DONEGAL GAA’s three-year link-up with their new sponsors could become much more about logos on the teams’ jerseys.
The new partnership with the KN Group and the MCR Group was officially launched this afternoon in Donegal town, where the new jerseys were unveiled for the first time.
KN Group, whose CEO Donagh Kelly is from Frosses, are the new title sponsors whose logo will be embossed on the front of the shirts.
Milford man Donall Barrett is a director of MCR Group, who are a new tier 2 sponsor whose logo is situated on the back of the shirts, which will again be manufactured by O’Neills Sportswear.
Picture caption: Donall Barrett, Sales Director MCR Group, Donegal hurling captain Joe Boyle, Donegal football captain Michael Murphy, Donagh Kelly CEO KN Group and Managing Director of O’Neills Kieran Kennedy at the launch of the new Donegal jersey. Picture by Geraldine Diver.
The deals were brokered largely by Cieran Kelly, the Donegal County Board Treasurer.
Following a meeting with Donegal Creameries in November, it was confirmed that their latest term as the main sponsor was at an end. As the treasurer noted, ‘there was a lot of head scratching after that meeting’.
Within two hours, he’d drawn up a list of prospective sponsors, from which the deals with KN Group and MCR Group began to grow.
Both companies have been ‘silent sponsors’ of Donegal GAA in recent years and the indications are now that they could be about more than sponsorship.
“Writing a cheque is one thing, but to actually support the team and bring something else with the sponsorship is another,” says Donagh Kelly.
Employment opportunties may now arise for out-of-work players.
It is almost seven years ago now since then manager John Joe Doherty issued an impassioned plea to employers.
“Jobs are scarce and things are not easy at the moment, but I think as a county we should look after our…If we want to be successful we must be able to keep all our top players at home,” Doherty said in March 2009.
“I would go so far as to say it is a culture we should develop even in good times where we look after our players and make sure that any lift in life we can give them is available.”
In late 2013, 2012 All-Ireland winner Ryan Bradley headed off on his toes to Qatar. In May 2013, Ross Wherity scored a goal in the Ulster SFC against Tyrone, but he left for New York that autumn.
Both men are still on those foreign climbs, as is double All-Star Paul Durcan who emigrated for employment purposes with his wife, Edel, late in 2015. Whether or not he’ll return to the panel this year remains to be seen.
The hemorrhaging of players, at club and county level, has become more common, but Donagh Kelly believes their new partnership can alleviate the drain.
“We’d like to think that we can support the team and that could take the form of employment for some individuals and help people make the decision to decide to stay at home,” he says.
“We’ll look at all those options and hopefully the association will be more than financial support.
“Our association won’t just be about the logo on front of the jersey. We may get involved in employing some players to enable them to stay in the county to further cement this relationship
“If there are positions that need filled and there are suitable candidates, we would look favourably to see where we can accommodate them.”
In a previous guise, Rory Gallagher, the current Donegal senior football team manager, worked for seven years with the MCR Group in Dublin.
“Long before this they have been huge supporters of the team organising fundraising and making contributions,” Gallagher says.
“It’s exciting for us all going forward. It’s great to see local companies involved.
“It’s huge to have that to tap into. It’s massive. Anything that they can do to help Donegal and help Donegal people, they’ve done that.”
Barrett is a former player with the Milford club, His assistance to the county has already been seen. Donegal’s Dublin-based players were transported to Donegal for training in the MCR helicopter and it is not unreasonable to assum that the county could again benefit from this type of input again.
Barrett says: “A lot of it is about goodwill. The companies we supply into are intertwined in GAA. The GAA is like a big family. We’re delighted to be a part of it and this is certainly a proud day for me.”
While the new sponsorship deals could prove significant in terms of the opportunities they provide and the doors they may open, the County Board’s balance sheet can also expect to be considerably boosted.
While the senior football team – its bluechip product – exited last year’s Championship at the quarter-final stage, Donegal remains big business, as shown by the clinching of these lucrative agreements.
Donegal’s sponsorship income has rocketed in recent years. In 2007, when they won their first National League title, the County Board took in €145,111. By 2014, when they won the Ulster Championship and reached the All-Ireland final, that figure had risen to €228,068.
The exact details of the deals has been kept under wraps, but these deals represent a significant coup for the board with part of the arrangment understood to be performance-based.
The sponsorship deals are for a three-year term initially and could prove quite profitable – on the field and off it.
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