GPA’s position strengthened by new €6.2m deal

A hefty increase in the financial clout of the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) is not the only significant element of their new framework agreement with the GAA, now set to be worth €6.2 million per year.

There’s also a notable increase in the GPA’s political clout within the Association, which will now include an extra delegate at Congress and the right to submit one motion annually on any chosen issue, including championship structures.

The new agreement, which will run from 2017-2019, also means the GAA will now contribute 11 per cent of their total revenues (€55.7m in 2015) to player welfare and related expenses, including a notable increase in mileage rates, a new €1.2 million nutrition expense fund, and €200,000 towards surgical interventions of former intercounty players.

All this – plus the increased input into policy decisions – might lesson some of the criticism previously aimed at the GPA, even if the benefits are still aimed at the senior intercounty playing body only.

A new working group will examine the increasing demands being placed on players at club and county level, and the agreement also notes that the GAA and GPA are “committed to maintaining and protecting the amateur status”, although some accusations of elitism will likely remain.

Good day

“I think it’s a good day for the players,” said GPA chief executive Dessie Farrell.

“It brings their status to a new level, and there’s a lot of practical support contained in it, and I think what’s very important too is the input into policy decisions that affect players, which will be widely welcomed too. The link to commercial revenue is a significant step forward too, so all told, players we think will be very happy with this.”

Indeed that link to commercial revenue was strongly argued by the GPA, and will see the GAA provide €2.5 million or 15 per cent of net central commercial revenue (whichever is higher) in each of the three years of the agreement (that commercial revenue coming from media rights, sponsorship, franchising, licensing, etc). Last year’s commercial revenue was around €18 million, but with the GAA’s media rights up for renewal again next year, there is clear potential there for growth.

When the GAA first agreed a deal with the GPA in 2011 there was a reluctance to establish any percentage of revenue, although according to GAA director general Páraic Duffy, this was seen as the best way forward from both sides.

“We’re five years on, and we thought that was fair for everybody, now, in that if commercial revenue grows, then the GPA will benefit from that,” said Duffy.

“The important point to make is that this document was presented before Central Council on Saturday and every aspect of it was debated at length, and there was unanimous support for all aspects of it.”

In the most recent year of the agreement, 2015, this central figure was €2.0 million: helping to bring the total up to €6.2 million is the increase in mileage, effectively a “top up” on the existing county board figure of 50c per mile, bringing it up to between 62.5cent and 65cent per mile (to a maximum total cost of €1.5m).

In the previous agreement, most of the GPA funding was also project based.

“First time round it was all very new to everyone,” explained Farrell, “and we needed to prove our bone fides in a whole host of areas, and I think over the five years we’ve done that. What we have in place now is a productive working relationship, and the outcome here is indicative of that.

“What we’ve also discovered over the years is that constant dialogue is important, and I think this agreement will facilitate that to an even greater extent.”

One motion

GPA chairman and Limerick hurler Séamus Hickey outlined some other aspects of the agreement, including that right to submit one motion annually to Congress, most likely on championship structure, given a similar motion put forward earlier this year by the GPA was thrown out.

“Well that motion will come from the players, and whatever the voice of our players deems appropriate to bring forward, and if that the appetite is there for any sort of change, we will put that forward.”

The €1.2 million fund for nutrition, Hickey explained, came largely at the request of players: “It’s relatively new aspect of the game, even since I started in 2006, an element of preparation that hasn’t been engaged in before. It’s only a contribution, not a complete reimbursement, and obviously the further you go in the championship the more you benefit from it.”

Negotiating the agreement for the GAA was Fergal McCormack, John Horan, Liam Keane and Feargal McGill, and for the GPA, Dermot Earley, Séamus Hickey, Richie Hogan, Paul Flynn, Aidan Gordon and Aaron Shearer.

“We are serious about the welfare of our players and will continue to work with the GPA to safeguard that welfare,” said GAA president Aogán Ó Fearghail. “The increased commitment involved in playing our games at intercounty level has been commonly acknowledged for some time.”