The Gaelic Players Association’s (GPA) support of amateur status cannot be guaranteed in the future, the associations chief executive Tom Parsons has said.
Parsons issued the warning at the launch of a report commissioned by the GPA, which claims intercounty players generate a total economic impact of €591 million annually, while individually incurring an average expense loss of €4,602 to participate at the elite level of Gaelic games.
The report, titled Assessment of Economic and Social Impacts of Inter-County Gaelic Football, Camogie and Hurling Players in Ireland, was conducted by Indecon over a six-month period in 2024 and included responses from 3,766 intercounty players across men’s and women’s football, hurling and camogie.
The research also stated that players are €1,499 worse off now than in 2018 because of the cost-of-living crisis, while it projected players are losing out on €3,500 annually in potential overtime earnings.
The GPA is engaging with the Government to enhance recognition of the economic and social contribution of players, but Parsons feels if such financial shortfalls are not addressed, then it could lead to further frustration among intercounty players.
“We’re members of EU Athletes and they give us some guidance on how to represent your members,” Parsons said. “And they’ve said, ‘Look, you have to ask your players every year, your members, do you continue to be happy to be amateur?’
“If we ask that question in five years’ time, and we get a mandate that 60-70 per cent of players say, ‘No, actually we want a professional [sport]’, the GPA are bound by what the members want to do.”
According to GPA research, in 2023 a total of 71 per cent of male players were content with amateur status, but in 2024 that figure was just 59 per cent.
“Players are now seeing that there’s huge revenue being generated, there’s a huge amount of employment and [they are saying], ‘I’m at a loss.’
“My mission and vision is that we create a value proposition,” added Parsons. “And we ask that question every year and players are saying, ‘Absolutely, I want to remain amateur’.
“If we want to protect the amateur status in 10 years’ time, this is an important juncture where the Government and the governing bodies look to see how can we create a value proposition where players are net zero? So, it’s not costing them.
“Create an environment where there’s investment in their careers, their education is thriving, for example that student athletes don’t have to have a part-time job in a bar on a Saturday night if they’re going to be playing in front of 82,000 people in Croke Park.
“How do you do that? You need a really strong bursary programme, we don’t have a strong bursary programme. That’s not going against amateur status. So, I think in relation to what’s in our control to protect the amateur status, a lot more needs to be done.
“And my fear is that the next generation, [in] five or 10 years, if we don’t catch up and really look at the value proposition, then it would be awful to look back in 10 years and say, ‘How did we lose that cultural heritage, where did we lose that, why did players revolt and decide to stop playing?’”
The warning comes as the GAA and GPA continue to negotiate a new player charter. Those talks are currently on a “two-week pause”.
Pushed on what impact it would have if a majority of intercounty players said they wanted a professional game, the former Mayo player added: “You’re bringing that back to the GAA, you have unwilling participants in something that is generating this amount of economic activity.
“The game has become even more commercialised. You have three sponsorships on jerseys now, social media accounts are getting more ambitious, you have a GAAGO platform, which is a subscription service.
“For example, when I was playing with Mayo, Elverys was a sponsor. I [walked] into an Elverys store and I’m plastered on the wall. Initially you think, ‘That’s great’, but then you realise this is big business here. That was a sponsorship with Mayo, I didn’t question it, but players are now starting to ask. There are images of players popping up all over the place, and permission hasn’t been sought.”
Parsons has also suggested that funds raised from the sleeve sponsorship on intercounty jerseys be pooled to support all counties.
“That’s one sponsor, for example, that should be pooled and should be used and get good value for that, that could be used to support weaker counties.”
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