By John Considine
The GAA and the NCAA have more in common than the double As (Athletic Association) that complete their acronyms. There is one remarkable similarity in their commercial realities – the players don’t get paid to play. The issue involved are examined in GAAconomics and Schooled. The former is a new book on the economics of the Gaelic Athletic Association while the latter is a forthcoming documentary on the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
This week Michael Moynihan launched his book GAAconomics. The issue of professionalism pokes its head above the surface in a couple of chapters. In chapter 12, Moynihan details a conversation with Sean Potts, GPA communication officer. Potts makes the point that “in long term, we would see the GPA as a bulwark against professionalism”. Potts does admit there is the “potential for a Kerry Packer – type situation”.
The Kerry Packer scenario gets a full chapter to itself later in the book. While the chances of an alternative GAA being established are between slim and none, there is the acceptance that greater resources could be sourced from SKY if the GAA were willing to sell the rights to that organisation. Paraic Duffy admits the GAA could get up to five times more from SKY than RTE but he says it is a route the association is unlikely to travel.
The issue of payments to players is never far from the surface in the chapters that examine payment to administrators and county managers. The differences between those who populate a country dressing room on championship day are highlighted.
The Kerry Packer scenario gets a full chapter to itself later in the book. While the chances of an alternative GAA being established are between slim and none, there is the acceptance that greater resources could be sourced from SKY if the GAA were willing to sell the rights to that organisation. Paraic Duffy admits the GAA could get up to five times more from SKY than RTE but he says it is a route the association is unlikely to travel.
The issue of payments to players is never far from the surface in the chapters that examine payment to administrators and county managers. The differences between those who populate a country dressing room on championship day are highlighted.
Of course the issue of payment to players is always a hot topic when it comes to the NCAA. In the NC-double A world, the coach can be one of the highest paid employees of a college or university. However, athletes who are suspected of profiting from their sporting role can end up in trouble like Johnny Manziel did at the start of August (see previous blog entry here).
The amateurism rule in the NCAA is coming under increasing pressure as the Ed O’Bannon lawsuit confirms. Now Bobby Valentine is about to release his documentary on the issue. This week he talked to Rick Horrow on Bloomberg’s Sportfolio about the upcoming documentary (here). The documentary is eagerly awaited in the US. There will probably be a few GAA people amongst the viewers.
The amateurism rule in the NCAA is coming under increasing pressure as the Ed O’Bannon lawsuit confirms. Now Bobby Valentine is about to release his documentary on the issue. This week he talked to Rick Horrow on Bloomberg’s Sportfolio about the upcoming documentary (here). The documentary is eagerly awaited in the US. There will probably be a few GAA people amongst the viewers.
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