August and everything after: Season debate still rages

Ever since Mick O’Dwyer established what is generally considered the first modern training schedule in the GAA, questions have been raised over the inter-county calendar and the impact on both player welfare and the club game.

O’Dwyer reckoned that more than 5,000 would file into Fitzgerald Stadium and gaze at the Kerry greats being pushed to their physical limits, fascination abound at the commitment and dedication required to remain part of O’Dywer’s iconic side.

“We never closed the gates,” he said. “We’d just go at it hammer and tongs. No secrets.”

Dublin followed suit and soon after all teams had varying degrees of training plans. Inevitably, the increased demands on the elite players led to growing frustration within clubs.

More than 30 years ago, at a time when the National League began in November before a Christmas break and resuming again prior to championsip, Eugene McGee was calling for drastic change.

In his Hogan Stand column in 1993, the former Offaly All-Ireland winning manager hit out at the “short-sighted” policies of county boards that were to the detriment of county players.

“A lot of players are burned out by the end of November and whatever the public may think, the players certainly do need a long rest,” he wrote.

It would be another nine seasons before the winter league start was done away with, but that was only one sliver of the scheduling pie.

A decade later, the radical action called for by McGee and others finally arrived with the split-season in 2021, dividing the calendar into two distinct periods: an inter-county season in the first half of the year, and a club championship season in the second.

On the face of it, it has been a resounding success for players and managers/coaches.

In 2022, a GPA survey among male inter-county players found that 87% were in favour of the new calendar, the figure dipping slightly to 85% two years later. A review by the Kerry County Board this year found that 91% of the Kingdom’s All-Ireland winning squad agree with split season model.

Fresh from helping Tipperary to Liam MacCarthy glory, Jason Forde said: “I’d be a big fan of the way the split season is. I think it’s really important that you have that bit of clarity.”

In reality, there are few dissenting voices among the players over the split-season (often conflated with the condensed season), though some managers past and present have made their displeasure known.

“I was an advocate of the split-season at the start because, honestly, it’s no harm to try these things and see, but it isn’t working in my view,” Offaly manager Johnny Kelly said, pointing out the gap of more than six months between between the end of the 2025 season and the start of next year’s league. Former Wexford manager Tony Dempsey says the argument that the split season has been brought into give succour and more exposure to the club game is “a nonsense”.

But what has been the business impact to the shaking up of the GAA schedule?

“From a commercial perspective, there are three legs to the stool for any major sports organisation; ticket sale gate receipts, TV rights and sponsorship,” says Kelli O’Keeffe, Managing Director at PR and sponsorship agency Teneo PSG.

“In order to look at the commercial impact of the split season, you need to look at all three.”

Let’s start with ticket sales.

In 2010 current director general Tom Ryan, then financial director, stressed that the ideal ratio of gate income to other sources was 2:1 (that year match-day represented 38% of the overall income), but as Croke Park has generated much greater income from concerts, commercial deals and media rights, that figure has lessened.

In 2024, ticket sales represented 29% of overall revenue. While last year’s hurling and football championships saw 10% decrease in match-day attendance, revenue was marginally up (€39.14m) thanks to ticket price increases.

This year matchgoers filed through the turnstiles in greater numbers. Both Allianz Leagues experienced higher attendances, the Leinster football preliminary round games were up 40% while the All-Ireland group stages were up 21% on the 12 months previous.

The rule changes introduced for the 2025 championship are undoubtedly a bigger factor in the jolt to match-going numbers than the change in the schedule, so a longer sample size will be required before definitive conclusions are drawn regarding ticket sales.

So what about sponsorship?

The condensed season poses obvious issues for commercial interests looking for a slice of the audience.

“It has certainly shortened the opportunity for major senior championship sponsors to activate,” says O’Keeffe.

“I don’t believe there has been any fallout as of yet for that among the brands – they are all in the same boat – as it’s not like one has an advantage over another. They have a shorter window to fight for their voice, but the product is really strong and we are on the back of two fantastic championships.”

From a broadcasting perspective, those business considerations are impactful, with summer All-Irelands posing different challenges.

“Undoubtedly there is a commercial impact between July and September,” says RTÉ’s head of sport Declan McBennett. “Finishing the championship in July, versus September makes a significant commercial difference to RTÉ because commercial agencies spend more in September than they do in July.”

Which brings us to the third pillar: TV rights.

When McBennett assumed his role in 2018, the national broadcaster was showing 40 inter-county games. Six years later and that figure has increased with the addition of Allianz League fixtures.

Last year’s football championship lasted a little over 16 weeks – three weeks longer than the hurling championship (hence Dónal Óg Cusack microwave season term) – with some still uneasy with All-Ireland finals played in summer sunshine.

He cites a recent weekend as an example of the reality of the split-season for TV audiences. As TG4 continued their GAA club coverage, RTÉ broadcasted the World Athletics Championships, Champions Weekend festival of racing, Women’s Rugby World Cup, World Boxing and FAI Cup quarter-finals.

The lowest performing linear TV audience was the GAA.

“August and September used to essentially be the preserve of the GAA. Now they are continuously clashing with the big summer events, just when the GAA is reaching its pinnacle,” says McBennett.

“From a broadcaster’s perspective, from a commercial perspective, the build-up to All-Ireland finals in August or September gives greater scope, energy and focus.

“The question for the GAA is: do they want their shop window to extend into a period when they dominate, or do they want others to take that shop window in the knowledge that the club championship is taking centre stage at a local, rather than national level.”

A further nod to the consequences of the changing calendar is that next year’s World Cup final on 19 July in New Jersey could well clash with an All-Ireland final.

Further change?

Those in favour of a later conclusion to the inter-county season (namely traditionalists, commercial interests and broadcasters) will watch on with interest at Congress next February when a proposal to move the All-Ireland football final into August and the hurling final to the last Sunday in July is put to a vote.

The varying nature of club championships is at the heart of the debate regarding the mood among county boards. From Tyrone’s straight knock-out football championship, to dual counties such as Cork, Galway, Dublin and Wexford running week on, week off calendars

“We would have significant opposition to going back to anything later than the current finals,” says Galway chairman Paul Bellew. “Traditionally, we would love to go back to September in an ideal world, but it’s not an ideal world.”

Since the split-season was introduced, Bellew says there has been a 20% increase in adult playing members in the county, credited in part to the certainty of the calendar.

Attendances in this year’s club championships – which start the week after the All-Ireland football final – are “a way up”, boosting the income-generating part of the season.

“It can be infuriating when you read some of the articles, and some of the headlines as about why we should go back to August,” he says. “People need to look at the bigger picture here.”

Galway have lobbied for the inter-county window – from initial training until the end of the All-Ireland championships – should be no longer than seven months, with a week on, week off schedule between the codes to be replicated from club level.

“It would also do wonders for the promotion of hurling.”

Figuring out the necessary break for players is an ongoing debate.

Earlier this week the GPA strongly reiterated the need for a six-week break between the end of club commitments and any resumption of inter-county duties.

However the evolution of the calendar is pleasing for former Club Players Association (CPA) chairman Micheál Briody (below).

He believes there is a small window to move the All-Ireland finals, but unless club championships are more homogenous, a return to September is a pipedream.

“There is probably the capacity to go back to the August Bank Holiday weekend for the All-Ireland football final, a movement of one week, but beyond that there is not the room on the calendar to run the club championships.

“It’s working better for the majority.

“The games are for the players and the players are happy.”