County teams expenses top €1 million

A SHARP fall in gate receipts plus an even sharper increase in team administration which topped the €1m mark, has led to a smaller surplus in income over expenditure compared to the previous year for Meath GAA following the publication of treasurer Gene Smith's financial statement for the year ahead of next Monday night’s convention.

A surplus of €308,077 was recorded for the year ending September 30th despite the fall in gate receipts and the increase associated with county football and hurling teams. However the surplus was down over €136,688 from the previous year.

Total income for 2023 was €3,308,094 (€2,696,164 in 2022) with total expenditure coming in at €3,000,017 (€2,251,399).

Gate receipts for the year were €567,218 a major drop compared to €684,460 in 2022.

Gate receipts were down in all three categories, football, hurling and underage while there was no income from streaming compared to €20,706 the previous year.

There was however an increase in season tickets €19550 compared to €14,400 for the previous year.

Football championship matches realized €404,500 in comparison to €449,341 in 2022, hurling championship matches brought in €106,653 (€148,043) and underage €36,515 (€51,970).

The biggest gate was €48,160 for the county final (2022) Ratoath v Summerhill, while the previous day realized a figure of €44,940 for the Junior B, Junior and intermediate final triple header. The inaugural Regional Football Championship final played in Ashbourne had gate receipts of €2535 while the semi-finals had a gate of €1490.

Commercial income also dropped to €704,346 (€829,916). A breakdown of commercial income shows that sponsorship of €548,450 was down from the €692,572 in 2022. Royalties advertising and signage and programme income all showed significant increases.

Fundraising income almost doubled to €347,759 (€184114). That included €151,496 from the house draw while the Race Day held last December made a profit of €138,685. There was no Race Day for the previous financial year due to Covid restrictions. Income from the Supporters Club and Golf Classic were down slightly on the previous year while there was no Euro millions syndicate.

Other income which included affiliation fees, club levies, ground rent and Cúl Camp income totaled €665,374 compared to €534,244 in 2022.

Income from Associated Bodies increased significantly to €712,751, which included NFL share €175,965 (€90,451 in 2022) NHL share €26,162 (€15,674).

Governments grants tallied at €310,637 compared to €3,533 in 2022.

On the expenditure side Team Administration came to €1,296,975 compared to €960,336 in 2022. Player mileage, team manager and selectors and backroom team personnel expenses rose as did meals/catering/nutrition, travel and accommodation, and gear and equipment. However medical expenses of €17987 were down from the previous year.

Light and heat was down to €58,707 compared to €88,733 in 2022. There was a big increase in pitch maintenance up over €65,000 to €213,218.

Administration costs which included wages, postage and printing were €137,253 down from the €169,153 in 2022.