Clare hurlers Tony Kelly, left, and John Conlon celebrate after their side's victory over Kilkenny in the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship semi-final at Croke Park. Photo: Sportsfile Having watched Saturday’s men’s senior hurling championship semi-final between Kilkenny and Clare achieve a paltry 39,000 in attendance, I can’t help but wonder if the effect of GAAGO is starting to show itself. As many have observed in this paper and elsewhere, people need to be able to watch their heroes in order to be inspired by them.
Look only at Rhasidat Adeleke’s acknowledgement of Katie Taylor as her inspiration, or the American women’s national basketball (WNBA) phenomenon that is Caitlin Clark who was inspired by US star Maya Moore, to recognise that the greats of sport aspire to the greatness of other athletes. The WNBA is an interesting one to contemplate further. The American (and Irish) public can go to popular streaming platforms and freely watch all manner of 10-minute WNBA game highlights, and all sorts of effusive praise for Caitlin Clark’s prowess.
Why? Because the WNBA recognised that to build a valuable and popular brand, it needed to work with broadcast partners who shared its vision to make the game more accessible. If the GAA’s goal is to spread interest in its games far and wide, maybe it should spend more time watching what leagues like the WNBA are doing to leverage the talents of athletes and fans towards building popularity for its sport.
