Connacht Council cuts ground rent rate for counties following GAA’s decision to scrap provincial leagues

Connacht Council has halved the ground rent percentage payable to counties in respect of next year’s football championship fixtures from 10 per cent to 5 per cent. This is on foot of “funding challenges” arising from the GAA‘s decision to cancel the 2025 secondary provincial competitions, including the FBD Connacht leagues.
The financial loss is estimated to be €150,000 between “gate receipts, streaming and sponsorship”.
In a statement released on Friday, Connacht Council said the decision had been taken at the October meeting of the provincial council.
“During the October meeting of the Connacht GAA, the council accepted a recommendation from the provincial management committee to reduce ground rent payable to counties from 10% to 5% for the senior football championship 2025.
“This decision comes in response to severe funding challenges faced by Connacht following the Ard Comhairle (Central Council) decision to remove one of the provinces main sources of funding, namely the FBD sponsored Connacht Football and Hurling Leagues.
“In recent years, the competition has taken place at the University of Galway Connacht GAA AerDome. Projected income for the province is expected to decline by nearly €150,000 due to losses in gate receipts, streaming, and sponsorship.
“The removal of these competitions in 2025 is anticipated to have a particularly negative impact, especially as teams, match officials, and supporters could have greatly benefited from experiencing new rules before the National League begins.
“Delegates from all counties raised concerns during the meeting regarding the loss of revenue and the necessity of these competitions. They pointed out that managers would likely seek additional challenge matches, placing increased demands on players in terms of both playtime and travel.
“The delegates highlighted the missed opportunities provided by the FBD Connacht League and expressed a strong desire to explore alternative solutions for balancing the budget.
“Additionally, the Connacht Hurling League has provided significant opportunities for all counties, further highlighted by the participation of New York, London, and Longford alongside the five Connacht counties. New York, in particular, has greatly benefited from participation in the hurling leagues.”
The decision to abandon the pre-season tournaments was advanced by GAA president Jarlath Burns and chief executive of the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) Tom Parsons, and was criticised by intercounty managers at Monday’s launch of the interprovincial series of trial matches for the Football Review Committee’s proposed new football rules.
Galway’s Pádraic Joyce, Kieran Donnelly of Fermanagh and Waterford’s Paul Shankey all questioned the move, which also denies an opportunity for teams to acclimatise to the new proposals.