€5 for U16s to attend GAA League games isn't much, but is it really necessary?

No matter what way the GAA dresses it up, they’re now charging for under-16s to get into league games - and the optics aren’t great.

A fiver to get into a Division 1A and 1B hurling game and Division 1 and 2 football matches doesn’t seem like a lot.

But if you’re two adults, already paying €20 each to go to a league game, it’s €40 now, plus another fiver per child.

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€20 for an adult ticket to watch winter hurling and football is already a bit steep - part of us thinks fans should be paid for going to league games in January and February, particularly away fans, such is the hardship.

Thrown in €5 a head per kid and the costs are starting to add up for families. You wouldn’t leave the kids at home for the sake of €5 but that’s not the point.

A GAA press release read: “This new arrangement has been introduced after consultation with our counties and to assist with event control and health and safety protocols for fixtures that attract bigger attendances.”

This new arrangement will also generate additional income, but how much?

The reasoning warrants a closer look. Given that kids will now require tickets it allows the GAA to more accurately predict the size of a crowd, which helps with event planning.

Fair enough, but very few league games go anywhere close to a sell out, and even for the bigger attendances quoted in the press release, there is still plenty of room in almost every stadium, at every game.

The usual suspects have accused the GAA of money grabbing, but does this really stack up?

For a start, 85 per cent of all GAA income goes back into the Association. Also, kids €5 tickets make up a tiny percentage of overall gate receipts when it comes to the Championship, where tickets can range from €20 to €100 (All-Ireland final stand tickets).

Kids €5 tickets would be a higher percentage of League gate receipts with the headline ticket price €20, but overall league income is dwarfed by Championship gate receipts.

Gate receipts in 2023 were €38.5 million, with €29 million of it Championship and €7 million League. The remainder came from the Tailteann Cup and other competitions.

And entry is still free for under-16s to all hurling and football league games outside the top tiers.

Some fans of others sports, who don’t particularly like the GAA for whatever reasons they have, use the grab-all tag, which is ironic, given the nature of the sports and some of the sportspeople they idolise.

The GAA shouldn't be too bothered about them. However, they should be concerned about their current and future members.

Without downplaying it, a fiver is not a lot of money to most, in the grander scheme of the myriad subscriptions and bills people are now coerced into but the principle is an important one.

A voluntary, community-based, amateur association should be held to different standards, and it is.

A recent study found that the social value of the GAA to Irish society is €2.87 billion per annum. The vast majority of this is voluntary work.

The few kickbacks should be things like free to air games and free attendance to games for under-16s, particularly at a time when the competition for the hearts and minds of young people is so great.

You’d wonder how necessary this latest measure was in the grander scheme of things for the few bob it will bring in.

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