[quote=âKinvaraâs Passion, post: 846744, member: 686â]Youâd wonder though sometimes about what the future holdsâŚ
You go to our canteen on a friday and it will be all chat about who is going to see Connacht. They look at me as if I have 2 heads when I tell them I have zero interest and that its lightly Iâll attend a few club GAA games on Sunday. Myself and another fella who is a die hard Salthill Devon follower sit and ignore these easily bought cunts.
Connacht Rugby FFS.[/quote]
Connacht have (realistically speaking) had very little success over the last decade. The odd upset against one of the bigger names is what they essentially strive for. Even the IRFU donât give two fucks about them. That they continue to attract crowds in ever increasing numbers is fairly incredible. And a (begrudging) credit to their marketing machine.
If youâve cunts in Galway talking about Connacht rugby imagine what itâs like working in Limerick and Cork. Wall to wall propaganda in the local media 24/7 and most of the sheep are happy to swallow it hook, line and sinker. People who have never played rugby, donât have/support a proper local club, donât know any of the players personally and have only taken up the sport over the last decade - yet these people will gladly crawl over each other to get a ticket for the next big Heineken Cup game when it comes around. The GAA has a big bandwagon too for finals etc but most people would have a local club, know people involved, have kids who play in school etc. Thatâs even before you talk about working or living near inter-county players. The rise of rugby on the back of some shrewd marketing is fairly astounding. That the game is often shit, boring and not too enjoyable makes it even more so.
To be fair, this season aside, thereâs been a lot of crap one-sided hurling IC games in recent years.
Also, the point miss about rugby is that it is marketed as entertainment - an event. This is successful yet many GAA heads would look down their nose at marketing in this way. They forget that they shouldnât be targeting the hard-core clubman - they should be focused on the floating Irish sports fan (and their bird)
Simple point - Rugby didnât get popular off the back of Sun afternoon games (which are still tough games to sell) but rather regular Fri and Sat night fixtures which made them a social event. People first went for the craic and then got attached to the sport/team.
Also the rugby players are far more media savvy and sell their sport compared to âdonât give them any ammoâ IC crowd.
Eh coz the Munster team live behind big walls and are completely removed from the community is it? Jesus chris youv some chip on your shoulder. I havenât forgotten you on here the night of the Munster final raving about a great day for limerick and fabulous scenes on he field bla blah blah. Releasing songs the whole shebang after it. And you have the gall to come on here talking rubbish about rugby bandwagons. Canât wait to see how much of a pitch invasion there will be after yer league games
Dan, be fair now. When has there ever been pitch invasions after league games in recent years? No-one hails Limerick or any other set of GAA supporters as the âbest fans in the worldâ as constantly happens with Munster. 16th man, foot soldiers of the red army, to the brave and faithful etc⌠The Munster final invasion was brilliant was because it was authentic and genuine - a team who have had the shit beaten out of them for years ending a long famine and winning silverware. If Cork had won on the day Iâd liked to have seen their fans on the pitch.
The Munster players are highly paid professional athletes. Flogging a few jerseys in Elveryâs and a few cushy after dinner speeches is all part of promoting âthe brandâ. Youâd meet a lot of inter-county lads in your local bank, down the local during the off season, theyâd be teaching your kids etc. What irritates me is how these highly paid professional athletes like the Munster lads are heralded as ârole modelsâ when what they engage in off the pitch is often a cynical PR exercise. Rugby markets itself very well in fairness and the GAA could definitely learn from them.
Marketing is cynical PR. The GAA are largely amateur at it, rugby has proven to be very good at it. GAA fans should either stop whining about this and be happy with their pure games happy in the knowledge that theyâll remain largely uncontaminated by non-hardcore fans or they can put pressure on the committee men to do what every mainstream sport in the world is doing - marketing themselves in a competitive market as much as possible in order to maintain or grow their (customer) support base.
Youd think that but gaelic games are miles better than rugby and soccer and support for the former at least is growing. Its a no win battle because of gaa structures. The majority of connachts season ticket holders would have no connection with a rugby club but that wouldnât bother them, they support team connacht and thats it. Similarly the players have no other commitments outside of connacht. Contrast to the gaa where players serve two masters with the club and county and deep down many fans (most probably) support their club first. Thats where the allegiance lies and county games are often seen as a hindrance, so more of them made higher profile might not even be welcome. The only county where this doesnt ring true is dublin. Im not slagging but the reality ive seen with loads of dubs in work is they will go regularly to croker to watch them but wouldnt have a clue, interest, or connection with their local clubs. every county has people but what i can see it makes the majority of dublins fans. They then have a huge loyal fanbase that turns up every summer and puts the county team ahead of all other.
Most GAA fans who have any sort of real involvement would probably take the club winning a county over the county winning an All-Ireland. The source of a lot of problems in many counties.
Who ya telling! Whats the solution though. Always thought the fact we lacked traditional provincial rivals, and the emnity that builds and unity, of a sort, hurt us.
[quote=âThe Wild Colonial Bhoy, post: 846985, member: 80â]
then why doesnt anyone play it or watch it on TV?:D:)[/quote]
Why doesnt anyone watch league of ireland. Honestly mate im looking for your opinion, cant beat live sport. And this is a terrible generalisation but why are lots of dubliners fanatical about one sport but seem to hate or treat with disdain others?
