The Cork county board will debate the sale of naming rights for Pairc Uí Chaoimh to locally based retail group SuperValu at Tuesday night’s meeting. The proposed renaming, believed to be SuperValu Páirc, will be put to delegates.
This dramatic news emerged in the Irish Examiner on Monday evening but has been independently corroborated.
If the controversial proposal is passed by the meeting, the famous Leeside venue will become the first major GAA stadium to change its name for commercial reasons.
Others, like the TUS Gaelic Grounds in Limerick or FBD Semple Stadium in Thurles have retained the traditional name as part of the commercial tie-in. It is believed that the deal will be worth €1 million over the course of three years.
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The Examiner also reports that three other companies, Boston Scientific, Statkraft and PepsiCo, are in line to conclude “subsidiary” agreements, thought to relate to various ancillary partnerships in the ground, which was redeveloped in 2017 at a cost of €96 million.
Servicing problems for Cork GAA on the outstanding debt of more than €30 million resulted in a revised loan agreement for an extended period of 25 years, agreed by Croke Park.
This has put Cork GAA under significant pressure and created urgency around raising revenue, which has seen the venue used for concerts and Munster rugby matches.
