at most ground have improved a little, they are still well below what can be described a decent - we're talking proper concrete surfaces, not loose hardcore; food-stalls - you should have seen the set-up at Oriel Park a few weeks ago; seats that don't fall apart when someone weighing less than 12 stone sits on them; toilets? - where do I start!?!
Let's start taking a little pride in our surroundings - we look after our homes don'y we? When we have friends over to visit we don't want the place looking like a dump if, for no other reason, if gives others a bad impression of us if we do. So why should we expect the general public to turn up at the Caralisle Grounds or sit in The Jodi or use a portaloo at Richmond Park, pay 15euro and come back again next week? It's not going to happen.
Ireland: Discovered!
Agree with a decent highlights show but disagree about showing goals from the first division cos the majority of grounds there look awful. Although it was a shame that the Galway goal from our game wasnt shown as it would have looked good considering there was a decent crowd in a good ground.
We need an hour long show at prime time monday that will cover ALL the premier games and will have interviews, competitions, fans view etc etc. Like the Gazzetta show. But the first problem is gantries. Some clubs dont have any at all! And some clubs just videotape from a tripod in the main stand like Waterford and Derry which looks absolutely dire.
But the bottom line is facilities. As someone says they are not gonna pay €15 into a ****hole. (Fair play to Galway as it was only a tenner in last friday). Passed by Athlone's ground last friday and its great to see a new stadium for a league club.
Too often clubs have been guilty of paying players ridiculous money while the ground falls apart. If anything this is why the so called wage cap can be a good thing.
KOH
As I've said before: would you be more inclined to return to a crap cinema where you saw a good movie, or a nice cinema where the movie happened to be poor?
Facilities are of premium importance, and every EL ground is below standard.
How much money have clubs spent on players over, say, the last ten years? How many extra fans have they, ten years on? At least by investing in infrastructure and long-term stuff (stadia, costumer service, training facilities, quality coaching, youth development, football in the community, marketing) you have a chance of making process.
Paying poor players a grand or two a week doesn't make a professional football club; it just means you're a soft touch for failed pros.
Most Irish people are event snobs who couldn't care less about Irish football, because their heroes are on TV either at home or in the pub, so the odd trip to Lansdowne or Old Trafford suits them just fine.
If we want those people, you're going to have to go out and get them.
I'd suggest that paying players a reasonable, gross wage, paying tax on time and living within your means while making plans for the future (beginning now) would be a start.
Well the introduction of the 65% wage-cap is a start, yet some people here seem to be opposed to it
Ireland: Discovered!
In fairness I can't remember anybody being against that. some said it was unworkable but AFAIK nobody was against the principle (not going to check back either - agree they're idiots if they are against it)Well the introduction of the 65% wage-cap is a start, yet some people here seem to be opposed to it
54,321 sold - wws will never die - ***
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relax take a break
the world cup's on
the eircom league will still be there when we get back.....delaneys on holidays
It is at best only arguable to say that there are "more distractions in the Summer months". I don't know anyone who sits around idly with nothing to occupy them for 9 months of the year. The only thing that Summer has is the weather and the longest single school break. That only really transpires into a 2 week holiday out of the country. The biggest events/distractions of the year are outside of Summer : cultural and religious events (Halloween, Christmas, New Year, Valentines, Easter), media and sports events (key film releases; English, Scottish and European club football, club rugby, 6 Nations rugby, the all-Ireland Finals) etc etc.
Conversely - even if there was less to do in Winter it'd be easy to argue that people are much less likely to leave the house and sit in an open stadium because of the weather. Hence negating any benefit from avoiding the supposedly all-singing, all-dancing time of year that is Summer.
Six of one......
Last edited by dcfcsteve; 08/06/2006 at 3:40 PM.
all these things will help and improve the EL but without a real aggressive marketing policy (not a small ad in the star) it will not work ,you only have to look at heniken and guinness to see how proactive they are in the leagues.
but tolka is still a complete and utter dump
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