Case Name :      Gaelic Athletic Association and the Irish Rugby Football Union: Competing Business Models

Authors :           Peter McNamara, Olga Ryazanova, Fionn Collins, David Aherne

Source :             Ivey Publishing

Case ID :            W13332

Discipline :        General Management

Case Length :    19 pages

Solution Sample availability : YES

Plagiarism : NO (100% Original work)

The Gaelic Athletic Association and Irish Rugby Football Union are two sporting organizations that have innovated through their business models to grow their sports, create world-class sport facilities and improve their ability to win European competitions. Yet they reside in one of the smallest countries in Europe – Ireland. While the Gaelic Athletic Association is a volunteer organization whose amateur status (in which players and coaches are unpaid) imposes significant limitations on its revenue-generating abilities, the professional Irish Rugby Football Union has earned substantial income through the success of provincial and national Irish rugby teams. Both organizations compete for scarce financial, physical and human resources and are now faced with a rapidly changing environment following the deepest recession in the history of the Irish Republic and emigration of talent abroad. This case challenges students to analyze the business models of the Gaelic Athletic Association and Irish Rugby Football Union and explore how the models can be innovated to ensure survival of these cultural assets for the next generation.