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Fans in flight: GAA officials concerned over shrinking Gaelic Park crowds

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

By Pierce O’Reilly

The USA biscuit tin hasn’t rattled the way it should at Gaelic Park the last few weeks and the GAA is well aware of the consequences.

"We’ve had a few bad Sundays alright, but it’s still early days," GAA president Monty Moloney said last week about the dismal attendance at the GAA headquarters in recent weeks.

"I remember back in the ’60s and ’70s when over 10,000 turned up every Sunday to watch the games," the Galway native said.

The history books show that 11,800 fans turned up at Gaelic Park for the replayed New York Hurling final between Galway and Clare in 1970. Ever since, the crowds at Gaelic Park have been dwindling. Just over 1,000 patrons witnessed the two senior finals last year in New York and, judging from gate receipts so far this season, one would expect that the 2001 figure will be even lower.

Things have changed a lot since those fruitful days in the ’60s. Many factors, including a declining Irish exile population and the lure of the Celtic Tiger, have been used to explain the GAA slump. But there has been a change in the players as well.

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"The same rivalry isn’t evident today between the New York clubs," Moloney said. "Players no longer stay loyal to their native county and weekenders [intercounty players] bounce around every year from club to club. All those things haven’t helped. To be honest, it won’t be until the playoffs that the big support arrives."

The New York GAA has had a difficult start to the season financially, even with the increase in ticket prices from $8 to $10. Indeed, two Sundays and two Saturday evenings have been rained out. What’s more, many of the anticipated big clashes have turned into dismal displays. The traditional rivalries between Donegal and Leitrim and Tyrone and Sligo, which were so intense in the ’80s, have been diluted over the last several years.

Last week, with four top-notch games on the schedule — including a Kerry vs. Leitrim clash — just over 500 patrons witnessed the affair.

Somewhat ironically, although Gaelic Park may be showing a downward trend, Irish bars throughout the tri-state area are bursting at the seams with GAA fans every Sunday morning. Last Sunday, bars in the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn were packed with GAA fans eager to see the live broadcast of the All-Ireland football quarterfinals. This does not sit well with Moloney.

"It amazes me how people will pay $20 to watch a match on the telly and then go out and complain about paying $10 to see four games in their own backyard with several of the same county stars in action," he said.

In the meantime, GAA officials continue to search for the elusive formula that will draw fans to the park. At the GAA convention earlier this year, Mayo stalwart Pat Gavin stated that if the weekend sanctions — allowing GAA stars from Ireland to assist New York teams — were abolished, as had been suggested, GAA supporters would not be enticed to Gaelic Park any longer. Others, however, are in favor of abolishing the rule, saying it is time for a "real New York final."

When it went to the floor, the motion to retain the sanctions was carried by just six votes. It was hoped at the time that the county players would keep the crowds coming through the turnstiles. It simply hasn’t happened.

Moloney and his association now realize that something else must be done to attract the supporters back to the home of the GAA. The GAA will need a lot of $10 bills if it is to make a profit after paying off its $75,000 debt to Manhattan College for subletting the city-owned stadium. Recently, Moloney even suggested running a rock concert at the venue if things don’t improve, a move that would undoubtedly prove controversial, with anticipated resistance coming from Manhattan, the leaseholder.

"We have to make money, and if our own people don’t support us, then we’ll have to look elsewhere," he said.

Gaelic Park today has a capacity of 5,000 with comfortable seating for at least 3,000. The top turnout in recent years was about 2,500, in May for the New York vs. Down hurling championship.

In 1947, when Kerry and Cavan played at the Polo Grounds, almost 50,000 expatriates showed up for the first and only All-Ireland final played outside of Ireland. At the 50th anniversary of the game, at Downing Stadium in 1997, only 14,000 paid at the turnstiles to see the Kerry-Cavan rematch.

"The people arriving in New York today don’t have the same interest in the GAA as in the past," Moloney said. "Things, however, always improve when the playoffs come around and I’m confident we’ll be back in the black once the knock-out games arrive."

The exiles association has been lambasted for years for its lack of family facilities. For example, there is no playground. The association has also being dogged by disturbing incidents at the Gaelic Park bar. Last year, a shooting took place at the venue while ugly barroom brawls are not unknown to take place there.

"It’s just not the place for young kids," one disgruntled mother said last week. "Who wants to see drunk individuals falling all over the place after the games? It’s not a very positive image to be giving our youth."

Moloney, however, remains adamant that no stadium in the world provides "babysitting" facilities for children.

"If you go to Croke Park or Yankee Stadium, if the kid isn’t old enough to sit on their own, they stay on their parents’ knees. Why should we be any different?"

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