GAA revenues plunge €42.5m in worst financial year on record

The GAA's central revenues plunged by €42.5 million in 2020 according to the annual accounts released on Tuesday by association finance director, Ger Mulryan, for the first year of the Covid pandemic, which association business declining in some cases to almost nothing.

Central Council income at €31 million was the lowest since 2003 (€30 million).

After a record year for revenue in 2019, when income came in at €74 million, the consolidated losses between the GAA Central Council, Croke Park stadium and the county and provincial units show a deficit for 2020 of €34 million, which according to Mulryan constitutes the worst results on record.

Those losses mainly comprise Central Council (€15.6 million) and Croke Park stadium (€10.2 million), a year after it had provided a dividend of almost exactly the same amount (€10.5 million), to the GAA.

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In his online presentation the financial director said that the GAA would be “knocking on the Government’s door” to help to fund the 2021 season.

The biggest fall came in gate receipts, which were almost literally decimated. The record €36.1 million in 2019 tumbled to €3.67 million in 2020. Commercial revenues, from media rights agreements and sponsorship, were down from €21 million to less than half that amount, €8.7 million.

Mulryan said that although the association didn’t like to be “dependent on anyone” they had needed Government subvention of €18.5 million and “were very grateful to get it”.

Precise, year-on-year comparisons are not possible, as the All-Ireland championships overran the GAA financial year, which ends on October 31st but the carry-over won’t make meaningful impact on this year’s accounts, as Mulryan said that he expected the association would be “challenged again in 2021”.

Government funding was the biggest item on the revenue side, although not all of the allocation is included in the 2020 accounts.

Mulryan pointed up the positive impact of more centralised administration of county team expenses, which he said may be usefully applied in the future.

“As part of the Championship support packages introduced to underwrite the cost of team and player costs, I believe we may have landed on a formula that will serve us well when we return to a normal playing calendar.

“The new requirement that a panel should be limited to 32, combined with a limit of three collective match or training sessions a week, will have a major direct cost-saving impact for counties, while ensuring consistency for all.

“Another welcome initiative is the limit placed on backroom team members permitted to attend matches. The setting of these boundaries, and more importantly, adhering to them will halt ever-increasing team preparation costs that continue to undermine the financial viability of every county board.”

Croke Park stadium director Peter McKenna said that 2020 had been “a black swan year” but that “year-on-year comparisons were meaningless”.

In his report, McKenna outlined the bleak situation.

“For the first time since the early years of the redevelopment of the stadium, the group (Croke Park and associated companies) slipped into the red. Group losses for the financial year 2020 were €10.2m. This represents a decrease of €12.74m on the retained profits posted in 2019 of €2.54m and significantly this meant that there was no distribution to CLG which in 2019 had been €10.5m.”

Core business had been severely hit with no spectators at matches, limited conference events and no concerts.

McKenna said that he had been gratified after initial doubts, that the group was still treated for accounting purposes as “a going concern”.